NIHR has awarded nearly £700,000 to support UK health and social care projects focused on adapting to climate change and extreme weather, and on building urgent resilience
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has awarded almost £700,000 in development funding to seven research teams studying how health and social care services in the UK can adapt to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather. These projects aim to build resilience, strengthen service delivery during heatwaves, floods, and other climate-related events, and prepare for larger collaborations to secure future research funding.
Adapting health and social care to climate change
Climate change is affecting the UK by causing extreme heat, floods, and storms. These changes are making it difficult for care providers to deliver effective and safe care. The impacts of climate change are particularly crucial for vulnerable populations.
As part of the NIHR Climate Change and Health Development Awards, research teams have been asked to develop and test ideas that build resilience and adaptability in UK health and social care systems during extreme weather. The NIHR invested £690,750 in total for the development awards – up to £100,000 each.
The funded research teams will focus on:
- Building research capacity in climate change and health adaptation
- Establishing partnerships between academics, health and social care professionals, and policymakers
- Developing strong research methods and securing access to essential data
- Identifying knowledge gaps and assessing the effects on infrastructure, staff, and services – with a focus on vulnerable groups
Future funding opportunities
The funding is open to researchers without a Development Award and will include larger awards up to £2 million per project, with contracts up to 3 years for large, programmatic research.
Together, these funding opportunities signal a major, long-term investment by DHSC and NIHR to embed climate resilience at the core of UK health and social care systems.
The UN Climate Change Conferences (COP) have grown in importance over the last two decades. At the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive of the NIHR, set out the need for evidence to address the challenges posed by a changing climate and highlighted this as a priority for NIHR.
Professor Danny McAuley, Scientific Director for NIHR Programmes, said: “We must focus on research that helps health systems adapt and build resilience as we face more extreme weather. Climate change will impact disadvantaged communities the most, and we need to ensure health and care services can continue to provide the necessary care. It will also deepen existing health inequalities. That’s why these projects, which are focusing on some of the most vulnerable populations, are more important now than ever before.”
