Causes of delays during housing adaptation for healthy aging in the UK

Zhou, W ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8054-5312, Oyegoke, AS and Sun, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7463-0246, 2019. Causes of delays during housing adaptation for healthy aging in the UK. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16 (2): 192. ISSN 1660-4601

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Abstract

Housing adaptation is a rehabilitation intervention that removes environmental barriers to help older people accommodate changing needs and age in place. In the UK, funding application for home adaptations to local authorities is subject to several procedural steps, including referral, allocation, assessment, funding and installation. The five stages need to complete in a sequential manner, often cause long delays. This study aims to investigate the timelines across these key stages of the adaptation process and examine the main causes of delays in current practice. A mixed-methods research strategy was employed. A questionnaire survey was first undertaken with all 378 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales; it was followed by 5 semi-structured interviews and 1 focus group meeting with selected service providers, and 2 case studies of service users. The results showed that the average length of time taken to complete the whole process is relatively long, with the longest waiting time being observed at the funding decision stage. Delays were found in each of the key stages. Main causes of delay include insufficient resources, lack of joint work, legal requirements, shortage of competent contractors and the client’s decisions. These issues need to be addressed in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of future housing adaptation practice.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Creators:	Zhou, W., Oyegoke, A.S. and Sun, M.
Publisher:	MDPI
Date:	11 January 2019
Volume:	16
Number:	2
ISSN:	1660-4601
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/ijerph16020192 DOI ijerph16020192 Publisher Item Identifier
Divisions:	Schools > School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	14 Jan 2019 09:40
Last Modified:	14 Jan 2019 09:41
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/35540

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