Structural Heat Adaptation and Education in Urban Setting (SHAPES)

Aga Khan University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Quality of Life; Heat Illness

Treatments: Other: Participatory local structural and environmental heat mitigation solutions; Behavioral: Community education and awareness, and personal lifestyle and cooling behavior modification

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06991543

11548

226752/Z/22/Z (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to understand whether simple, low-cost interventions, such as improved home cooling, practical advice, and minor home modifications, can help protect people's health and improve quality of life during periods of extreme heat in densely populated, low-income neighborhoods of Karachi, Pakistan.

Key Questions the Study Seeks to Answer:

1. Can these interventions reduce heat-related health problems such as dizziness, headaches, and heatstroke and improve the quality of life?
2. Can they lower indoor temperatures and improve sleep quality, comfort, and daily functioning?

To answer these questions, researchers will compare communities where families receive heat-related support and information with similar communities that do not, to assess any differences in health and well-being.

What Participants Can Expect:

• Answer questions about their health, living conditions, and how they cope with heat
• Have small temperature sensors placed inside their homes
• Some participants may wear a lightweight wristband that tracks sleep and heart rate
• In selected households, cooling improvements will be made, such as adding shade, applying reflective roof paint, or enhancing airflow

Purpose:

This study seeks to identify affordable and effective strategies to help families stay safe during extreme heat, and to use these insights to support other vulnerable communities facing similar challenges.

Enrollment: 7,128 estimated patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• All households within the selected clusters who provide consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Households planning to move away from the study site within the next 6 months
• Individuals with severe mental or physical health conditions that preclude participation

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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7,128 participants in 2 patient groups

Resilience and Heat Adaptation Bundle

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention Arm: Resilience and Heat Adaptation Bundle (ReHAB): The ReHAB consists of three components; community education and awareness, personal lifestyle and cooling behavior modification, and participatory local structural and environmental heat mitigation solutions. The behavioral and educational interventions will be delivered through community mobilization whereas structural interventions will encompass modifications in the existing structures to lower the indoor ambient temperature and reduce heat effects.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Community education and awareness, and personal lifestyle and cooling behavior modification

Other: Participatory local structural and environmental heat mitigation solutions

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

The control arm will not receive any intervention.