Check whether the heating is actually on
Many older people ration heating in silence. Cold homes cause a large, measurable share of winter deaths.
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Why it lands
Cold homes kill older people every winter, and the reason is rarely ignorance — it is cost, and a generation's reluctance to be seen as struggling. Nobody volunteers that they have not put the heating on. Noticing the temperature of a room you are sitting in is one of the few ways the problem becomes visible to anyone else.
How
Notice it, then give them a face-saving route: “It's freezing out — do you want me to have a look at your thermostat while I'm here?” Check for unclaimed support — winter payments, social tariffs, local schemes — and do the application with them rather than sending a leaflet.
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