Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths, many of which are preventable. The dangers of extreme heat across communities will only intensify as heat waves become more frequent and severe. People with chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease, face higher risks of heat-related illness. In addition, individuals from racial and ethnic minority communities experience disproportionate impacts of extreme heat, as they are more likely to live or work in places with higher heat exposure while facing multiple barriers to affordable cooling.

Community health workers (CHWs) are frontline health professionals who share cultural backgrounds and trusted relationships with the communities they serve. By bridging communities and healthcare systems, CHWs are uniquely positioned to help racially and ethnically diverse community members prepare for extreme heat events and access affordable cooling resources. Their work has been shown to improve health outcomes for individuals with chronic health conditions. Yet there is a lack of actionable tools and guidance to support CHWs in promoting extreme heat preparedness and sustainable cooling strategies.

This project addresses that gap by bringing together researchers and community partners across disciplines to co-create and test a practical educational tool for use by CHWs. The tool will help individuals with chronic health conditions adequately and affordably prepare for extreme heat. Building on evidence that tools developed with CHWs are more relevant and effective than those created for them, the team will engage CHWs, as well as clinical and patient partners, to co-create an interactive curriculum. This curriculum will equip CHWs to deliver contextually appropriate, energy-conscious heat preparedness education. The resulting toolkit will be disseminated widely and evaluated through surveys to assess its effectiveness across CHW care contexts and the communities they serve. To support tool development and distribution, the team will partner with extreme weather preparedness collaborators, including Americares, the Harvard C-CHANGE Center, and two major CHW associations: Visión y Compromiso (VyC) and the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA).

By advancing CHW-led interventions that mitigate the impacts of extreme weather on community wellbeing, this project will strengthen preparedness for extreme heat while equipping individuals and families with practical, sustainable solutions for a warming world.

Project team: P. Paul Chandanabhumma, PI (UM-Health), Carina Gronlund, co-I (SPH, ISR), Marie S. O'Neill, co-I (SPH), Jane Berry (UM-Health), Sarah Miles (Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research)

This project is funded by the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI), with generous support from Lewis G. Sandy, M.D., and Susan Hassmiller, R.N., Ph.D., FAAN.

In the Media

• Enhancing Extreme Weather Preparedness Through Community Health Workers (Health Affairs I March 2026)