Making homes
healthier for
children
By Planning and Funding Portfolio Manager,
Brian Pointon.
A Bay of Plenty-wide service that many staff
will not be aware of is improving housing for
children at risk of Acute Rheumatic Fever
(ARF). This programme relies on referrals from
BOPDHB staff to community providers who
then organise relocation to a healthier house,
or make improvements to their existing home.
Referrals to the
The service has capacity to
programme come from
deliver more assessments
district nursing services
and interventions than we
for children who are
currently get referrals for.
already on the Bicillin
programme to prevent
recurrences of ARF. Our social workers and respiratory nurse
specialists working in children’s wards provide most referrals
from the BOPDHB and the service has capacity to deliver more
assessments and interventions than we currently get referrals for.
Repeated bouts of ARF will likely lead to Rheumatic Heart Disease,
which is serious and has very high costs for the BOPDHB through
surgery for heart valve replacements. Also children aged 0-14
years can be referred, who have been admitted overnight with
respiratory and other conditions associated with crowding and meet
other eligibility criteria.
ARF arises from infection by Group A Streptococcus through
crowded housing. This crowding could be where there are too
many occupants for the number of bedrooms. Or it could be from
the difficulty in keeping all bedrooms in the house warm, dry and
mould free, so that children then sleep in close quarters. ARF is
predominantly found in children aged 6 -14 years.
Nik Gregg from Sustainability Options, prepares to visit a home on a cold grey
day, with a 'load' of helpful solutions that Sustainability Options have organised for
cold, damp and vulnerable homes: children's blankets, portable heaters, timers
for efficiency, a calendar with helpful home tips, a colouring-in book about power
safety for children, curtains, a draft stop, a sample of insulation and of course
advice to help families over cold winters.
The BOPDHB contracts with Sustainability Options and Tauranga
Community Housing Trust who have expertise in home energy
management and social housing to assess the house, and then
provide interventions for housing improvement. These interventions
include:
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if renting, relocation to a Housing New Zealand home or a
better private rental
home insu ][ۈ[