Kommunala miljöförvaltningars tillsyn av vård-/äldreboendes beredskap för värmeböljor

Sammanfattning: In recent years, heat waves have begun to be perceived as one of the biggest problems due to climate change. The Public Health Agency, which is the national supervisory guidance regarding health effects, has therefore updated its guidelines to ensure that regions and municipalities have sufficient information to carry out inspections in accordance with the Environmental Code. This study focuses on how environmental and health protection inspectors at municipal environmental administrations can incorporate climate-adapted supervision regarding nursing homes for the elderly. The aim of this study is to understand how the municipal environmental administration works with supervision of nursing homes regarding their preparedness for heat waves. Data was collected through interviews with representatives of ten municipal environmental administrations. The interview questions focused on how civil servants work with climate-adapted measures within the supervision of nursing homes for the elderly today and how the work could be organised like in the future. The results show that the Public Health Agency's advice and guidelines are well known by the municipal environmental authorities and are used to a high extent in the supervision of nursing homes for the elderly. There is also a high level of knowledge among the municipalities' environmental and health protection inspectors regarding the health effects of heat waves. However, the study also demonstrates a need of transferring this knowledge into checklists that can be used during inspections. All respondents agree that preparedness against heat waves must be included in future checklists for the supervision of nursing homes for the elderly.