Keeping warm with sickle cell disease research project

Sickle cell disease (SCD) can lead to frequent hospitalisation for extremely painful sickle crisis and to several severely disabling secondary conditions or even death. 12,000-15,000 people in the UK have SCD and it affects people of all ages. One of the main triggers for a crisis is getting cold. Therefore staying warm, as well as eating well, drinking plenty and avoiding stress, is recommended by healthcare professionals as a preventative strategy.

As SCD is most common among Black British, Black African and Black Caribbean groups, who are already at higher risk to fuel poverty than the general population, combined with increasing fuel costs, maintaining a home warm enough to avoid a crisis may be extremely challenging. This research looks at challenges people with SCD have in staying warm enough to prevent a painful sickle crisis.