A nurse-led climate resilience program for older adults: A one-group pre/post pilot study and implications for nursing management

Nurs Outlook. 2026 Jul 7;74(4):102842. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2026.102842. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Climate-related stressors increasingly threaten older adults’ psychological well-being, yet preliminary evidence guiding nurse-led, culturally situated community responses remains limited.

PURPOSE: To examine whether a brief nurse-led climate resilience program was associated with preliminary within-group changes over time in eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, ecological grief, and psychological empowerment among older adults, and to identify implications for nursing leadership and policy.

METHODS: This pilot one-group pretest-posttest study included 140 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and older attending a club for older adults in Damanhur, Egypt. Standardized measures were completed at baseline and 3-month follow-up; findings were interpreted as preliminary because the design did not include a comparison group and could not support causal inference.

DISCUSSION: At 3-month follow-up, within-group mean scores were lower for eco-anxiety (57.74-44.47; d = 1.07), ecological grief (16.75-12.98; d = 0.94), eco-guilt (20.91-17.09; d = 0.58), and psychological empowerment (24.11-19.74; d = 0.57; lower scores indicate greater empowerment). Exploratory mediation and moderation findings were treated as hypothesis-generating only. These findings suggest that a nurse-led climate resilience program may be feasible in community nursing settings serving older adults; however, controlled multisite studies are needed to assess effectiveness, clarify causal mechanisms, and establish generalizability.

CONCLUSION: A brief nurse-led climate resilience program was associated with favorable preliminary within-group changes in climate-related emotional responses and psychological empowerment among older adults. Rigorous controlled research is needed before effectiveness can be concluded.

PMID:42413143 | DOI:10.1016/j.outlook.2026.102842