Biomedical subjects
Margaret Somerville
Publications and source records attributed to Margaret Somerville.
The Watcombe housing study: the short-term effect of improving housing conditions on the indoor environment.
A three-year study (1999-2001) was initiated in the UK to assess the effect of improving housing conditions in 3-4 bedroom, single-family unit, social rented sector houses on the health of the occupants. The houses were randomised into two groups. Phase I houses received extensive upgrading including wet central heating, on demand ventilation, double-glazed doors, cavity wall and roof/loft insulation. An identical intervention for Phase II houses was delayed for one year. As part of this randomised waiting list study, discrete measurements were made of indoor environmental variables in each house, to assess the short-term effects of improving housing conditions on the indoor environment. Variables representative of indoor environmental conditions were measured in the living room, bedroom and outdoors in each of the three years of the study. In 2000, there was a significant difference between the changes from 1999 to 2000 between Phase I (upgraded) and II (not then upgraded) houses for bedroom temperatures (p=0.002). Changes in wall surface dampness and wall dampness in Phase I houses were also significantly different to the change in Phase II houses in 2000 (p=0.001), but by 2001 the Phase I houses had reverted to the same dampness levels they had before upgrading. The housing upgrades increased bedroom temperatures in all houses. Other indoor environmental variables were not affected.
Commentary: Social-ethical values issues in the political public square: principles vs. packages.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The case against euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Deathbed disputation: a response to Peter Singer.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
From local concern to randomized trial: the Watcombe Housing Project.
BACKGROUND: A randomized study of the effect on people's health of improving their housing is underway in Torbay. The link between poor health, particularly respiratory health, and poor housing conditions has been recognized for a long time, but there have been few intervention studies to demonstrate that improving housing can improve health. In 1994, South and West Devon Health Authority set up a community development project in a deprived area of Torbay, in response to the concerns of local primary health-care workers. A community development worker helped local residents survey their homes for dampness and record their respiratory symptoms. The survey reported high levels of condensation/dampness and respiratory illness and the Council agreed to direct the majority of their housing improvement funds to the estate over the next 3 years. The Health Authority, University of Plymouth and Torbay Council were successful in obtaining funding to evaluate the housing improvements from the NHS R & D programme. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Of 119 houses eligible for the study, 50 were chosen at random and improved in the first year. The rest were improved the following year. Questionnaires screening for health problems were sent to all 580 residents and baseline surveys of the indoor environment were also carried out. More detailed health surveys were completed by community nurses visiting residents in their homes. All adults were asked to complete SF-36 and GHQ 12 questionnaires, as well as disease-specific questionnaires if appropriate. PROGRESS: All houses in the study have now been improved, including insulation, double-glazing, re-roofing, heating, ventilation and electrical rewiring. Follow-up surveys are underway.