Labour Party - Northern

Healthy Housing - Northland Close Out

22.08.2008

Speech at event marking finishing of Healthy Housing programme in Whangarei

It really is a pleasure to be here today to celebrate the success of the Healthy Housing Programme and to acknowledge all of the hard work involved.

My colleagues, Health Minister David Cunliffe and MP Dover Samuels, also send their congratulations and best wishes. They too would have liked to have been here today.

It is no mean fet helping to turn people's lives around, sometimes in situations where the need for help is not always recognised.

I think a comment I heard in relation to Healthy Housing: "If a door closes then we jump through the window!" sums up perfectly the tenacity, dedication and enthusiasm of those who have worked on the programme.

And to all those families who have taken up the offer of help - good on them for being courageous and making a positive change for themselves and for their families.

Change can be scary and unsettling and, for many people, change can be a negative experience. That is why is so heartening to read, see and hear of some of the changes which have come about because of Healthy Housing.

Northland, like Auckland, Counties Manukau and the Hutt Valley, was chosen as a Healthy Housing area because of the high rates of potentially avoidable hospitalisations due to infectious diseases.

Housing New Zealand and district health boards subsequently joined forces to reduce the risk of housing-related health problems, improve the quality and availability of state housing for larger families and their access to health and social services, as well as increasing awareness of healthy living.

There is a clear link between overcrowding and the spread of infectious diseases such as meningococcal disease, rheumatic fever, cellulitis and respiratory diseases and tuberculosis - as recently released research has reminded us. There is also a link between poor housing, social isolation and mental health.

Added into the mix is the fact that people on low incomes often have higher heating costs and are less able to improve energy efficiency. The more money is spent on heat means less money available to spend on other essentials like food and clothing.

As the Healthy Housing Programme evolved the focus moved towards taking a more holistic approach which encompassed housing and social needs, as well as health.

This meant looking at all aspects of family life and what was needed to make a real difference.

Not only were health and housing referrals made, people were linked to community and cultural support agencies, connected with schools and GPs and encouraged to follow up employment opportunities.

In terms of housing, families were assisted from state housing into private rental accommodation, freeing up a Housing New Zealand property for another family in need.

Some were encouraged to think about the possibility of home ownership, while others were moved in to properties that better met their needs. Others had the home they were in modified and modernised, ventilated, insulated and heated.

So life has changed for the 665 families that the Healthy Housing Programme in Northland has worked with in the last five years.

One family has a brand new home, nine others had theirs extended; six were assisted into the private sector, and 18 others transferred in to another Housing New Zealand property. Two hundred and fifty seven families had their homes heated, 397 were insulated while 653 homes were ventilated.

Research in Counties Manukau has shown that such interventions have reduced acute housing related hospital admissions by 37 percent and resulted in a 9 percent increase in primary health care visits and improved links between health, social and housing providers.

But just as importantly, more families are participating in the community and in education; they feel safer and more comfortable in their homes and community; many have a sense of pride in their home and report positive changes to their family life.

These are changes which make a huge and very real difference to people's lives. People feel more empowered to make good decisions and have a heightened sense of social well-being. This kind of change and the effect that it has on individuals, families neighbourhoods and communities is impossible to put a price on.

I understand that the partnership now forged between Te Tai Tokerau Trust, the Northland District Health Board and Housing New Zealand won't end because the Healthy Housing programme has.

It is essential that these kind of partnerships continue as we cannot build healthy and happy communities in isolation - we must do it together. Computers in Homes, Otangarei Community Renewal (both of which we are to find out more about shortly), the Rural Housing Programme and Warm and Healthy Homes are all examples of working together to make a difference.

Without working together, I doubt if so much could ever be achieved or if I would be here today listing all that has been accomplished and looking forward to all that is to come.

So to all of you who have been part of the Healthy Housing programme please accept my heartfelt thanks for your hard work and for all that you are yet to do. I implore you to keep up the good work and congratulate you on the difference you have made.

Northern

Healthy Housing - Northland Close Out

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