Project Funder: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Project Partners: The Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department and the Phoenix Children's Hospital
Project Contact: Sherry Dixon, sdixon@nchh.org, 443.539.4156
Project Description: This study determined whether combining asthma trigger reduction with housing structural repairs, device disbursement, and education in low-income households with children would improve self-reported respiratory health and reduce housing-related respiratory health and injury hazards. At baseline, a visual assessment of the home environment and a structured occupant interview were used to examine 29 potential injury hazards and seven potential respiratory health hazards. A home-specific intervention was designed to provide the children’s parents or caretakers with the knowledge, skills, motivation, supplies, equipment, and minimum housing conditions necessary for a healthy and safe home. On average, eight injury hazards were observed in the homes at baseline. Four months following intervention, the average declined to 2.2 hazards per home (p<0.001), with 97% of the parents reporting that their homes were safer following the interventions. An average of 3.3 respiratory health hazards were observed in the homes at baseline. Four months following intervention, the average declined to 0.9 hazards per home (p<0.001), with 96% of parents reporting that the respiratory health of their asthmatic children improved. This study shows that a tailored healthy homes improvement package significantly improves self-reported respiratory health and safety, reduces respiratory health and injury hazards, and can be implemented in concert with a mobile clinical setting.