A new model for care and intervention delivered through a housing and health partnership could lead to positive wellbeing outcomes and cost savings.

For the attention of: Housing providers and health and public health professionals.

The problem: Housing and health are linked but the evidence about this is complicated.

Professionals from both housing and health could do more in working together as a way to improve health, by providing housing related support in urban areas.

Currently, there is a lack of research about how this might work.

What we did: We evaluated a partnership between housing and public health, in which a pilot new model of care was created. The intervention delivered co-commissioned personalised support using a holistic model of care in which a support worker worked with individuals to provide them with tailored needs based care. Using mixed methods of data collection, we looked at whether this model of care led to improvements in the lives of clients from their point of view, gathered the views of stakeholders involved in the project and examined the economic case for this intervention.

What our study adds: This study adds evidence about a new model of care/intervention delivered through a housing and health partnership.  It improved the health and wellbeing of people by giving them individualised support. Those using the service reported positive views of their experiences, perceptions of better health as well as increased independence and less social isolation. The intervention was associated with reduced use of community healthcare services; saving £20,818 over the period of the pilot project (one year).

Implications for city policy and practice: This intervention cost little to implement whilst offering a service with the client at the centre. As such, this would allow health and housing partnerships to enhance service user experiences whilst reducing health care costs. Housing providers working with health colleagues can not only improve the health of those with long-term conditions but also reduce local health care usage costs through the provision of care closer to home and a holistic service offer.

Links to other resources and support:

Centre for Health Promotion Research https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/school-of-health-and-community-studies/research/health-promotion/

Blog: Health promotion through housing support: A success story available at https://chprblog.com/2017/07/04/health-promotion-through-housing-support-a-success-story/

Connect Housing https://www.connecthousing.org.uk/

Locala https://www.locala.org.uk/

Twitter: CommUNIty  @LeedsCCP 

Full research article: Personalised housing support to improve health and wellbeing: findings from a local pilot programme in Yorkshire, England

Authors: Louise Warwick-Booth, Susan Coan and Anne-Marie Bagnall
Editor: Marcus Grant