WHoSe project, v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Wakefield Housing Support Evaluation Project (WHoSe project)
IRAS ID
277279
Contact name
Eleanor Holding
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sheffield
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
What do we know?It is known that where we live (our housing) can affect our health. Poor housing can have a negative effect on both physical and mental health. As a result, housing providers are working more closely with health and social care providers. An example of this is providing help for when a person goes home after a stay in hospital. Hospital discharge may be delayed while patients waiting for appropriate housing that fits their needs, for care packages to be finalised, and for home adaptations.
What do we want to find out?
Wakefield District Housing are providing a Housing Support Co-ordinator (HSC) to support people leaving hospital to ensure their housing needs are met. Our research will explore the impact that the Housing Co-ordinator is having on the process of leaving hospital and on outcomes for service users and staff to understand the potential costs and benefits, which may include fewer delays and more people being discharged to their own home rather than residential care.
What are we going to do?
To answer these questions we will conduct a survey and undertake interviews with service users, staff and the current Housing Support Coordinator. We will analyse the data to try to understand what impact the Housing Co-ordinator is having. Our findings will be shared through presentations and reports, social media, and academic journals to inform the delivery of services to provide more integrated support for service users.
Summary of Results
The study has provided important insights which has been used to develop the current service. Our findings show how the Housing Support Coordination (HSC) service is highly valued by both hospital staff and service-users. It has had a notable impact on the stress levels of overburdened health care staff, reducing the time they spend on housing related issues so they could focus on front line clinical work. In turn, the economic analysis showed that if 2.5 bed days were saved per client, the HSC service would pay for itself – with a cost saving to the system of £10,742.Having skilled HSCs who were able to deliver patient centred support and develop relationships with referral organisations was critical to the success of the service. To do this, HSCs needed prior experience of delivering housing related support and a wider knowledge of the different housing options and services available. However, there were a number of challenges to service delivery, including service-users needing longer term support, difficulties relating to integration of the role within the hospital teams, the complexity of some service-users personal circumstances, and a lack of available housing to meet people’s needs.
The study provided several recommendations which have been taken forward by the current service and will have relevance to other organisations looking to develop similar services including:
- situate the role within the hospital discharge team with access to hospital systems
- ensure recruitment of high quality, experienced housing officers with an equivalent pay grade with experience in providing patient centred support and role development
- provide follow on support up to 6 months post discharge if required to ensure appropriate follow on support and referral to other services if required.Other recommendations as well as the full results are available in our main project and economics report available on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) School for Public Health Research (SPHR) website: (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu2790089.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3DXv3JSvJ-2B3M71ppf7N9agbQG0Wn3LVjtlrdU-2Bq-2BoWqZK4qzf0YakzReyToRlmoy9Hb6odEVKAm1x5NRNIdC-2Fkk283di0avUja6z-2Fa-2B9-2BoUlY-3Dpr5c_E1aO2-2BZlVOSJJV-2FajQqskegTd6IRomHYTi-2Fbt8SH3YI3jXgLwTYK2Rajr-2BrqAHLJkA6-2Fz3i9prXY9DJI3lsMMlk-2FmfrCClDVcwM72HkQYk6Izicu1R-2FzLJEr0KwAtM5YK1xP0JtSAL0APUHe3EW61Fglu3pN0RkYaeKiZEShE4Gz2Oz91OU9m5B6drkW5I-2FTKZPLYKIfTVk-2BPqvdRvI04A-3D-3D&data=05%7C01%7Capprovals%40hra.nhs.uk%7C92f2748b009242c79b2d08da8bfda57a%7C8e1f0acad87d4f20939e36243d574267%7C0%7C0%7C637976218761310932%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=U3MlrRp5%2FrfRwpRaDDSLZM692HAsgJYK1zhX01RpBzM%3D&reserved=0
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
20/NS/0050
Date of REC Opinion
4 May 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion