I had the opportunity to present on Housing and Health Inequalities to the Bureau Local UK Network of the Bureau of Investigate Journalism. My central argument was that health has to be put at the centre of our discussions about the built environment. We know that there are issues with housing in the UK. But it goes far beyond merely building more homes. Eighty percent of the homes we'll be living in in 2050 have already been built. It's critical to public health, to reducing our carbon emissions, that we address the challenges associated with substandard and energy inefficient homes. And it pays dividends. The argument that this is all too expensive is nonsensical given the very real costs associated with doing nothing. Here's a copy of the slides I presented.... Addressing housing and health inequalitiesDownload...
In the final of The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) series on Healthy Living and Housing, our focus was on the future of intelligent homes. You can access the session by clicking here and registering to watch on demand. For this session, I was pleased to be joined by: Dr Chris McGinley, Senior Research Fellow, Leader Age & Diversity Research Space, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art; and,
Dr Ozak Esu, Smart Assets Lead and part of the Construction Innovation Hub, Building Research Establishment (BRE)
Homes, health, and inclusive design
Chris outlined the role of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. It is a centre for inclusive design covering two main research themes, Age and Diversity, and Healthcare. They work across a number of design areas including strategic, visual, artefact, and the built environment and public spaces. His presentation included two short videos. The first was of an older woman trying to navigate the use of multiple remote controls to...
I had the pleasure of chairing the fifth in The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) series on Healthy Living and Housing. The focus for this session was on smart home tech to support people’s needs. You can access the session by clicking the link here and registering to watch on demand. Speakers for this session included: Alisa Frik, Research Scientist, International Computer Science Institute; Postdoctoral Fellow for Berkeley Laboratory for Usable and Experimental SecurityNuno Almeida, Founder, Nourish CarePhilip Shelton, Principal Advisor (Commercial), Eastern Academic Health Science Network Perspectives on privacy and security Alisa discussed older people’s perspectives on privacy and security. This included reference to how older people make decisions about privacy and security with respect to smart home devices. What we know is that at present, much of the adoption of smart home tech is driven by older people’s children, and care providers, to support care needs. And it remains the case that a high proportion of older adults don’t have access to the internet. Alisa noted that...
I had the pleasure of chairing the fourth in The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) series on Healthy Living and Housing. The focus for this session was on reducing social isolation and loneliness. You can access the session by clicking the link here and registering to watch on demand. Speakers for this session included Smriti Kotiyal, Research Assistant, University of Bradford
Marianne Wanstall, CEO, The Brendoncare Foundation
Heather Claridge, Principal Design Officer, Architecture & Design Scotland
COVID-19 and the role of technology
Smriti began by discussing the significant role that technology, including communication technologies, has played in managing COVID-19. COVID-19 is often compared to the 1918 Spanish Flu and 2009 H1N1 outbreak. Today we have improved capacity, diagnostic tools and communications. For example, current global internet usage sits at 53.6% compared to 25.8% in 2009. This has very much facilitated improved knowledge sharing and better use of technological advancements. The use of technology to reduce the spread of COVID-19 has not been without controversy. China is one...
I had the pleasure of chairing the second in a series of webinars for The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on Healthy Living and Housing. The focus for this session was on care homes and community care. This built on the first session that focused on the links between our lived environments and our health. You can access the session by clicking the link here, and registering to watch on demand. Speakers for this session included Shirley Ayres, Co-Founder, Connected Care Network*
Dai Roberts, Senior Programme Innovation Lead, Health Innovation Manchester
Shirley Hall, Head of Innovation and Wellbeing, The ExtraCare Charitable Trust
Lee Fordham, Associate Director, Architype https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCLAr06knLg Clip from The IET’s EngShorts series covering many of the points raised in this discussion. Creating new living choices for older people
Shirley Ayres outlined some of the opportunities and challenges in the care sector, calling for a radically different approach. For Shirley, it’s time we had a long term care revolution. To put in today’s context, this is clearly a...
In the previous article I touched on some of the evidence emerging of the impact of housing on health during lockdown. The issues with poor housing stock are certainly not new and follow years of a lack of investment. This issue has become all the more acute during lockdown and could provide real impetus for change. Moving forward, there are real opportunities to affect positive change – at both the local and national levels. There is strong local case to be made for urgent community engagement, action and investment, as we move from the national to regional and local lockdowns. I also want to provide a few reflections on just some of the recent government announcements with regards to the property sector.
Local considerations
There are clear indications that the negative physical and mental health impacts for those living in homes that fail to meet decent housing standards, coupled with factors such as overcrowding or isolation, have been exacerbated by the closure of many...
Our homes and neighbourhoods are critical factors in our health and wellbeing. This has very much come to the fore during lockdown. In this two part series, first I touch on the current and emerging evidence of the impact of housing on health. I then put forward suggestions for where action is needed, now and in the longer term at both local and national levels.
The context
Disparities in living conditions have become all the more apparent during lockdown. Nearly a third, 31% of adults in Britain (15.9 million people) have had mental or physical health problems during lockdown as a result of poor quality and/or overcrowded housing (National Housing Federation, 2020a). Unless there is urgent change, this picture will only get worse as we move to targeted local lockdowns. In response to this crisis, the National Housing Federation has launched a campaign, #HomesAtTheHeart. The aim is to put social housing at the heart of national economic and social recovery by investing in...
Does housing affect health? We know in the UK that there is a significant shortfall in housing. The Housing Federation puts this figure as an annual shortfall of 340k homes a year just to meet requirements. In addition to this, many people live in unhealthy or unsuitable homes, or live in precarious situations. These factors can have a significant and detrimental impact on health outcomes. And there are some people who are particularly vulnerable – babies and children, people with disabilities, and older people. This is not just about housing, but also public health. How do we integrate health and housing? This was the question to kick off a webinar discussion in July facilitated by Ethan Williams, researcher at the King’s Fund. Panelists included: Rachel Toms - Programme Manager, Healthy Places, Public Health England
Rachael Byrne - Executive Director, New Models of Care, Home Group
Vic Rayner - Executive Director, National Care Forum This report has been updated following the publication of Creating...
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