Poor Quality Housing Research Articles

Locked down: Ontological security and the experience of COVID-19 while living in poor-quality housing.

The aim of the paper is to illustrate how the housing system in the United Kingdom (UK) has contributed to creating vulnerabilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Drawing on the concept of ontological security we look at how living with housing insecurity whilst enduring poor housing conditions has impacted the lives of those living in households. The paper draws on semi‐structured interviews with 50 residents and 8 housing professionals. The findings outline the grinding impact of the pandemic on the ontological security of residents and the coping strategies adopted by a wider range of households who are now increasingly vulnerable. A number of people went into lockdown in vulnerable situations, experiencing deep inequalities and living in poorly maintained homes. This has weakened the ontological security experienced by many households. These represent significant failings of the housing system and housing policy impacting on the health and wellbeing of a wider cohort of people creating additional vulnerabilities.

An exploration of off-campus private student housing in Praygaraj, India

PurposeBy using exploratory mixed methods, this study aims to present the investigation of the existing situation of private off-campus student accommodation at the University of Allahabad (UoA) in Prayagraj city.Design/methodology/approachThis study explored the geographical variability of student’s private rental housing in Prayagraj city of India through 721 responses from an online semi-structured questionnaire, together with 12 interviews. Moran’s I and LISA were used to determine spatial clustering of rents paid by male and female students.FindingsResults of this study reveal prevalence of unregulated with poor quality of off-campus housing in general and expensive rents in the proximity of UoA.Research limitations/implicationsObtaining less responses from the female students was one of the important limitations.Practical implicationsA win-win strategy might be formulated with a mix of innovative solutions inclusive of public private partnerships and social economy solutions woven with need-based rental housing, rekindled as the affordable rental housing complexes after COVID-19 pandemic.Social implicationsThis study is highly beneficial to improve liveability in the student housing segment.Originality/valueThis paper develops extensive understanding on the potential student housing segment in the Indian cities. Additionally, this paper demonstrates weak coordination between the central government policies, educational administrators and municipal officials.

Does poor quality housing impact on child health? Evidence from the social housing sector in Avon, UK

The correlation between poor quality housing and children's physical health has been well documented. Yet a limitation of the literature is the prevalence of selection bias and comparatively little evidence on children's mental health outcomes. This study explored the role of housing (and neighbourhood) quality in explaining differences in childhood mental and physical health between those living in social-rented flats and houses. The social housing allocation process mitigated unobserved differences across the two groups addressing some of the issues of endogenous selection, although stopping short of representing causal identification. Poorer housing quality explained over 50% of the 0.18 standard deviation deficit in the mental health of children in flats compared with houses, with primary mediators being damp and mould, home temperature, and mother's perception of her own home, but played no role in explaining physical health deficits of children in flats. In contrast, neighbourhood quality did not account for any of the mental and physical health deficits observed. Taken together, the present study adds to the evidence that the home environment of children in social housing is related to their development, whilst taking us beyond the existing literature in terms of accounting for selection bias.

Planning, Housing and Environmental Challenges of Hilltop Settlements in Zinariya and Azurfa Areas of Jos, Nigeria

Jos is a town in central Nigeria whose growth and development is closely associated with the commercial exploitation and mining of tin ore by the British colonisers at the beginning of the twentieth century. The terrain of the area is generally over 1000m above sea level. Hilltop settlements within Jos have sprang up as a result of the early mining settlements, rapid urbanization, urban expansion and rapid population growth which have exerted high demand for land for housing. The Government and Urban authorities have failed to provide planned and serviced lands on desirable sites to the expanding population, who in turn have resorted to self-help through the open market to provide shelter for themselves often without planning approvals and basic infrastructural facilities. Settlements on steep slopes and hilltops pose peculiar planning challenges arising from the nature of their terrain, costs of construction and maintenance of buildings, poor structural quality of housing, provision of social services and public facilities; poor drainage, inadequate liquid and solid waste management, haphazard development and proclivity to environmental hazards. The growth of hilltop settlements is expected to have major consequences on both humans and the environment, which are inextricably linked. Implications of these hilltop settlements on physical planning in Jos North includes; deviation from the city master plan, difficulty in the provision of services (both physical and social), chaotic and disorderly growth of the city, inaccessibility to vehicular traffic due to poor road network or lack of it. To carry out the study, descriptive research design and quantitative approach were used. primary data was collected from those households living on the hilltop settlements of Azurfa and Zinariya, which are the case study areas, the researcher distributed 400 questionnaires, out of which, 391 (97.8%) responded by filling and returning the questionnaires. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained using primary and secondary sources of data. Appropriate recommendations were made, and if implemented by government, planning agencies and property developers, this will improve the housing, environmental, infrastructural and the quality of lives of residents of the studied hilltop settlements.

Drivers of long-lasting insecticide-treated net utilisation and parasitaemia among under-five children in 13 States with high malaria burden in Nigeria.

Although Nigeria has made some progress in malaria control, there are variations across States. We investigated the factors associated with utilisation of long-lasting insecticide-treated net (LLIN) and parasitaemia among under-five children in 13 States with high malaria burden. Data from the 2015 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey and 2018 Demographic and Health Survey were obtained and analysed. The 2015 and 2018 data were compared to identify States with increase or reduction in parasitaemia. Analysis was done for all the 13 study States; four States with increased parasitaemia and nine States with reduction. Random-effects logit models were fitted to identify independent predictors of LLIN utilisation and parasitaemia. LLIN was used by 53.4% of 2844 children, while parasitaemia prevalence was 26.4% in 2018. Grandchildren (AOR = 5.35, CI: 1.09-26.19) were more likely to use LLIN while other relatives (AOR = 0.33, CI: 0.11-0.94) were less likely compared to children of household-heads. LLIN use was more common in children whose mother opined that only weak children could die from malaria (AOR = 1.83, CI: 1.10-3.10). Children whose mothers obtained net from antenatal or immunisation clinics (AOR = 5.30, CI: 2.32-12.14) and campaigns (AOR = 1.77, CI: 1.03-3.04) were also more likely to use LLIN. In contrast, LLIN utilisation was less likely among children in female-headed households (AOR = 0.51, CI: 0.27-0.99) and those in poor-quality houses (AOR = 0.25, CI: 0.09-0.72). Children aged 24-59 months compared to 0-11 months (AOR = 1.78, CI: 1.28-2.48), those in whom fever was reported (AOR = 1.31, CI: 1.06-1.63) and children of uneducated women (AOR = 1.89, CI: 1.32-2.70) were more likely to have parasitaemia. The likelihood of parasitaemia was higher among children from poor households compared to the rich (AOR = 2.06, CI: 1.24-3.42). The odds of parasitaemia were 98% higher among rural children (AOR = 1.98, CI: 1.37-2.87). The key drivers of LLIN utilisation were source of net and socioeconomic characteristics. The latter was also a key factor associated with parasitaemia. These should be targeted as part of integrated malaria elimination efforts.

Tenure security, housing quality and energy (in)justice in Dhaka’s slums

This article reports on a causal link from urban poverty, through tenure insecurity and poor-quality housing, to energy injustices for slum dwellers. Impacts of those injustices on residents’ well-being are identified. The prevalent physical manifestation of rapid urbanisation and urban poverty in the Global South is the incidence of slums. This article engages with the academic debate on ‘energy justice’, a relatively nascent field. This article takes a more fine-grained view of energy justice than most previous scholarship, examining the energy experience at a household scale in a specific setting of urban poverty. The contention of this article is that energy injustices prevail in informal settlements not only due to issues of governance and poverty, but also, to a significant degree, as a result of the urban poor being deprived of secure tenure and decent housing. Further, these injustices impact on people’s well-being. The latter point is explored though a capability analysis in a case-study slum in Dhaka. The case-study slum, Kallyanpur Pora Bostee, is a squatter settlement on government land in Dhaka.

Assessing the impact of selective licencing schemes for private rental housing on mental health and well-being: protocol for a mixed-method natural experiment study in Greater London, UK

IntroductionThe UK private rental housing market has poorer quality housing compared with other sectors and is subjected to calls for better regulation. Poor quality housing poses risks to mental and...

Placing a housing lens on neighbourhood disadvantage, socioeconomic position and mortality

Placing a housing lens on neighbourhood disadvantage, socioeconomic position and mortality

Severe housing and neighborhood inequities of households with disabled members and households in need of long-term services and supports

A growing body of research underscores housing security as a critical determinant of healthy community living. Another body of research finds that households with people with disability are more likely to live in poor-quality housing and neighborhoods, challenging their ability for community engagement and healthy living. In this paper we focus on housing security indicators for two groups, households with a disabled member and households with a disabled member in need of long-term services and supports (LTSS). Our empirical goals are twofold: 1) Extend existing research on disparities in housing security for households with a disabled member compared to non-disability households overall, and 2) Compare housing security among LTSS disability, non-LTSS disability, and non-disability households. Using 2017 American Housing Survey data, we measure housing security in three areas: housing quality, neighborhood quality, and housing affordability. Weighted descriptive analysis and multivariate logistic regressions show that households with members with disabilities overall and LTSS disability households specifically consistently have the worst housing outcomes. Despite concerted efforts and federal law, LTSS disability households continue to live in poorer-quality housing and neighborhoods than non-LTSS disability households. Addressing these housing inequities is critical to enable people with disabilities to live healthier and community-integrated lives.

Health-Related Social Needs Among Older Adults Enrolled In Medicare Advantage

Among older adults enrolled in Medicare Advantage, health-related social needs are highly prevalent, with financial strain, food insecurity, and poor housing quality the most commonly reported. The distribution of health-related social needs is uneven, with significant disparities according to race, socioeconomic status, and sex.

753 Segregation, Vulnerability, and Fundamental Causes: Understanding the Social Dimensions of Burn Injury

IntroductionSociologists have long investigated the enduring link between place and health. Despite prolific research in this field, there are health issues that remain obscured in the literature. The goal of this work is to examine the spatial-health relationship(s) between place of residence and burn injuries, the socially produced vulnerability of individuals living in high-risk areas, and the experience of being burned in these identified areas. Fundamental cause theory, which focuses on an individual’s ability to either avoid health risks or minimize the consequences of these risks, is employed to demonstrate the worsening effects of socioeconomic status (classism) and race (racism) on burn injuries. Managing health risks is dependent upon access to and utilization of flexible resources (knowledge, money, freedom, power, prestige, and social networks) that are differentially distributed across populations based on social conditions like age, race-ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and neighborhood infrastructure.MethodsExploratory spatial and cluster analysis using ArcGIS (a geographic information system) of accidental, at-home burn incidence in an historically redlined county.ResultsAnalysis shows burn injuries tend to cluster in areas marked by low-income, higher numbers of racial-ethnic minorities, and poorer quality housing. Table 1 shows preliminary descriptive data about the study population.ConclusionsDespite advances in treatment and prevention, there are socially-constructed and salient environmental risks that leave some communities vulnerable to burn injury. Historical practices, like racial residential segregation and redlining, have concentrated racial-ethnic minority communities marked by lower-income, poorer quality housing, and other burn-risk factors.

The Status and Impact of Severe Housing Problems and Evictions in North Carolina.

Housing costs, eviction rates, homelessness, and the number of families living in substandard conditions are rising quickly. The poor quality of housing and high rates of evictions today will result in additional health issues and challenge systems to meet the "Healthy North Carolina 2030" housing goals.

‘The way to end housing problems’: tenant protest in New Zealand in the 1970s

ABSTRACT Private renters in New Zealand during the 1970s paid high rents relative to their incomes and endured poor quality and insecure housing. Protest groups formed across the country in order to protect and promote tenant interests; a rare occurrence in New Zealand’s history. The groups supported tenants through direct action and legal advice and lobbied for policy change. This paper draws on the archives of tenant groups to investigate why these groups arose at this time, what they achieved, and what challenges they experienced. The groups assisted many tenants, contributed to clarifying tenancy law, and, in some cases, evolved into service providers. However, they were challenged by the systemic policy bias toward homeownership and ultimately failed to create a more equitable housing system.

Gender Differences in COVID-19 Lockdown Impact on Mental Health of Undergraduate Students.

Background: Prolonged university closures and social distancing-imposed measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic obliged students to at-home learning with online lectures and educational programs promoting potential social isolation, loneliness, hopelessness, and episodes of clinical decompensation.Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was carried out in a university institute in Milan, Northern Italy, to assess the COVID-19 lockdown impact on the mental health of the undergraduate students. We estimated the odds ratios (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) using adjusted logistic regression models.Results: Of the 8,177 students, 12.8% reported depressive symptoms, 25.6% anxiety, 8.7% insomnia, and 10.6% reported impulsive tracts, with higher proportions among females than males. Mental health symptoms were positively associated with caring for a person at home, a poor housing quality, and a worsening in working performance. Among males compared with females, a poor housing quality showed a stronger positive association with depressive symptoms and impulsivity, and a worsening in the working performance was positively associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms. In addition, the absence of private space was positively associated with depression and anxiety, stronger among males than females.Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first multidisciplinary consortium study, involving public mental health, environmental health, and architectural design. Further studies are needed to confirm or refute our findings and consequent recommendations to implement well-being interventions in pandemic conditions.

A Systematic Review of the Benefits of Automation Inspection Tools for Quality Housing Delivery

Efficient and effective inspection is vital for the quality delivery of housing construction. Houses are being inspected less frequently due to incapacitated inspectorates, high cost, and the long duration of the current inspection process. Furthermore, traditional inspection processes often contribute to poor quality housing delivery are inspector dependent and complex and unsafe working environment is exposed to inspectors. Automated inspection technologies play a vital role in the inspection of housing construction. Automation-assisted technologies such as laser scanners, drones and Augmented Reality (AR)-based inspection equipped with multiple imaging and sensing systems have been developed to mitigate some of these issues with the traditional method of inspection processes. This paper reviews relevant peer-reviewed articles to explore automation inspection process tools and technologies and highlight their benefits in the housing construction process. Following the systematic literature assessment methodology, five (5) databases were queried, based on the specific search string. Specifically, 26 journal articles satisfying a set of inclusion criteria were reviewed, its results highlighting the benefits of adopting an automated inspection process for quality housing delivery. The review of the journal articles revealed that the automation inspection process is available with several benefits demonstrating the potential to improve the quality housing delivery with the aid of tools and technologies like Augmented Reality (AR)-based inspection, 3D laser scanning, Drones, and BIM-based inspection. Benefits such as time-saving, limited human intervention during the construction process, inspection accuracy, reduced resource requirements, and improved collaboration between stakeholders. This study also revealed that while new technologies are evolving with benefits to improve the inspection process, there is still a gap in the practical application of these automated inspection process technologies during housing construction. The outcome of this study would benefit both the housing owners (clients), building inspection entities, building construction researchers, and the industry professionals to realise the potential of the automation inspection process and understand the requirements and benefits for their successful implementation.

Evaluation of a Program to Reduce Home Environment Risks for Children with Asthma Residing in Urban Areas.

Pediatric asthma morbidity is often linked to challenges including poor housing quality, inability to access proper medical care, lack of medications, and poor adherence to medical regimens. Such factors also propagate known disparities, by race and income, in asthma-related outcomes. Multimodal home visits have an established evidence base in support of their use to improve such outcomes. The Collaboration to Lessen Environmental Asthma Risks (CLEAR) is a partnership between the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the local health department which carries out home visits to provide healthy homes education and write orders for remediation should code violations and environmental asthma triggers be identified. To assess the strengths and weaknesses of the program, we obtained qualitative feedback from health professionals and mothers of children recently hospitalized with asthma using key informant interviews. Health professionals viewed the program as a positive support system for families and highlighted the potential benefit of education on home asthma triggers and connecting families with services for home improvements. Mothers report working to correct asthma triggers in the home based on the education they received during the course of their child’s recent illness. Some mothers indicated mistrust of the health department staff completing home visits, indicating a further need for research to identify the sources of this mistrust. Overall, the interviews provided insights into successful areas of the program and areas for program improvement.

Association of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and cognitive decline

AbstractBackgroundThere is increasing emphasis on research recruitment of persons of color to understand the influence of race/ethnicity on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD‐related dementia (ADRD) risk. Normal persons with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) are considered at risk for future decline as SCD is thought to be a preclinical stage of AD/ADRD. Yet the validity of SCD across racial and ethnic groups is unclear. Race/ethnicity‐related conditions such as socio‐economic disadvantage, neighborhood segregation, and poor housing quality (neighborhood deprivation) are important factors in stress, discrimination and other social determinants of health and may provide more in‐depth explanations for SCD than race/ethnicity alone.MethodWe examined the role of neighborhood deprivation and compared this to the role of race/ethnicity in SCD using a validated instrument, the Brief Cognitive Rating Scale (BCRS). Using the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), we cross‐sectionally examined the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and SCD in a racially and ethnically diverse group of community‐residing older adults in New York City. For those having available addresses, we used data from participants with normal cognition in the NYU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (n=313) and conducted multivariable logistic regressions, comparing two models with the BCRS as our outcome: using the ADI without race/ethnicity and then with race/ethnicity, both adjusting for age, sex, education (years).ResultParticipant mean age was 72.8.0 ± 7.4 years; mean education was 16.3± 3.1 years. Seventy‐six percent of the cohort was female (n=232); 12.1% (n= 38) reported as Hispanic, 73.5% (n=230) non‐Hispanic (NH) White; 13.4% reported as NH Black or African‐American (n=42); and 3 were other. In multivariable logistic regressions of BCRS domain‐specific analysis, ADI was a significant predictor of BCRS‐measured SCD even when race/ethnicity was included as a covariate (p<0.05), suggesting independent influence of neighborhood deprivation.ConclusionNeighborhood characteristics may play an influential role in SCD regardless of race/ethnicity and thus are likely important risk factors for AD/ADRD. If larger and more diverse studies generate similar findings, neighborhood investment and recruitment goals for AD/ADRD studies will require more focus on neighborhoods with greater deprivation.

Factors influencing the quality of low-income housing in Polokwane Municipality South Africa

Recent South African and international evidence highlights the broad and lasting impacts of households, particularly those on low income, when unable to afford higher income counterparts to live in apartments, maintained public housing, and other high-quality houses. A broad range of low-income houses recently built in South African local municipalities are reportedly defective, due to poor building and construction quality. This study aims to assess and determine the factors influencing high-quality housing positively impacting on the lives of a significant proportion of low-income housing projects. Reasons for and obstacles to quality design, construction quality and the development of low-income housing projects were identified. To assess the research questions, a quantitative survey (n=103) was carried out, simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select contractors who were active in low-income housing projects within the Polokwane Municipality. The quantitative data gathered were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to determine a combination of descriptive and non-parametric statistics of the data computing the frequencies, mean scores and standard deviations. Selected results show that poor-quality and low-income housing projects are perceived to be related to the contractors, builders and construction practitioners not complying with the standards, variously because of insufficient training or accountability to public authorities and end users of low-income houses, i.e., the beneficiaries. The respondents were of the view that house builders and local government authorities could use five factors, namely quality standards, management, involvement of people, process design and process, planning and scheduling to assess non-conformance to quality requirements in low-income housing projects in South Africa. The finding of this study provides a platform for improving the quality of housing design, construction projects, sustainability and an opportunity for local and international design and construction professionals to rethink design in the context of low-income housing projects.

Home environmental change for child injury prevention in Nepal: A qualitative study.

In Nepal, unintentional home injury is a leading reason for death and disability among pre-school children. However, there is a lack of evidence to inform culturally appropriate interventions to reduce home injuries. This study explored the potential for home environmental change at a community level to prevent unintentional home injury in children and identified the barriers to, and facilitators of, such changes. Focus groups were conducted in the Nepali language with mothers, fathers, teachers, school students and community health volunteers in rural areas of Makwanpur district in Nepal. The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated into English and analysed thematically. NVivo software was used to support coding and identification of themes. Five focus groups, involving forty-seven participants, were completed leading to the development of four themes. Overall, the findings highlight that community people perceive injuries to be a normal part of childhood and, therefore, few prevention measures were considered. Parents were, however, able to identify ways to change their environment that made it safer. Changes included removing hazards or adding safety equipment, adapting the home or restricting access to potential hazards. Barriers to implementation included limited awareness about injury hazards and risk management, poor quality housing and financial constraint. Facilitators included raising community awareness, acquiring resources and financial support and involving the family and community. Development of interventions to prevent injuries at home in pre-school children should reflect local context and culture; this is best achieved through engagement with parents.

Climate change: A Wumpurrarni‐kari and Papulanyi‐kari shared problem

Climate change: A <i>Wumpurrarni‐kari</i> and <i>Papulanyi‐kari</i> shared problem