Preventing and Responding to Heat-Related Mental Health Emergencies in Low-Income Boston
Official title: PRIME-Boston (Prevention of and Response to Incidents of Heat-Related Mental Health Emergencies in Low-income Communities in Boston, MA)
Funded at Boston University Medical Campus · NIH-11360487 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how hot weather affects mental health for uninsured and publicly insured people in Boston and what neighborhood or care factors might help.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston University Medical Campus NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | January 6, 2024 |
| Project end | December 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $204,172 |
| NIH project number | 5R21ES035890-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11360487 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People in Boston who are uninsured or publicly insured and who have used or might use psychiatric emergency services during hot weather, and clinicians who treat these patients, are the primary focus.
✕Less likely to help
People living outside Boston, those with reliable cooling and little heat exposure, or individuals without mental health needs are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
We combine long-term emergency services records with interviews to learn when and why heat worsens mental health for low-income Boston residents. Researchers will analyze 2005–2019 Boston Emergency Services Team (BEST) data to link hourly temperature patterns with psychiatric emergency encounters and explore neighborhood factors like greenness and air pollution. They will also conduct semi-structured interviews with clinicians who treat BEST patients during warm months to understand care challenges and timing. The mixed-methods approach is intended to point to times and places where extra outreach or resources could reduce heat-related mental health crises.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Findings could help emergency teams and clinics better time and target outreach or resources to prevent and respond to heat-related mental health crises in vulnerable Boston neighborhoods.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies have linked extreme heat to worse mental health, but combining high-resolution emergency services data with clinician interviews in this local, mixed-methods way is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Boston University Medical Campus
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Oblath, Rachel — Boston University Medical Campus
- Study coordinator: Oblath, Rachel
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.