Improving the state of health hardware in Australian Indigenous housing: building more houses is not the only answer
Background. This article outlines a program of applied research and development known as Housing for Health that, over the period 1999–2012, targeted health-related improvements in housing for Indigenous householders in communities across regional and remote Australia. In essence, the pro...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a3b15050896848cdacb5101e93f83088 2023-05-15T15:07:31+02:00 Improving the state of health hardware in Australian Indigenous housing: building more houses is not the only answer Paul Pholeros Tess Lea Stephan Rainow Tim Sowerbutts Paul J. Torzillo 2013-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21181 https://doaj.org/article/a3b15050896848cdacb5101e93f83088 EN eng Taylor & Francis Group http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/download/21181/pdf_1 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 doi:10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21181 2242-3982 https://doaj.org/article/a3b15050896848cdacb5101e93f83088 International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 72, Iss 0, Pp 1-6 (2013) Indigenous housing environmental health Australia Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21181 2022-12-31T08:46:22Z Background. This article outlines a program of applied research and development known as Housing for Health that, over the period 1999–2012, targeted health-related improvements in housing for Indigenous householders in communities across regional and remote Australia. In essence, the program focuses on measuring the functionality of key appliances and structures (we term this “health hardware”) against clear criteria and ensuring identified faults are fixed. Methods. Detailed survey and assessment of all aspects of housing was undertaken, particularly focusing on the function of health hardware. All results were entered into a database and analyzed. Results. The results demonstrate extremely poor initial performance of the health hardware. A key finding is that attention to maintenance of existing houses can be a cost-effective means of improving health outcomes and also suggests the need to superintend the health-conferring qualities of new infrastructure. We briefly outline the early foundations of the Housing for Health program, major findings from data gathered before and after improvements to household amenities, and our efforts to translate these findings into broader policy. Conclusions. These data demonstrate that simply injecting funds into housing construction is not sufficient for gaining maximum health benefit. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic International Journal of Circumpolar Health 72 1 21181 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Indigenous housing environmental health Australia Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
spellingShingle |
Indigenous housing environmental health Australia Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Paul Pholeros Tess Lea Stephan Rainow Tim Sowerbutts Paul J. Torzillo Improving the state of health hardware in Australian Indigenous housing: building more houses is not the only answer |
topic_facet |
Indigenous housing environmental health Australia Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
description |
Background. This article outlines a program of applied research and development known as Housing for Health that, over the period 1999–2012, targeted health-related improvements in housing for Indigenous householders in communities across regional and remote Australia. In essence, the program focuses on measuring the functionality of key appliances and structures (we term this “health hardware”) against clear criteria and ensuring identified faults are fixed. Methods. Detailed survey and assessment of all aspects of housing was undertaken, particularly focusing on the function of health hardware. All results were entered into a database and analyzed. Results. The results demonstrate extremely poor initial performance of the health hardware. A key finding is that attention to maintenance of existing houses can be a cost-effective means of improving health outcomes and also suggests the need to superintend the health-conferring qualities of new infrastructure. We briefly outline the early foundations of the Housing for Health program, major findings from data gathered before and after improvements to household amenities, and our efforts to translate these findings into broader policy. Conclusions. These data demonstrate that simply injecting funds into housing construction is not sufficient for gaining maximum health benefit. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Paul Pholeros Tess Lea Stephan Rainow Tim Sowerbutts Paul J. Torzillo |
author_facet |
Paul Pholeros Tess Lea Stephan Rainow Tim Sowerbutts Paul J. Torzillo |
author_sort |
Paul Pholeros |
title |
Improving the state of health hardware in Australian Indigenous housing: building more houses is not the only answer |
title_short |
Improving the state of health hardware in Australian Indigenous housing: building more houses is not the only answer |
title_full |
Improving the state of health hardware in Australian Indigenous housing: building more houses is not the only answer |
title_fullStr |
Improving the state of health hardware in Australian Indigenous housing: building more houses is not the only answer |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improving the state of health hardware in Australian Indigenous housing: building more houses is not the only answer |
title_sort |
improving the state of health hardware in australian indigenous housing: building more houses is not the only answer |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21181 https://doaj.org/article/a3b15050896848cdacb5101e93f83088 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
genre_facet |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
op_source |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 72, Iss 0, Pp 1-6 (2013) |
op_relation |
http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/download/21181/pdf_1 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 doi:10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21181 2242-3982 https://doaj.org/article/a3b15050896848cdacb5101e93f83088 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21181 |
container_title |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
container_volume |
72 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
21181 |
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1766339007323570176 |