University of Edinburgh

Dr Olivia Swann

Edinburgh Clinical Academic Track (ECAT) Starter Grant Award

DL_2023_023

Energy poverty (when a household must spend a large amount of their income to keep their home warm) is a growing problem. Cold, damp and badly ventilated housing is made worse by energy poverty and is linked to chest infections, particularly in children. However, we don’t have a good idea of how much energy poverty is affecting child health or particular groups of children (for example those with asthma or born early). To really look after children, we need to know how big the problem is, which children are most at risk and which actions by the government will make the most difference. To prepare for a larger project, I will first do a smaller study bringing healthcare and energy poverty information together for the first time to look at how living in energy poverty affects the risk of chest infections in different groups of children across NHS Lothian.

Energy poverty is a growing public health issue, with the cost of living crisis and fuel price rise leading to half of UK households rationing their energy use.(1) Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the most common reason for hospital admission in children and are associated with cold, damp housing (2,3) – exacerbated by energy poverty. However, the population-level impact of energy poverty on child health is poorly characterised, preventing policy from being truly child-focused. This project is the first step in identifying the size of the problem and which children are most at risk. Following this I will use larger linked datasets to assess the impacts of different government approaches to reducing energy poverty (e.g., targeted payments, retrofitting housing, smart meters and green energy interventions) on ARIs in children. Identifying the right interventions will allow the government to target these to the families who need them. This will reduce ARIs, improve child health and reduce presentations to GPs and hospitals. I will build on my existing strong links (4) with Generation-R Young Person’s Advisory group to ensure meaningful, bidirectional involvement with children and young people in developing this study and communicating results, recognising patients as partners, whatever their age. REFERENCES 1. Office for National Statistics. Cost of living latest insights.https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/costofliving/latestinsights (2023). 2. Shelter. Chance of a lifetime. The impact of bad housing on children’s lives. 3. Ingham T, Keall M, Jones B, et al. Damp mouldy housing and early childhood hospital admissions for acute respiratory infection: a case control study. Thorax 2019; 74: 849–857. 4. Swann OV, Lone NI, Harrison EM, et al. Studying the Long-term Impact of COVID-19 in Kids (SLICK). Healthcare use and costs in children and young people following community-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infection: protocol for an observational study using linked primary and secondary routinely collected healthcare data from England, Scotland and Wales. BMJ Open 2022; 12: e063271.

Public Health Research

25/07/2023

De-Personalised

TRE