Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice & Risk Perceptions Regarding Heatwave Among Outdoor Workers in Nepal

This research is carried out by Anjali Joshi¹, Sabina Marasini¹, Sudim Sharma², Lava Timsina³, Biraj Man Karmacharya¹  with funding support from the Global Disaster Preparedness Center.

The annual rise in global temperature has led to the evident impacts on lives of the most vulnerable population especially among the outdoor workers. It is a great deal of importance to assess the population groups regarding their knowledge, attitude, practice, and risk perception to plan and mitigate the impact of heatwaves.  A mixed method study was conducted to assess the social vulnerabilities among the outdoor workers in selected 8 districts of Nepal. 11 focus group discussions and a total of 356 quantitative surveys were conducted. Despite having experienced climate change, the study indicated that participants were less aware about heatwaves as the majority reported that neither the government nor any civic organizations had informed them about heatwaves. Even though the participants were unaware of heatwaves, most of them were at least partially applying some preventive measures. Similarly, focus group discussions further demonstrated that participants were unaware of the effects of heatwaves. However, they were able to draw some connection between environmental degradation and climate change. To conclude, a significant effort needs to be made to massively raise awareness about climate change and its effects, particularly on heatwaves. To minimize the detrimental effects of heatwaves, government and other civil society organizations must step up their ongoing efforts.

1. Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Nepal
2. Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Thailand
3. Indiana University, School of Medicine, USA

Nepal Heat Perceptions Research by A.Joshi 2022