Abstract
This workshop formed part of the Design HOPES, an AHRC funded, design-led research centre that brings together five Scottish Universities, NHS Scotland, third-sector organisations and design practitioners organised in 7 themes. Design HOPES is focused on developing the tools, behaviours, and systems needed to enable NHS Scotland to meet its urgent Net Zero targets, while simultaneously building a more sustainable and resilient social care system. The climate crisis is increasingly recognised as a public health emergency, driving a rise in conditions like asthma, heart disease, and cancer. Design HOPES seeks to address the challenges of climate resilience and health equity by co-creating innovative solutions that operate across the built environment, public services, and care delivery systems.
Early phases of the Rhythms and Rhymes project from the Buildings and Land theme of Design HOPES, identified a significant gap in practice: while healthcare professionals are aware of the impact of poor housing conditions, such as cold, damp, overcrowding, and energy inefficiency, they often lack the tools, protocols or referral mechanisms to address these issues in practice. Despite high levels of concern, housing-related health risks remain poorly integrated into assessment pathways, clinical decision making, and community-based support systems.
The Connecting Home, Health and Healthcare Pathways workshop was convened to explore how housing and environmental risks might be assessed in practice, what indicators should be included, and who should be responsible for carrying out these assessments across settings.
By focusing on the practicalities of implementation, the workshop sought to generate grounded, practice-based knowledge that could inform the design of future tools or frameworks. In particular, it aimed to ensure that any such tool would be feasible to use within the time, resource, and safeguarding constraints faced by health, housing and care professionals, while also remaining sensitive to the lived realities of the individuals and communities they serve.
Early phases of the Rhythms and Rhymes project from the Buildings and Land theme of Design HOPES, identified a significant gap in practice: while healthcare professionals are aware of the impact of poor housing conditions, such as cold, damp, overcrowding, and energy inefficiency, they often lack the tools, protocols or referral mechanisms to address these issues in practice. Despite high levels of concern, housing-related health risks remain poorly integrated into assessment pathways, clinical decision making, and community-based support systems.
The Connecting Home, Health and Healthcare Pathways workshop was convened to explore how housing and environmental risks might be assessed in practice, what indicators should be included, and who should be responsible for carrying out these assessments across settings.
By focusing on the practicalities of implementation, the workshop sought to generate grounded, practice-based knowledge that could inform the design of future tools or frameworks. In particular, it aimed to ensure that any such tool would be feasible to use within the time, resource, and safeguarding constraints faced by health, housing and care professionals, while also remaining sensitive to the lived realities of the individuals and communities they serve.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Glasgow |
| Publisher | University of Strathclyde |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Oct 2025 |
Funding
Design HOPES is a collaborative design-led research initiative, comprising five Scottish Universities (University of Strathclyde, University of Dundee, Heriot Watt University, Abertay University, and the University of Edinburgh), NHS Scotland, the third sector, and design organisations. This project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as part of the Future Observatory GTE Hub Programme at the Design Museum [grant number AH/Y00373X/1].
Keywords
- NHS Scotland
- net zero
- social care
- healthcare
- housing
- environmental factors
- climate resilience
- health equity
