Posted by Peter van der Graaf, AskFuse Research Manager
Last Wednesday I attended the annual conference of the Housing Learning and Improvement Network (LIN), which explored how the housing and health sectors can work more closely and effectively together.
The case for this partnership was well made by the keynote speakers: not only are there already strong historic roots but the present day challenges faced by both sectors make them obvious partners. With the recent move of Public Health to Local Authorities, the central message from the Marmot review - improving social determinants is central to improving population health and wellbeing - has taken on a new significance for public health commissioners faced with the needs of other local government departments.
Housing is one of the key social determinants and has received much attention in recent Government policies that seek to redefine the remit of health. For instance, the Care Act outlines an overarching vision for adult social care and emphasises various housing solutions that can help to support the integration of health and social care.
The NHS has also recognised the role of housing and has proposed a new care model around housing in its Five Year Forward View, such as the Healthy New Towns initiative. As Neil Revely from Sunderland City Council and Chair of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), proclaimed: “the stars seem to align once more to bring housing and health together”. For this reason, ADASS has worked closely with NHS England to develop a Memorandum of Understanding on Housing and Health.
However, the same politics that bring both sectors together could be stumbling blocks for the partnership to take off. As members of the audience pointed out, prevention services have been hardest hit by austerity measures and many local authorities have decommissioned the services that are now most needed. With a growing and ageing population, demand is likely to increase while resources are more likely to decrease with continued budget cuts. Moreover, the ageing population means an increase in complex needs that cannot be addressed by a prevention agenda alone and in which (supported) housing is just one part of the solution.
In short, the current political and financial climate might provide a perfect storm, making it difficult for housing and health to work effectively together. The balance might be decided by the ability of the partnership to access new resources and powers, for instance, by claiming a stake in the North East devolution plans, mirrored on the success of the Greater Manchester Devolution Agreement that includes an MOU on Health and Social Care worth £6bn each year (see also the Fuse blog post by Patrick Vernon on this topic).
To make the business case for these claims, the partnership will need to build the evidence base around the impact of a joint housing and health programme in the North East. An abundance of data is available to highlight the problem areas and populations, supporting the call to arms, but limited evidence was presented at the conference on what housing providers, public health teams and care providers can effectively do to address these problems and populations. Much of the current evidence is anecdotal and in the format of case studies.
The need for more evidence of the impact of the home/housing on health and wellbeing was also reiterated by Gill Leng from Public Health England (PHE) and this is an area where Fuse could provide helpful support. What research evidence do we have available within our Centre to support the North East partnership between housing and heath? What support can we provide in developing the monitoring and evaluation framework for their programme? The recent Fuse Quarterly Research Meeting (QRM) and corresponding research brief on health and housing is a first step in this direction and the upcoming QRM in April 2016 on planning and health another, but more practical evidence is required to align the stars of local policy, practice and research and help the North East health and housing partnership to weather the current political and financial storm.
Photograph 'Incoming Storms No. 2' by Mike Lewinski via Flickr.com © 2013: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ikewinski/9448689046
Did you enjoy reading this post? If so, please vote for Fuse in the UK Blog Awards 2016 by clicking here
No comments:
Post a Comment