Curbside care in a warming world: street medicine as climate resilience for unhoused communities

Abstract Extreme heat poses a significant and growing threat to people experiencing homelessness (PEH), who face disproportionate risks of heat-related morbidity and mortality. Street medicine (SM) is a growing care delivery model to treat PEH where they live. This perspective article explores the potential of SM as a means for public health and healthcare delivery systems to adapt healthcare delivery and to mitigate risk from extreme heat in this high-risk population. It also proposes policy solutions to expand and strengthen SM’s capacity to protect PEH from extreme heat, including policies to expand SM, integration into municipal heat action plans, and development of specialized curricula. Finally, the article calls for future research to evaluate the effectiveness of SM in mitigating heat-related illnesses among PEH and explores the potential of cutting-edge technologies to enhance risk identification and intervention strategies. By leveraging the SM model, communities can build more resilient and effective programs to safeguard PEH from the escalating threat of extreme heat.