Cold homes, fuel poverty and energy efficiency improvements: A longitudinal focus group approach

Evaluating the impacts on health outcomes of Welsh Government funded schemes designed to improve the energy efficiency of the homes of low income households

Living in a cold and/or damp house is known to increase the risk of morbidity, mortality and excess winter deaths. To reduce fuel poverty and its adverse health effects in Wales the Welsh Government developed programmes to improve the energy efficiency of homes. These included the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) and subsequent Warm Homes NEST scheme. Both schemes supported those most likel...

The short-term health and psychosocial impacts of domestic energy efficiency investments in low-income areas: a controlled before and after study

BACKGROUND Research suggests that living in fuel poverty and cold homes contributes to poor physical and mental health, and that interventions targeted at those living in poor quality housing may lead to health improvements. However, little is known about the socio-economic intermediaries and processes that contribute to better health. This study examined the relationship between energy efficie...

The health consequences of fuel poverty: what should the role of primary care be?

The health consequences of fuel poverty: what should the role of primary care be? T HE Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England has recently asked all primary health care professionals to identify people whose health is at risk from cold and damp housing and to refer them to the new Home Energy Efficiency Scheme. 1 This is part of the Government's commitment to reducing the health effects of fue...

The health impacts of cold homes and fuel poverty.

Child and youth fuel poverty: assessing the known and unknown

The broad health effects of fuel poverty include both the physiological and psychosocial effects of exposure to adverse indoor temperatures. Fuel poverty poses a greater risk to groups spending more time at home, including older people, people with disabilities or chronic illness, and families with young children. To date, fuel poverty research has focused on the first two of these groups, whil...