REHEAT – The App for the Well-being of Home Care Professionals During Heatwaves

In recent decades, climate change has taken on increasingly alarming proportions. Human activities have progressively compromised the balance of Earth's ecosystems, contributing to the worsening of an unprecedented global climate crisis. Today, global warming is recognized as one of the main threats to public health, as it exposes people to increasingly frequent, intense, and prolonged episodes of extreme heat. This situation makes the adoption of effective and large-scale adaptation measures urgent.

However, some are more exposed than others to the potential negative effects of heat. Work activity itself represents a risk factor, as it can amplify the impact of heat stress even at temperatures lower than those that trigger official alerts. The risk is even greater for those who perform physically demanding tasks or work under pressure, as in the case of home care professionals. This type of work involves strenuous activities such as lifting people and continuous travel between patients' homes, often under the scorching sun and in urgent conditions. Furthermore, during heatwaves, the workload increases even more, as many care recipients are particularly vulnerable to the effects of heat.

What is REHEAT?

REHEAT is an app developed by a team of experts within the eponymous research project, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), with the aim of evaluating the impact of simple practical recommendations to better cope with work during heatwaves on the well-being of home care professionals active in the Cantons of Ticino, Zurich, and St. Gallen/Thurgau.

An Innovative Data Collection System to Monitor Well-being at Work

The REHEAT app is based on advanced technology and an integrated data collection approach, which combines:

Smartwatches for continuous monitoring of physiological and environmental parameters in real-time.
Online questionnaires and tests, directly accessible via the app, which allow users to provide subjective assessments of their health status, perception of heat, and level of well-being during the workday.
The combination of objective and perceived data collected in real-time makes it possible to obtain an in-depth and dynamic view of the effects of high temperatures on personnel in the sector, even on the most critical working days.