Study finds Ontario nursing home air conditioning mandate saved lives
listen to this article
estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article has been generated by AI-based technology. There may be mispronunciations. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve results.
An Ontario law mandating air conditioning in all resident rooms in long-term care (LTC) homes has saved dozens of lives, according to a new study.
“Air conditioning is no longer a luxury. It’s actually an essential health necessity,” said lead author Nathan Stahl, MD, professor of geriatrics at Mount Sinai Health, whose study was published this week in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
The two-year study looked at the deaths of 73,578 residents in Ontario between 2010 and 2023. It found that residents of nursing homes whose rooms did not have air conditioning were eight percent more likely to die during extreme summer days than residents of homes with air conditioning. Extreme heat in particular “poses serious health risks to older adults.”
Using data collected over those 13 years, researchers conducted a simulation that found the policy change prevented 33 resident deaths between 2020 and 2023. The number of observed deaths in that time period was 308, while simulated deaths in cases where air conditioning was not installed were 341.
In 2021, the province mandated all LTC resident rooms Install air conditioning by June 2022,
Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised change During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, After pressure was put on him by CBC News Heat conditions in LTC rooms were reported.
At that time, 339 homes were without air conditioning, just over 55 percent of the total. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Long-Term Care told CBC News All LTC houses now have air conditioning in resident rooms, except for two that have been “exempted due to ongoing redevelopment.”
The provincial requirement states that operators must “maintain functional air conditioning” on any day when the outdoor temperature is forecast to be 26 C or higher.
Premier Doug Ford says he is considering making air conditioning mandatory in long-term care homes after CBC’s Lisa Jing asked about families who are worried about their loved ones.
Stoll said the research was important, not only because extreme heat events are increasing due to climate change, but because of the unique limitations placed on residents during the pandemic, when they were confined to their rooms and unable to gather in air-conditioned common areas.
$200 million The investment made by the province was worthwhile, said Stahl, who added that the policy change was implemented rapidly in a short period of time.
“It’s important to understand the return on investment… which is very clear and it’s lifesaving,” he said.
‘We need national standards,’ experts say.
The study authors said other Canadian provinces do not have a similar policy, and they are urging policy makers to consider it.
Stoll said Ontario’s efforts could be used as a model for other places in the country, especially since the effects of heat could be worse on vulnerable populations.
He points out that his team only looked at the most “severe outcomes” and did not include emergency department visits or hospitalizations.
Other experts agree, such as Pat Armstrong, an LTC researcher and professor emeritus at York.
“We need national standards and standards that are enforced,” he said, adding that the effects of heat on LTC workers should also be studied.
She says policymakers need to remember that “like heat, we also need cooling,” because people are not sensitive to just one type of extreme temperature.
A spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of Long-Term Care told CBC News in an email that each home is inspected at least once per calendar year and inspectors made an average of five visits to each Ontario nursing home this year.
The ministry has issued 37 sanctions since the rules came into force, the spokesperson said. LTC homes can be fined up to $25,000.
