Loosemore, M; Chow, V and McGeorge, D (2014) Managing the health risks of extreme weather events by managing hospital infrastructure. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 21(1), pp. 4-32. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose - A predicted increase in climate change-related extreme weather events will present hospitals with new health-related and physical risks which were not originally anticipated in building and infrastructure designs. Markus <IT>et al.</IT>'s building systems model is used to analyse a range of adaptive strategies to cope with such events. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach - Focus group interviews were conducted with a wide range of hospital stakeholders across three case study hospitals in Australia and New Zealand which have experienced extreme weather events. Findings - It is concluded that effective adaptive strategies must balance responses across different organisational sub-systems. Contrary to previous research, the findings indicate that hospital managers do see hospital infrastructure as an important component of disaster response. However, it is the least adaptable of all response subsystems, making other options more attractive in the heat of a crisis. Research limitations/implications - A focus on three case studies allowed the researchers to explore in-depth the experiences of stakeholders who had experienced extreme weather events. While producing highly valid results, the inherent limitation of this approach is the lack of breath. So further case studies are needed to generalise from the results. Practical implications - Recommendations are made to improve the adaptive capacity of healthcare facilities to cope with the future health challenges of climate change risk. Originality/value - By acknowledging that no one group holds all the knowledge to deal with extreme weather events, this paper capture the collective knowledge of all key stakeholders who have a stake in the process of responding effectively to such an event. It shows that hospital adaptation strategies cannot be considered in isolation from the surrounding emergency management systems in which a hospital is imbedded.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | adaptive capacity; climate change; extreme weather; hospitals; risk; systems |
| Index terms: | building system, option, extreme weather event, disaster response, New Zealand, case study, Australia, adaptation, adaptive capacity, emergency management, methodology, weather, climate change, focus group, manager, health risk, interview, strategy |
| Subjects: | management, research methods, Geography, urban design, financial risk, emergency and crisis management, decision analysis, environmental health, data collection methods, air quality, user focus, engineering systems, climate science, practitioner |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Sustainability, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here