Well Homes Initiative: A Home-Based Intervention to Address Housing-Related Ill Health
Abstract
Background: Six thousand children are hospitalized each year in New Zealand with housing sensitive conditions, and 86.2% of these children are rehospitalized during childhood. The Healthy Homes Initiative, set up by the Ministry of Health, and implemented in Wellington through Well Homes, carries out housing assessments and delivers a range of housing interventions. Method: Housing assessments were carried out by trained community workers. Philanthropic funding was received for the interventions through a local charitable trust. Results: Well Homes saw 895 families. Mold in the home was the most commonly recorded area of poor housing quality, in 836 homes (93%). Partial or complete lack of insulation was also common, with 452 records (51%) having a documented need for further assessment and either an upgrade or full installation. Eighty-three percent of homes had insufficient sources of heating. A total of 5,537 interventions were delivered. Bedding, heaters, and draft stopping were delivered over 90% of the time. In contrast, insulation and carpets were only delivered 40% of the time. Interventions were least likely to be delivered in private rental housing. Discussion: Targeted interventions using social partnerships can deliver housing improvements for relatively little health spending. Well Homes provides immediate and practical interventions, education, connection with social agencies, and advocacy for more substantial structural home improvements to help families keep their home warmer, drier, and healthier. This approach will be strengthened when combined with a new regulatory framework to raise the standards of private rental housing.
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The Healthy Homes Initiative (HHI) is a secondary prevention program to remediate the rental homes of low-income families whose children have been hospitalized for respiratory or infectious diseases to prevent their readmission into the hospital.
“The HHI is a secondary prevention program to remediate the rental homes of low-income families whose children have been hospitalized for respiratory or infectious diseases to prevent their readmission into the hospital (129).”
From Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being (2023) · cites this paper as [129]
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- Authors
- Pierse, N., White, M., Ombler, J., Davis, C., Chisholm, E., Baker, M., & Howden-Chapman, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Otago (NZ)
- Tū Kotahi Māori Asthma Trust (NZ)
- University of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
- Corresponding author
- Pierse, Nevil
- Venue
- Health Education & Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-11-04
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 836-844
- ISSN
- 1090-1981 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-6127
- OpenAlex
- W3097589852
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 1.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Health Education & Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban and Rural Development Challenges
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Energy and Environment Impacts
- Keywords
- home-based intervention, housing assessment, pediatric hospitalization, hospital readmission, home insulation, heating, private rental housing, community workers, social partnership, philanthropic funding, housing quality
- MeSH terms
- Child, Housing, Humans, New Zealand
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