Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine sheltered housing tenants' views of health and well-being, the strategies they adopted to support their well-being, and their use of health and social care services through a Health Needs Assessment. Sheltered housing in the UK is a form of service-integrated housing for people, predominantly over 60. The study used a parallel, three-strand mixed method approach to encompass the tenants' perceptions of health and well-being (n=96 participants), analysis of the service's health and well-being database, and analysis of emergency and elective hospital admissions (n=978 tenant data sets for the period January to December 2012). Tenants' perceptions of well-being were seen to reinforce much of the previous work on the subject with strategies required to sustain social, community, physical, economic, environmental, leisure, emotional and spiritual dimensions. Of the tenants' self-reported chronic conditions, arthritis, heart conditions and breathing problems were identified as their most common health concerns. Hospital admission data indicated that 43% of the tenant population was admitted to hospital (886 admissions) with 53% emergency and 47% elective admissions. The potential cost of emergency as opposed to elective admissions was substantial. The mean length of stay for emergency admissions was 8.2days (median 3.0days). While elective hospital admission had a mean length of stay of 1.0day (median 0.0days). These results suggest the need for multi-professional health, social care and housing services interventions to facilitate sheltered housing tenants' aspirations and support their strategies to live well and independently in their own homes. Equally there is a need to increase tenants' awareness of health conditions and their management, the importance of services which offer facilitation, resources and support, and the key role played by prevention and reablement.
Highlights
Across societies there is increasing awareness of the importance of providing housing options that meet the needs and aspirations of older people
This paper reports on the findings of a health needs assessment (HNA) of the tenant population of a UK sheltered housing service
These older tenants highlighted their efforts to consistently strive to maintain their health status and well-being through individual and collective action. They drew on the social capital that existed in their communities to improve their daily experiences. These older people were supported by their neighbours, and they supported them within their sheltered housing scheme
Summary
Across societies there is increasing awareness of the importance of providing housing options that meet the needs and aspirations of older people. One challenge is the level of diversity that exists within this population group This is manifested in characteristics of lifestyle, culture, health status, disability and. Later life ‘baby boomers’ have different expectations of longevity and wealth, among other factors, compared to those born in the 1920s (Timonen 2008, Thompson 2013). Housing provision for such a heterogeneous group is embedded in historical, social and market contexts across the globe
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