Evaluation of an Australian Indigenous housing programme: community level impact on crowding, infrastructure function and hygiene.
| dc.contributor.author | Bailie R.S. | |
| dc.contributor.author | McDonald E.L. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Stevens M. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Guthridge S. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Brewster D.R. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-11-19T05:29:59Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-11-19T05:29:59Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2011 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2011-08-30 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | Background and Aim: Housing programmes in Indigenous Australian communities have focused largely on achieving good standards of infrastructure function. The impact of this approach was assessed on three potentially important housing-related influences on child health at the community level: (1) crowding, (2) the functional state of the house infrastructure and (3) the hygienic condition of the houses. Method(s): A before-and-after study, including house infrastructure surveys and structured interviews with the main householder, was conducted in all homes of young children in 10 remote Australian Indigenous communities. Result(s): Compared with baseline, follow-up surveys showed (1) a small non-significant decrease in the mean number of people per bedroom in the house on the night before the survey (3.4, 95% CI 3.1 to 3.6 at baseline vs 3.2, 95% CI 2.9 to 3.4 at follow-up; natural logarithm transformed t test, t=1.3, p=0.102); (2) a marginally significant overall improvement in infrastructure function scores (KruskaleWallis test, chi2=3.9, p=0.047); and (3) no clear overall improvement in hygiene (KruskaleWallis test, chi2=0.3, p=0.605). Conclusion Housing programmes of this scale that focus on the provision of infrastructure alone appear unlikely to lead to more hygienic general living environments, at least in this study context. A broader ecological approach to housing programmes delivered in these communities is needed if potential health benefits are to be maximised. This ecological approach would require a balanced programme of improving access to health hardware, hygiene promotion and creating a broader enabling environment in communities. | |
| dc.description.grant | This publication is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Canberra, Australia and the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health, Darwin, Australia, a predecessor of the Lowitja Institute. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Vol.65(5), 2011, pp. 432-437. | |
| dc.identifier.doi | https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2009.091637 | |
| dc.identifier.institution | (Bailie, McDonald, Stevens) Menzies School of Health Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin Universit, Darwin, NT, Australia | |
| dc.identifier.institution | (Guthridge) Health Gains Planning Division, Northern Territory Government, Department of Health and Families, Darwin, NT, Australia | |
| dc.identifier.institution | (Brewster) James Cook University, School of Medicine, Cairns, QLD, Australia | |
| dc.identifier.pubmedid | 20466712 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=20466712] | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://lowitja.intersearch.com.au/handle/1/590 | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health | |
| dc.subject.keywords | Social determinants of health | |
| dc.title | Evaluation of an Australian Indigenous housing programme: community level impact on crowding, infrastructure function and hygiene. | |
| dc.type | Article |