Elderly Ignore Heat Warnings — Because They're Not Old

Disconnect leaves some seniors vulnerable to danger during sweltering summer

As the nation wilts during an especially brutal summer, warnings have gone out to the elderly to try to stay cool. The problem is, many seniors hear the message but don’t think it applies to them — because they don’t see themselves as old.

That point was underscored in summers past by a Kent State University study of the over-65 crowd in four North American cities. It found that 90 percent of those polled knew about heat warnings for the elderly, but only 15 percent took them personally.

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