BLINDINGLY BRILLIANT? H
GOVERNMENT could relieve pressure on the NHS by investing in upgrades to social housing, according to a new study.
The findings suggest that making home improvements could help to considerably reduce emergency hospital admissions.
Cold houses are thought to cause 33 per cent of respiratory and 40 per cent of cardiovascular diseases and an estimated 12.8 excess deaths per 100,000 occur due to living in inadequately heated houses.
Researchers at Swansea University worked with data from residents of nearly 9,000 council homes in Carmarthenshire between 2007 and 2016.
Residents received improvements to their homes, including new heating and electrical systems, wall and loft insulation, new kitchens and bathrooms, windows and doors, and garden paths.
Hospital admission data were linked to information provided by Carmarthenshire County Council on each of the homes that received improvements.
Researchers then compared the number of hospital admissions for tenants who lived in homes with the improvements to those whose homes had not yet been improved.
They found substantial decreases in the number of hospital admissions for those in the improved homes.
Findings showed a substantial decrease of up to 39 per cent in emergency admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, as well as fall and burn injuries.
This was for tenants aged 60 and over, but there were similar results for all ages. Prescribed asthma medications and GP visits also dropped for residents of all ages.
Professor Sarah Rodgers, who led the study, said: “Our findings showed that housing upgrades could reduce the strain on the NHS and release beds for planned admissions.”
Councillor Linda Evans, Carmarthenshire County Council’s executive board member for housing, said: “We have already used the heath evaluation results and study team recommendations to update our development plans.
“We encourage the adoption of the recommendations by local authorities around the UK and further afield.
“Making small changes in housing policy improves health, which also carries social, economic and environmental benefits for all.”
The study, Health impact, and economic value, of meeting housing quality standards, is published in the journal Public Health Research. OW you dress your windows can have a big impact on the overall look of a room, but picking colours and materials is just the tip of the iceberg. Often, one of the biggest decisions will be choosing between curtains or blinds (although sometimes a combination of the two is best), but even this isn’t just a question of aesthetics, as it’s important to consider functional practicalities and maintenance too. So, where do we start? Generally speaking, blinds will be easier - and cheaper - to clean than curtains, depending on the type of fabric used (there may be some curtain fabrics you can wash at home). “While most curtain fabrics will need to be professionally dry-cleaned, the majority of blinds can be cleaned at home (with the exception of Roman blind fabrics, that need to be dry-cleaned),” says interiors expert Lorna McAleer from Style Studio (stylestudio.co.uk). “You can dust most blinds regularly with a soft cloth on both sides to get rid of any dust build up. For venetian blinds, a feather duster is convenient to get in between those awkward slats.” coatings can also be applied to fabric blinds to prevent the growth of mould and mildew,” says McAleer.
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