ABSTRACT
It has been widely accepted [Acheson 1998] that there is an association between cold, damp housing and respiratory complaints. There has, however, been surprisingly little research on the effect of interventions to improve housing on the health of the occupants. In part, this lack of research may reflect the difficulties of applying biomedical research designs, such as randomised controlled trials, in this area, and of coordinating the inter-professional and inter-agency working necessary to ensure that an appropriate study design with an effective intervention is both adequately funded and successfully completed. It is also vital to keep the people at whom the intervention is directed involved in the study. In this chapter we discuss a research project carried out in Cornwall [Somerville et al., 1999] which illustrates many of the problems faced by researchers in this area. We hope that many of the lessons learnt during the work in Cornwall will help future researchers in this area to plan studies and evaluations more effectively. The project has been recognised by a National Health Service “Beacon Award” for health improvement.
