– The purpose of this paper is to review the management of the (accessible) social housing stock as a means to achieve a cost effective solution to meeting the needs of an ageing population. The paper examines the costs and effectiveness of an accessible housing register (AHR) as the primary means social landlords have to utilise accessible housing stock efficiently.

– The paper examines the cost effectiveness of the most advanced AHR in the UK. The data for the study was collected in 2009 (costs/expenditure quoted relate to that year) and is derived from a combination of interrogating computerised allocation records and the collection of information on costs through interviews with local authority staff.

– The concept of an AHR can involve substantial set up costs. The financial analysis to assess their cost effectiveness proves complex but suggests that an efficient full register could be more than justified in these terms if it led to a reduction in costs, through the removal of the need for a relatively small number of adaptations in the first years of a tenancy.

– This is the first study that assesses the financial case for AHRs.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-08-2013-0012

– The purpose of this paper is to describe the attempts by one youth homelessness service to implement the conceptual ideas of the psychologically informed environment (PIE) into a practical and beneficial service for very challenging young people who have been homeless, are leaving care or have left custody.

– The approach of the paper is descriptive, outlining the thinking behind a PIE with young people and the operationalising of this understanding in the day-to-day practice of the service.

– Although homelessness and housing support staff are not therapists, the nature of the work entails a need for understanding and sensitivity, and the activities of the service are designed to create positive opportunities and relationships. Reflective practice, supervision and evaluation are then essential tools in developing a “learning organisation”, where the collective dynamics at an organisational level support the psychological work of the PIE.

– The implications for homelessness work that can be drawn from the outcome of this project is to better understand how the PIE linked to the concept of a learning organisation can provide a truly robust framework for providing a service that can evolve harmoniously, tying in disparate funding streams to offer very challenging young people an outstanding service that addresses their homelessness and its underlying causes.

– The practical implications shown are the psychological skills that can be developed in housing workers; the limits of those skills and how they are complemented by partnership work with other voluntary sector organisations and mainstream health providers; how the ideas of the learning organisation can naturally underpin the work of the PIE.

– The combination of the concept of the learning organisation, reflective practice and the PIE provides a highly original and truly robust framework for providing housing workers with the psychological tools to make a transformative difference in the lives of especially vulnerable young homeless people.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-12-2013-0024

– The purpose of this paper is to give an account by a rehabilitation psychiatrist of many years of involvement in shared housing for former long-stay hospital residents and other long-term mental health service users.

– The paper offers a personal view based on developments in one locality of East London, blending case study narrative with cited earlier published papers that confirm and/or give greater detail on specific aspects of the experience gained.

– Long-term mental health service users, given the opportunity via shared housing to develop more lasting and natural relationships, proved to have social and interactive capacity that was obscured by both the conditions of hospital wards and by isolating accommodation “in the community”. The experience provides lessons for a better understanding of patients’ problems.

– Shared housing is often seen as simply a poor substitute for independent living; but the experience recounted here suggests that shared living may have particular value for some client groups.

– The housing developments and the associated research remain unusual and of potential value for planners of long-term services.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-12-2013-0026

– The purpose of this qualitative systematic review is to examine how the nature and quality of housing affect adults receiving support for mental health problems, focusing on the less considered structural aspects of housing.

– A systematic search identified relevant research. Data consisting exclusively of service-user testimony was taken from seven studies based in varied types of accommodation in England. A synthesis was carried out using thematic analysis, and a conceptual model developed based on the themes identified from the data. A literature review examines the context, with relevant material drawn from a variety of disciplines and professions.

– There were three main determinants of whether housing was a setting that enabled users to benefit from support and enjoy a good quality of life – “autonomy”, “domain”, and “facilitation”. Secondary themes influenced these primary themes, or described respondents’ condition or feelings in relation to their housing situation. The “Tripod Model” illustrates the relationships between these themes.

– Applying systematic review methods to qualitative material proved contentious and challenging. The model produced is a hypothesis based on limited data and requiring further investigation.

– The findings suggest that a balance is required to increase the chances of successful and sustainable housing outcomes for service-users.

– The model enables a holistic understanding of issues affecting service-users, and the interdependent nature of these. It offers a new typology based on a synthesis of data drawn from a spectrum of accommodation, which gives it a breadth a single piece of research could not encompass.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-10-2013-0018

– Appropriate housing for the growing population of older adults is becoming an international concern. The purpose of this paper is to report on a review of UK and international literature carried out as part of a project exploring the commissioning and delivery of social care in housing with care settings. The paper also considers housing with care in the context of UK policy and practice.

– The peer literature review process used a range of academic databases as well as government and third sector web sites, drawing on relevant material in English published from 1990 to 2012.

– Findings are presented within three main themes: how care and support is provided; the role of the built environment; and the benefits for resident well-being. The review found a paucity of literature focusing specifically on care and support in housing with care settings, particularly in terms of how social care is delivered, but the evidence base suggests that housing with care is in a strong position to deliver on most if not all UK government aspirations.

– Despite a growing literature both in the UK and internationally exploring the characteristics and benefits of housing with care for older people, substantial gaps remain in the research evidence.

– This paper presents an up to date review of the housing with care literature in the context of current UK policy.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-09-2013-0017

– Changes in the UK social care sector over the past 20 years have effected a fundamental shift in commissioning and delivery relationships. This “quasi-market” challenges existing theory and models around competitive advantage. This study, as outlined in two earlier articles, addressed weaknesses in the defining framework for analysis and business planning in this new environment; the purpose of this concluding paper is to propose a new perspective for those interested in entering this market.

– The original research comprised a constructive research approach through a single holistic case study, using qualitative research methods including document analysis, interviews, secondary data, observations and facilitated meetings.

– This final paper offers a structured framework of analysis and response: the External Drivers Model.

– The model was developed for a scenario impacting upon a social housing agency, with ambitions to enter this market as a new provider; it may require further research to establish its generalisability to other organisations and other sectors.

– This series of three papers adds to existing knowledge by critiquing current business models, and positing a potential development to existing contingency theory: the External Drivers Model. The study has resulted in a number of outputs including an outline of tools to assist in using the model.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-12-2013-0025

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the objectives and overall approach of a faith-based homeless outreach campaign. It aims to stimulate wider discussion about how civil society can play a role in achieving participatory parity for the homeless.

– Using a case study approach, this viewpoint paper then connects practical considerations to extant literature on community inclusion.

– This particular homeless outreach campaign generated a tremendous amount of volunteerism – perhaps unparalleled relative to any other recent campaign driven by civil society. Yet it aimed only to funnel the homeless into the private social sector. Furthermore, most of the homeless people engaged on the streets did not complete the rehabilitation programs.

– Campaigns such as this may need to adopt discursive habits in order to recognize the social distances that must be bridged between the housed and the homeless. With greater reflexivity, volunteers can use their interactions with the homeless to develop empathy, compassion, and understanding. Volunteers may then feel inspired to leverage their personal resources to address community perceptions of homelessness, or to advocate for systematic changes.

– This paper suggests recasting the goals of homeless campaigns to include the development of social bridges between the housed and the homeless, which can guide advocacy efforts.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-03-2014-0006

– The purpose of this paper is to place the future development of technology within the existing reality of the diversity of care homes.

– Using the findings from a learning exercise, the paper illustrates “diversity” in terms of the meaning staff, relatives, and residents attach to the words “care home”. This tri-partite approach provides a basis for exploring types of technology that could, if appropriately introduced, prove to be of benefit to the different users and staff.

– Technology is more likely to be “fit for purpose” when it has been developed jointly with those who work, live in, and who visit care homes. Costs and benefits will be issues to be taken into account.

– A lack of research evidence on the role of technology in care homes was a key limitation. In future, research should adopt a co-production approach to technology development.

– The authors take a pragmatic stance that if due care is taken in preparations for and the introduction of technology, this would increase uptake of technology to meet different needs.

– The paper makes the points that: older people can learn new technological skills; the concept of care homes as user-led is in accord with increased opportunity to engage residents in new technology. Technology in care homes while posing challenges also could prove to be a major lucrative market.

– By triangulating the perspectives of residents, relatives, and staff the authors hope to have presented a realistic and evidence-based overview of the potential for technology advancement in care homes.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-10-2013-0019

– The purpose of this paper is to enquire how housing providers can facilitate a “social scene” which helps residents to bond together and which indirectly can generate both mutual aid and a collective voice.

– The study of 16 retirement housing schemes (including social rented, extra care and leasehold), involved focus groups engaging altogether 130 residents, interviews with estate managers and a postal survey with 120 respondents across eight estates.

– The findings highlight an important “community development” role for existing on-site managers and the risk that a move to floating support means losing this function. They illustrate the obstacles faced by retirement housing residents in developing collective social activities or a participatory voice in management. This paper is one of several ongoing and planned outputs of the study covering different aspects of the findings.

– The initial study reported here is largely based on residents’ views. A follow-up survey of over 400 estate managers is now in progress.

– The findings offer warnings about the potential and limitations of self-managed housing for the older old, and the dangers of replacing on-site staff by floating support.

– The research fills a gap in previous work on sheltered housing by focusing on the community rather than the individual resident. It will inform planning of housing support models to build and sustain social capital in elders’ housing schemes.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-03-2014-0007

– Housing conditions affect occupants continuously, and health interventions have shown the positive association between housing investment and improvement in occupant health. Yet only rarely do we hear of the public’s own perception of housing improvement internationally. The purpose of this paper is to explore public views on the importance of housing issues, from a worldwide perspective, in analysis of the global survey.

– Data were analyzed from the World Values Survey, 2005-2007, the most recent public data sets including demographics, self-rated health status, and beliefs on different social and political issues. Participants were those aged 15 and above. Analyses included χ2 and logistic regression modeling.

– Less wealthy countries had the most people who considered housing improvement as top priority. Regions with more than 20,000 residents and lower scale of income levels were linked with higher proportions of people considering housing improvement as top priority. Additionally, people who reported very poor self-rated health tended to view housing improvement as top priority, compared to those who reported very good self-rated health.

– Public consensus is that there is an urgent need for housing improvement globally. Effective housing strategies and interventions optimizing population health, well-being, and quality of life are suggested.

– To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study investigating public opinion on the importance of housing issues using a global, cross-sectional, population-based study for international comparison. Understanding the need on housing improvement from the general public would indicate possible policy reform in the coming decades.

Link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/HCS-03-2014-0005