USW Psychologists address national housing concerns

Psychologists at the University of South Wales (USW) have established a ‘Housing and Health Centre of Excellence’ to address the growing call for research into the impact of housing on health in Wales.

Funded by Knowledge Exchange and Innovation fund (KEIF), the Centre also aims to address the need for more effective collaboration across the sector. It will bring together a cross-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder network to collaboratively explore housing and health from a psychological perspective across policy, research, and practice.

In November, the Centre convened a consensus event with key individuals from practice, academia, government, statutory, and the third sector organisations to set research priorities for Wales.

In the first round of discussions 111 research priorities were identified, which were then voted on and narrowed down to five priorities:

1. Understanding the barriers and facilitators for enabling houses and communities to support people to thrive
2. Evidencing and measuring housing as a key driver of health inequalities (value of the home – cost, health & wellbeing)
3. Challenges and opportunities in AI and tech – communication strategies, what works, for who, when to implement. Impact on wellbeing?
4. Implementing systems thinking to identify ways to facilitate change – creating space for the individual in the system.
5. Physical health needs (now and future) and matching that to housing stock

Dr Dan Bowers, Head of Psychology, said: “Our next steps are to develop a research action plan, conduct further research with service users and communities, and to apply for funding to conduct the five priorities identified.

“We would like to thank all those who attended the consensus event. Thank you also to Linc Cymru for co-funding the event and for providing their time, expertise, and consideration in both the preparation and delivery of the event.”

Dr Gareth Morgan, Strategic Partnerships Manager for Hywel Dda Health Board, said: “Housing is a major factor for both individual wellbeing and pressures on healthcare services. Through a partnership approach, we can develop solutions to this underpinned by high quality research that provides evidence-base on which to make informed decisions.

“The work that USW are undertaking has real potential to make a substantial difference and impact positively across Wales as well as internationally.”

Beth Underwood, Health Housing Innovation Programme Manager, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, said: “At the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Healthy Housing Alliance, we have a mission to improve the health and well-being of people and their homes. We want to support communities to thrive.

“Being able to work with others who want to achieve the same goal, and to really understand the how and where we are truly making a difference, is vital to understanding the value of our health and housing work in Cwm Taf Morgannwg. Working closely with USW also provides the opportunity to be at the heart of a growing body of research and evidence around the impact of the home on a person’s health.”