The role of housing in patient health: practitioner insights and protocol review

Anosh Nadeem Butt; Sonja Oliveira

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119226

The role of housing in patient health: practitioner insights and protocol review

Anosh Nadeem Butt, Sonja Oliveira^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Architecture

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Housing is increasingly recognised as a critical social determinant of health, yet healthcare systems often lack structured tools to identify and address the risks found in home environments. This UK-based study responds to this gap by developing an integrated approach that brings together community engagement and policy analysis to inform design of assessment tools for use in healthcare, particularly in primary care settings.
In the first phase, a public-facing exhibition gathered over 300 responses from healthcare professionals, who shared experiences of housing-related health concerns such as cold, damp, overcrowding, energy insecurity, and mental stress. These insights highlighted the everyday health challenges linked to housing and the limitations professionals face in addressing them.
The second phase consisted of a scoping review of existing home-health assessment protocols used across the UK National Health Service, local authorities, third-sector organisations, and international bodies. This review revealed a fragmented and inconsistent landscape, with wide variation in what is assessed, who is involved, and how interventions are delivered.
These findings show the value of combining frontline professional perspectives with system-level analysis to inform more cohesive tools. The study contributes to international discussions on embedding social determinants into clinical care and advancing health equity through place-based interventions.

Original language	English
Article number	119226
Number of pages	13
Journal	Social Science and Medicine
Volume	399
Early online date	31 Mar 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119226
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 31 Mar 2026

Funding

This research is part of Design HOPES, which is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, as part of the Future Observatory GTE Hub programme. The authors gratefully acknowledge support for this work by Future Observatory, the Design Museum's national research programme for the green transition; and the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant number AH/Y00373X/1].

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Keywords

social detriments of health
housing and health
primary care
home assessment tools
health systems integration

Access to Document

10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119226Licence: CC BY 4.0

Butt-Oliveira-SSM-2026-The-role-of-housing-in-patient-healthFinal published version, 4.4 MBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Design HOPES (Healthy Organisations in a Place-based Ecosystem, Scotland)
Rodgers, P. (Principal Investigator), Dixon, J. (Co-investigator), Dragojlovic-Oliveira, S. (Co-investigator), Galloway, S. (Co-investigator), Inns, T. (Co-investigator), Tapinos, E. (Co-investigator), Wodehouse, A. (Co-investigator) & Wright, G. (Co-investigator)
AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council)
1/10/23 → 31/03/28
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "The role of housing in patient health: practitioner insights and protocol review",

abstract = "Housing is increasingly recognised as a critical social determinant of health, yet healthcare systems often lack structured tools to identify and address the risks found in home environments. This UK-based study responds to this gap by developing an integrated approach that brings together community engagement and policy analysis to inform design of assessment tools for use in healthcare, particularly in primary care settings. In the first phase, a public-facing exhibition gathered over 300 responses from healthcare professionals, who shared experiences of housing-related health concerns such as cold, damp, overcrowding, energy insecurity, and mental stress. These insights highlighted the everyday health challenges linked to housing and the limitations professionals face in addressing them. The second phase consisted of a scoping review of existing home-health assessment protocols used across the UK National Health Service, local authorities, third-sector organisations, and international bodies. This review revealed a fragmented and inconsistent landscape, with wide variation in what is assessed, who is involved, and how interventions are delivered. These findings show the value of combining frontline professional perspectives with system-level analysis to inform more cohesive tools. The study contributes to international discussions on embedding social determinants into clinical care and advancing health equity through place-based interventions. ",

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The role of housing in patient health: practitioner insights and protocol review

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Projects

Design HOPES (Healthy Organisations in a Place-based Ecosystem, Scotland)

Cite this