Nurses support scheme to improve housing for asthma patients
Respiratory nurses’ specialist knowledge of asthma is being used by a housing association in a new partnership aimed at reducing the harm caused by poor-quality housing on children with the condition.
Nurses at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have been working with Berneslai Homes, which is responsbile for managing properities on behalf of Barnsley Council, to help make sure asthma patients’ homes are not making their symptoms worse.
“Good quality, safe housing helps everyone stay healthy”
Dave Fullen
Inadequate ventilation and poor heating can cause damp and mould in houses. These can exacerbate the symptoms of asthma and other similar respiratory conditions.
The project is overseen by the South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Alliance and NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, and aims to make sure that Berneslai Homes properties are clear of these conditions.
Nurses, as part of the project, speak with children with asthma and their families, when they attend hospital due to their condition, about the state of their home.
The nurses can then help the family fill in a checklist to identify the specific issues in the home that may be exacerbating asthma, and this will inform the next steps Berneslai Homes takes, if it is a property it runs.
The hope is that this will help streamline the process of the housing association fixing these issues among its roughly 18,000 homes, reducing the risks of an asthma attack caused by poor housing.
In turn, this could decrease hospital admissions for children with the condition.
Zena Thomas, a children’s respiratory nurse specialist based at Barnsley Hospital, explained further: “When we see children in our asthma clinics, or when they have been admitted to the children’s assessment unit or ward following an asthma attack, we discuss with the family any environmental triggers that could be contributing to the patient’s symptoms.
“These could be issues such as damp and mould in the home.
“Our new partnership also allows us to liaise with the service managers at Berneslai Homes directly, to help resolve specific issues in the home that are likely having a negative effect on the child’s respiratory health.
“These can then be dealt with urgently to prevent the child getting more unwell.”
Specialist asthma nurse Zena Thomas
This new scheme was launched recently in the Barnsley area, but South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Alliance said it is hoped it can be replicated in other hospitals and housing providers across the county.
The alliance has also recently launched a pilot in eight primary and secondary schools in South Yorkshire to raise awareness of asthma, using educators to spread information, training and support.
News of the alliance’s work with the Barnsley housing provider was released today (7 May), to coincide with World Asthma Day, run by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) since 1998.
World Asthma Day, according to GINA, aims to raise awareness of the prevalence of asthma, which affects more than 260 million people worldwide and is responsible for 450,000 deaths each year – most of which happen in low-to-middle income countries.
According to the South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Alliance, around one in 11 children and young people in the UK have asthma.
Dave Fullen, executive director of customer and estate services at Berneslai Homes, added: “The right home environment is critical to good physical health and wellbeing.
“Good quality, safe housing helps everyone stay healthy.
“At Berneslai Homes we are pleased to be working closely with our colleagues at Barnsley Hospital to improve health outcomes for children and families in the homes we manage.”
