Beat the Heat | Healthy Cities Lab

Welcome to the Beat the Heat study!

Are you hoping to stay cool this summer?

Eligibility:

To participate in the study, you must:

Not have any air conditioning in your home including central AC, window units, mini splits, etc
Aged 55-95 years old
Speak Spanish or English
Live in Roxbury, East Boston, Mattapan, or Dorchester
Have a least one of the following health conditions:
- Chronic heart disease
- Chronic lung disease
- Chronic brain disease
- Diabetes
- Chronic mental health condition
- And/or spent at least one night in the hospital for any reason in the past three years
Be able to provide your own informed consent
Only one participant per household is eligible

Participant responsibilities:

This study is voluntary, and if you choose to participate you will be randomly assigned to one of two groups.

Group A: Get an energy-efficient window AC unit installed in your home this summer, 2025 + $100 + .

Group B: Get an energy-efficient window AC unit installed in your home next summer, 2026 + $100.

All participants will be asked to do the following:

Keep an environmental variable (temperature, humidity, PM, CO2, VOCs, pressure, light, and noise) sensor and a device to provide it WiFi in your home for two years. The WiFi device will need to be plugged in for the duration of the study.

Answer a total of four 45-minute surveys at your home
- One early in the summer of 2025
- One late in the summer of 2025
- One early in the summer of 2026
- One late in the summer of 2026

Compensation:

If you participate in this study, you will get:

Sign up:

If you are interested, please fill out this 2-minute survey and we will contact you!

You can also text or call (617) 446-3248 or email (beattheheatboston@gmail.com) to sign up for the study or to ask any questions.

Thank you for your interest in our study, and we look forward to hearing from you!

Contact us:

(617) 446-3248