Housing improvement and home safety Effectiveness Matters

The homes we live in impact on health, wellbeing and health inequalities.

Treating illnesses directly related to living in cold, damp and dangerous homes costs the NHS £2.5 billion per year.

Ensuring affordable warmth through insulation and more efficient heating can improve health and wellbeing.

Home safety assessment and modification can reduce falls and risk of falling in older people.

Education, promotion of exercise and wearing of appropriate footwear, environmental modifications and training of healthcare workers can reduce the rate of fall-related injuries (including fractures) in older people.

Homes can be made safer through education delivered by health or social care professionals, school teachers, lay workers, and voluntary organisations.