17.09.2026

Heat protection begins after the warning.

Two projects at IMC Krems demonstrate how knowledge about heat risks translates into everyday practice. Continuous heatwave conditions have been recorded at the Krems and Langenlois monitoring stations since July 18. It is now possible to check the level of heat stress for any given municipality; there is certainly no shortage of data. The challenge lies in moving from warnings to action. This is precisely the focus of two research teams at IMC Krems: one is developing an app for home care, while the other is using virtual reality in occupational therapy.

Magda Ehlers, Pexels

Image: Irrigation in high summer; Source: Magda Ehlers, Pexels

A Summer That Won’t Let Up

The monitoring stations in Krems and Langenlois are among the locations where GeoSphere Austria has recorded a continuous heatwave since July 18—one expected to last at least until mid-August. On August 4 and 5, the all-time Austrian temperature record was broken twice in succession, reaching 41.2 degrees in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg. The 40-degree mark was reached during all three summer months this year.

For businesses in the region, this creates a planning challenge. Operations at construction sites, warehouses, kitchens, and vineyards cannot be organized the same way at 38 degrees as they are at 28. Those involved in production, delivery, or service during the summer are having to adjust working hours, break times, and delivery windows.

The map shows who is affected

The Complexity Science Hub in Vienna calculates a heat stress index for municipalities and districts. Factors included in the calculation are the number of "heat days," tropical nights, and the proportion of the population aged 65 and older. This effectively turns a temperature reading into a public health issue. By August 1, 373 municipalities and 22 districts had reached the "very high" level; 145 of these municipalities are in Lower Austria, representing about a quarter of that federal state. You can check the value for your municipality on the interactive heat map.

A second figure illustrates the implications of this. Between 2015 and 2022, every additional heat day increased mortality in Austrian districts by 2.4 percent per 1,000 inhabitants. If one in four people in a district is over the age of 65, this effect doubles, as Hannah Schuster from the Complexity Science Hub explains.

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Image: Heat stress index for municipalities in Austria, January to July 2026. Source: Complexity Science Hub Vienna

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Image: Heat stress index for municipalities in Lower Austria, January to July 2026. Source: Complexity Science Hub Vienna

Risk is known, but preventive measures are lacking

At the IMC Krems Department of Health Sciences, nursing scientist Jette Lange and sociologist Jacqueline Ludwig are investigating how people involved in home care cope with high temperatures. The study involved 35 interviews with family caregivers and 24-hour care workers, as well as an Austria-wide survey of 148 individuals. While the respondents are aware of the health risks, this rarely translates into concrete precautionary measures in their daily care routines. Action is often taken only when temperatures are already very high; these individuals tend to place their own health at the bottom of their priority list, focusing instead on the person in their care.

An app currently being piloted—developed by People X with scientific support from IMC Krems—targets this group. It sends push notifications during heat warnings and provides checklists and self-care tips in multiple languages. This multilingual aspect is crucial for reach, as many people working in 24-hour care do not speak German as their first language. The findings are feeding into the follow-up project "KreTra," which aims to embed preventive measures earlier into daily care routines.

Practicing before the temperature hits 38 degrees

The "GreenTouch" project—a collaboration involving IMC Krems, the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), AIT, USTP St. Pölten, and two companies—pursues a different approach. Virtual reality scenarios were developed to simulate typical situations encountered during heatwaves: proper ventilation, restructuring the daily schedule, and keeping the home cool using simple methods. In occupational therapy sessions, clients perform these steps within the simulation themselves, rather than simply planning them through conversation.

The project description justifies the technical effort by citing the impact of immersion, noting that emotional reactions make behavioral changes more likely. According to project manager Christine Spevak-Grossi, heat stress exacerbates lethargy, sleep disturbances, and pain among clients. Additionally, a set of paper cards was developed to evaluate measures based on cooling effect, climate friendliness, effort, and cost, ensuring the content remains accessible without the need for headsets or computers. These scenarios are already being used in teaching within the Occupational Therapy degree program at IMC Krems.

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Image: Jette Lange (left) and Jacqueline Ludwig (right) from IMC Krems with the app that supports family caregivers and 24-hour care workers during heat warnings. Source: IMC Krems

Key takeaways for businesses

Three points can be applied to everyday work routines. A heat warning requires a defined follow-up action; otherwise, the cool morning hours are lost to the decision-making process. Safety instructions are effective when everyone on the team understands them clearly. And an inexpensive temperature sensor in the warehouse or workshop shows—in black and white—when it is hotter indoors than outdoors. The contact person for the research project is Jette Lange (jette.lange@imc.ac.at).