"Freedom to move through the house": How a healthy housing initiative improves quality of life in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Aust N Z J Public Health

He Kāinga Oranga Housing and Health Research Programme, Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.

Published: October 2024

Objective: This study explores experiences of the Healthy Housing Initiative (HHI). Aimed at children at risk of housing-related illness, the HHI package includes the provision of items such as curtains, heaters, bedding, and insulation, advocacy to encourage landlords to install improvements, and education and advice to help people optimise their home environment.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 20 people living in rental housing who received the HHI intervention.

Results: Participants felt heard and supported by HHI assessors. They reported that the intervention increased the warmth and dryness of the home, improved their respiratory and mental health, reduced their bills, and enabled the use of more parts of their home. However, some continued to live in cold and damp conditions due to structural inadequacies and energy poverty.

Conclusions: The qualitative evidence presented in this study shows how health-focussed interventions also benefit quality of life.

Implications For Public Health: This research emphasises that healthy housing interventions can yield extensive benefits by adopting a holistic and home-based approach. Such interventions have the potential to create improvements in individuals' lives far beyond health.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anzjph.2024.100190DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

healthy housing
12
housing initiative
8
"freedom move
4
move house"
4
house" healthy
4
housing
4
initiative improves
4
improves quality
4
quality life
4
life aotearoa
4

Similar Publications

Objective: Identify the most important sociodemographic and behavioral factors related to the diet of low-income adults with hypertension in order to guide the development of a community health worker (CHW) healthy eating intervention for low-income populations with hypertension.

Design: In this cross-sectional analysis, dietary recalls were used to assess Healthy Eating Index-2020 (HEI-2020) total (range: 0 to 100 [best diet quality]) and component scores and sodium intake. Self-reported sociodemographic and behavioral data were entered into a Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression model to determine the relative importance of factors related to diet quality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Degeneration of the nucleus pulposus affects the internal volumetric strains and failure location of adjacent human metastatic vertebral bodies.

Acta Biomater

January 2025

Department of Industrial Engineering, School of Engineering and Architecture, University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, 40136, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address:

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is suspected to affect the distribution of stress and strain near the vertebral endplates and in the underlying bone. This scenario is worsened by the presence of metastatic lesions on the vertebrae (primarily thoracic vertebrae (60-80%)) which increase the risk of fracture. As such, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of IVD degeneration on the internal volumetric strains and failure modes of human metastatic vertebral bodies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: Canada's long-term care (LTC) sector is struggling with a significant staffing crisis related to shortages, high-turnover rate, and challenging working conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues and emphasized the need for improved mental health support for LTC staff. Understanding and addressing the wellbeing of staff is important for ensuring quality of care and promoting a positive work environment for a healthy workforce.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The dataset includes vibration signatures from both healthy and faulty main journal bearings of an internal combustion engine, captured with a tri-axial accelerometer mounted on the bearings' housing. The engine was exposed to various climatic and operating conditions, including variations in temperature and humidity, and tested at different engine rotation speeds, following a standard, MIL-STD-810G. The data was collected in a state-of-the-art climatic and vibration chamber to simulate real-world environmental conditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Low Versus High Levels of Social Cognition Impairment and Their Associations With Specific Schizophrenia Symptom Domains.

J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci

January 2025

Department of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University, and Clinical Psychological Room, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan (Huang); Department of Psychology, Fo Guang University, Yilan, Taiwan (Chen); Come a New Halfway House, Taoyuan, Taiwan (Wang); Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital (Kuo, Yang, Tseng), and Institute of Behavioral Medicine (Yang, Tseng), College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.

Objective: Social cognition is defined as the ability to construct mental representations about oneself, others, and one's relationships with others to guide social behaviors, including referring to mental states (cognitive factor) and understanding emotional states (affective factor). Difficulties in social cognition may be symptoms of schizophrenia. The authors examined associations between two factors of social cognition and specific schizophrenia symptoms, as well as a potential path from low-level affective perceptual social cognition to high-level social cognition, which may be associated with schizophrenia symptoms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!