TY - JOUR

T1 - Costs and outcomes of improving population health through better social housing: a cohort study and economic analysis

AU - Bray, Nathan John

AU - Burns, Paul

AU - Jones, Alice

AU - Winrow, Eira

AU - Edwards, Rhiannon

N1 - The project was jointly funded by social housing contractors Gentoo and Nottingham City Homes.

PY - 2017/12

Y1 - 2017/12

N2 - Objectives We sought to determine the impact of warmthrelated housing improvements on the health, well-being, and quality of life of families living in social housing.Methods An historical cohort study design was used. Households were recruited by Gentoo, a social housing contractor in North East England. Recruited households were asked to complete a quality of life, well-being, and health service use questionnaire before receiving housing improvements (new energy-efficient boiler and doubleglazing) and again 12 months afterwards.Results Data were collected from 228 households. The average intervention cost was £3725. At 12-month postintervention, a 16% reduction (-£94.79) in household 6-month health service use was found. Statistically significantpositive improvements were observed in main tenant and household health status (p\0.001; p = 0.009, respectively), main tenant satisfaction with financial situation (p = 0.020), number of rooms left unheated per household (p\0.001), frequency of household outpatient appointments (p = 0.001), and accident/emergency department attendance (p\0.012).Conclusions Warmth-related housing improvements may be a cost-effective means of improving the health of social housing tenants and reducing health service expenditure, particularly in older populations.

AB - Objectives We sought to determine the impact of warmthrelated housing improvements on the health, well-being, and quality of life of families living in social housing.Methods An historical cohort study design was used. Households were recruited by Gentoo, a social housing contractor in North East England. Recruited households were asked to complete a quality of life, well-being, and health service use questionnaire before receiving housing improvements (new energy-efficient boiler and doubleglazing) and again 12 months afterwards.Results Data were collected from 228 households. The average intervention cost was £3725. At 12-month postintervention, a 16% reduction (-£94.79) in household 6-month health service use was found. Statistically significantpositive improvements were observed in main tenant and household health status (p\0.001; p = 0.009, respectively), main tenant satisfaction with financial situation (p = 0.020), number of rooms left unheated per household (p\0.001), frequency of household outpatient appointments (p = 0.001), and accident/emergency department attendance (p\0.012).Conclusions Warmth-related housing improvements may be a cost-effective means of improving the health of social housing tenants and reducing health service expenditure, particularly in older populations.

KW - Housing

KW - Health economics

KW - Cost analysis

KW - Cost-consequence analysis

KW - Cohort study

KW - Public Health

U2 - 10.1007/s00038-017-0989-y

DO - 10.1007/s00038-017-0989-y

M3 - Article

VL - 62

SP - 1039

EP - 1050

JO - International Journal of Public Health

JF - International Journal of Public Health

SN - 1661-8564

IS - 9

ER -