The purpose of this feasibility study was to test whether changes in the indoor environment and electricity usage can be used to detect changes in occupant activities that reflect changes in health. Temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide and electrical current were measured over 14+ months in 36 single-occupant homes. Data regarding health and household activities were collected via frequent optional surveys. Characteristics were extracted from the sensor data, including descriptive statistics, timings of peaks and troughs, frequency, deviations from average and modelled values (long short-term memory neural network). Machine learning was used to map these characteristics to occupant responses about health and activities, using a multilayer regressor neural network. Models were trained using all participant data together and separately on data from individual participants. Detection of an existing health condition being worse than normal gave a balanced accuracy of 62

BackgroundIn an era in which digital communication technologies play a pivotal role in everyday life, social housing residents remain highly susceptible to digital exclusion. ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a telephone-based training intervention designed to empower people to confidently use digital communication technologies (ie, video calls and web-based messaging). MethodsConducted in collaboration with a UK social housing association, the intervention was facilitated by a unitary authority’s Digital Inclusion Team during the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed methods approach was used, encompassing quantitative and qualitative data collection on demand, reach, implementation, and potential outcomes. Demographic and qualitative data on the reasons for undertaking or not undertaking the training were collected via telephone interviews during the recruitment process. Digital competency and well-being data were collected via a self-reported survey before and after the intervention. ResultsAmong the 4485 residents who were offered training, 67 (1.49%) expressed interest, of whom 12 (18%) of the 67 completed the training. The findings indicate a demand for basic digital training among social housing residents. The key findings revolve around the substantial dropout rate among those who were interested in undertaking the training. Barriers were strongly influenced by socioeconomic and health circumstances, reflecting the sociodigital inequalities commonly found in this group. For the training participants, the intervention was acceptable and achieved its goals, demonstrating the potential of tailored, persistent training efforts in overcoming barriers. There were no changes in self-reported well-being or digital competency outcomes (but this was limited by the small sample size). ConclusionsSociodigital inequalities impact the reach, implementation, and acceptability of telephone-based digital training for social housing residents. Barriers to reaching and training digitally excluded groups can be overcome through the use of trusted intermediaries, personalized recruitment approaches, the minimization of administrative barriers, and tailored and agile training programs. Recognizing the resource-intensive nature of such initiatives, this study calls for enhanced recognition of intermediary efforts in national digital inclusion policies.

This study examines the feasibility of using an indoor environment sensor system to improve property management and health in social housing. Over a 6-year period, sensors were installed and maintained in 280 homes to monitor temperature, humidity, and air quality, with the sensor data provided to residents and the Housing Association (HA) through co-designed dashboards. Employing a mixed method sequential research design, feasibility was evaluated using the RE-AIM model. From the residents' perspective, monitoring the indoor environment was acceptable, but adoption rates of the dashboard were low and there was minimal evidence of its effectiveness in prompting changes in behavior. From the HA perspective, the system proved effective in identifying high-risk homes, prompting the HA to reach out to vulnerable residents, and provide more timely support and maintenance. The system also facilitated long-term monitoring, planning, and helped the HA achieve its social objectives and legislative responsibilities. Despite initial technical challenges, HA staff expressed a desire to continue using the system, integrate it with existing infrastructure, and expand its deployment to more homes. However, scaling the intervention would require careful planning. In conclusion, sensor systems are a feasible intervention that holds promise in helping to address health risks in underserved communities.

BACKGROUND:Little is known about whether digital competence is related to psychological wellbeing, with most previous research focusing on students and elderly people. There is also limited evidence on seasonal changes in psychological wellbeing, particularly in specific groups. Social housing residents are an underserved and under-researched population. The objectives of this study were to explore associations between digital competence (assessed by general technology self-efficacy) and psychological wellbeing (assessed by mental wellbeing and life satisfaction), and to explore seasonal effects, in social housing residents.METHODS:A repeated survey design was used. The Happiness Pulse questionnaire with a bespoke digital module was sent via post or e-mail at four timepoints between July 2021 and July 2022 to 167 social housing residents in West Cornwall, England. There were 110 respondents in total; thirty completed all four questionnaires and 59 completed an autumn/winter and summer questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential methods including regression, repeated measures analysis of variance and panel analysis.RESULTS:Significant positive associations were found between digital self-efficacy and mental wellbeing, and between digital self-efficacy and life satisfaction. However, there were no significant seasonal changes in psychological wellbeing.CONCLUSIONS:The findings extend the existing literature beyond student and elderly populations and suggest that improving digital competence is a potential pathway to improving psychological wellbeing. Surveys with larger samples and qualitative studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms involved.

Austerity and welfare reforms -such as Universal Credit (UC) -are changing the ways in which care is delivered in the UK, increasing the precarity of individuals and the organisations who care for them.New cultures of care are emerging as a result.We show how an emplaced affect of 'edgy-ness' shaped a culture of care within third sector organisations and housing associations working in Cornwall, UK.Drawing on a collaborative project consisting of four housing associations and four VCSOs, we explore 'edgy-ness' as one specific affect of precarity through an analysis of practitioners' narratives of the project and its success.

Objective The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility and acceptability of digital technology for improving health and wellbeing in social housing residents living in a deprived area in Cornwall, England. Methods Qualitative scoping study with focus groups and telephone interviews (23 participants in total). Focus groups and interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results Levels of use and experience with digital technology were diverse in this group, ranging from ‘willing and unable’ to ‘expert’ on a self-perceived scale. Overall, participants had positive perceptions of technology and were keen to try new technologies. Five categories of factors influencing technology use were identified: functional, physical / health, psychological and attitudinal, technology-associated barriers, and privacy, safety and security. Preferred types of digital technology were wearable activity monitors (e.g. Fitbit®), virtual assistants (e.g. Amazon Alexa) and social messaging (e.g. WhatsApp). There was a strong consensus that technology should be easy to use and should have a clear purpose. There was a need to improve awareness, knowledge and confidence in technology use and participants desired further training and support. Conclusions There is a need and desire to use digital technology to improve health, wellbeing and social connectedness in social housing residents in Cornwall. The findings will be used to inform a digital training and support programme for the participants of the Smartline project. This study also serves as a template for future research that seeks to scope the feasibility and acceptability of different digital interventions in similar populations.

Background Living in poor quality housing is a significant contributor to public health problems, and represent a considerable societal and economic burden worldwide. However, detecting and responding to a poor home environment remains a challenge, as the causes are often invisible and the impact on health is cumulative and long term. Smart homes are residences augmented with sensors to observe the environment and devices to provide proactive services. Evidence indicates that smart technology can improve home environment management and has potential health benefits. User perspectives on factors for adoption of a smart technology systems are under researched. In response this research examines the factors for adoption, and non-adoption, of a smart technology system to support home environment management for social housing tenants. Methods 221 social housing tenants were recruited. Participant homes were fitted with sensors to monitor temperature, humidity, and air quality. Participants were provided with a digital dashboard to access their sensor data. Data was collected on participant health, dashboard use, and subsequent changes in home environment. A mixed method sequential research design was employed. Quantitative methods were used to understand determinants and patterns of technology use. Qualitative interviews (n20, strategically sampled) were used to understand factors of feasibility and acceptability. Results From a user perspective, this study found little evidence of interaction with the sensor data, and almost no evidence of changes in the sensor data as a result of viewing. Ease of use and usefulness were found to be the most important barriers to technology adoption. Both these factors related to how the information was communicated and how effective the dashboard was in converting data into insight. We found that the Housing Association provided important facilitating conditions to the adoption of the smart home technology, specifically for participant trust regarding how the data will be used. We also found that the Housing Assocation were using the dashboard to successful intervene with high-risk properties and provide wellbeing support for their tenants. Conclusion It is clear from this study that smart home technology is not a panacea. While smart technology was useful for identifying risk, the technology could not identify the exact cause of the risk nor instigate an acceptable intervention. Human intervention was required to fully identify and subsequently offer solutions that addressed the problems. We argue that to improve the home environment for tenants, smart technology capacity must be matched to human capacity for intervention. In sum, this study has shown the potential of smart home technology, which is integrated with a Housing Association tenant support programme, to improve health and wellbeing.

BackgroundPersonas, based on customer or population data, are widely used to inform design decisions in the commercial sector. The variety of methods available means that personas can be produced from projects of different types and scale. ObjectiveThis study aims to experiment with the use of personas that bring together data from a survey, household air measurements and electricity usage sensors, and an interview within a research and innovation project, with the aim of supporting eHealth and eWell-being product, process, and service development through broadening the engagement with and understanding of the data about the local community. MethodsThe project participants were social housing residents (adults only) living in central Cornwall, a rural unitary authority in the United Kingdom. A total of 329 households were recruited between September 2017 and November 2018, with 235 (71.4%) providing complete baseline survey data on demographics, socioeconomic position, household composition, home environment, technology ownership, pet ownership, smoking, social cohesion, volunteering, caring, mental well-being, physical and mental health–related quality of life, and activity. K-prototype cluster analysis was used to identify 8 clusters among the baseline survey responses. The sensor and interview data were subsequently analyzed by cluster and the insights from all 3 data sources were brought together to produce the personas, known as the Smartline Archetypes. ResultsThe Smartline Archetypes proved to be an engaging way of presenting data, accessible to a broader group of stakeholders than those who accessed the raw anonymized data, thereby providing a vehicle for greater research engagement, innovation, and impact. ConclusionsThrough the adoption of a tool widely used in practice, research projects could generate greater policy and practical impact, while also becoming more transparent and open to the public.

This paper examines how young people come to be enrolled and engaged in programmes of unpaid environmental conservation in rural areas. Set within a theoretical debate regarding the nature of unpaid work and its relationship to voluntary and coercive forms of environmental action, the paper identifies four pathways and two types of recipient organisations through which young people become involved in efforts to protect and enhance rural landscapes and locales. Drawing on a combination of extended survey and in-depth qualitative research in the west and south of rural England, the paper considers the systems of governance that surround the organisation of these unpaid activities and shows how these are rationalised and designed as practical and embodied experiences of citizenship. The paper argues that enhancing participation rests less on how to foster more young participants into the conservation sector than how to structure these activities in more productive ways that go beyond simple ‘sweat equity’. The findings have implications for the training and organisation of volunteers in other sectors.

In general, research demonstrates that deprivation, education, health, and well-being are determinants of volunteering, and that volunteering can play an important role in building stronger communities and provides many benefits for individual health and well-being. This study concentrates on the effects of physical and mental health and well-being as predictors when the aspect of socio-economic impact has been minimised. It utilises a unique data set from a UK Housing Association community with generally high levels of deprivation. Data were analysed using bivariate probit regression. In contrast to previous findings, physical health and mental health were not significantly related to volunteering. The key finding was that mental well-being was significantly related to informal volunteering.

Digital technology is seen as a panacea to meeting the financial and operational challenges faced by voluntary and community sector organisations (VCSOs), through delivering efficiencies and cost-saving, alongside improving quality of service. However, according to recent assessments in the UK, the rate of digital adoption is slow compared with other sectors. This article identifies how a VCSO in a period of austerity prioritises its social mission over functionality and efficiency gains from digital technology. Employing the heuristic of phronesis, we argue that VCSOs seeking to implement digital innovations need to strike a balance between instrumental rationality (that is, what is possible to achieve with technology) and value rationality (that is, what is desirable to pursue by VCSOs). Our key argument is that theories of value rationality provide a new explanation for the slow adoption of digital technology among VCSOs.

This chapter looks at the Ecological Network Approach as a form of resilience thinking. It presents two case studies, the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall UK. The chapter traces out how the application of the Ecological Network Approach was conditioned by the dilemmas faced by landscape managers. Exploring how the Ecological Network Approach was translated from a model to policy and then trialled in a localised management strategy tells us much about how resilience is achieved in practice. The chapter focuses on two of the most significant challenges. The first is dealing with uncertainty, both in the epistemic and stochastic sense. The second is dealing with ambiguity in the presence of two or more equally valid frames or interpretations about the system of concern. The chapter concludes by arguing that understanding the dilemmas and opportunities faced by land managers reveals much about the problems of governing for resilience.