Climate Crisis: The Rehabilitation Emergency No One Talks About

Ariba Shah; Umaima Siddiqui

Authors

Ariba Shah Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5637-8907
Umaima Siddiqui Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan

Keywords:

climate change, rehabilitation, environmental health, vulnerable populations, healthcare adaptation

Abstract

Climate change is creating an unprecedented rehabilitation crisis that healthcare administrators continue to overlook. By 2050, 246 million older adults will face life-threatening heat exposure, representing our future caseload. Air pollution is generating patients requiring pulmonary rehabilitation before age 40. Vulnerable populations—disabled individuals, elderly patients, and rural communities—bear the greatest burden during climate disasters. Recent studies document 38 climate-health impacts specifically affecting rehabilitation patients. Current protocols assume stable environmental conditions, an obsolete assumption requiring immediate revision.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59564/amrj/03.03/002

Author Biographies

Ariba Shah, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan

Research Manager, Faculty of Health Sciences

Umaima Siddiqui, Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan

Student, College of Physical Therapy

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