Understanding and responding to the health impact of cold homes and fuel poverty

This seminar series aims to generate understanding of the contribution of human behaviour regarding cold homes, fuel poverty and their impact on health by reviewing current evidence, identify evidence gaps and priorities for future research. It will explicitly consider the influence of social and health inequalities, maintain a focus on policy influences, impact and interventions. It aims to add to existing academic knowledge and forge new inter-disciplinary discussions and collaborations. Research is required to generate understanding of the human responses and experience that may place people at risk of fuel poverty, and influence their decision making regarding home heating in terms of heating behaviour, as well as in seeking help and knowledge. It is essential that this inquiry seeks to explain how inequality and wider structural determinents influence human behaviour regarding cold homes and fuel poverty, as well as the more subtle influences of culture, social norms, beliefs, attitudes and values. This ESRC seminar series builds on two previous events, an Evidence Summit on health, fuel poverty and cold homes was held by the UK Health Forum, Friends of the Earth and Energy Bill Revolution ( UK Health Forum 2013) and second an International roundtable discussion on health and wellbeing impacts of energy efficiency run by the International Energy Agency (IEA, 2013). The applicants of this ESRC application participated in both events and will build on them by taking a cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary approach and taking health and human behavioour as the focus. The seminars ensure cumulative rather than on-off debate and are unique in adopting an emphasis on policy development, intervention and implementation. We will review existing evidence incuding, economic evaluations, identify and adddress evidence gaps, and develop partnerships, questions and proposals for future policy implemetnation and research. The seminar programme is UK led, and will include contributions from across Europe and beyond through the WHO Global Network of Age Friendly Cities, Healthy Cities Network and the International Energy Agency. This will support collaborations for Horizon 2020. The seminar series brings together a unique partnership of academic, local and national government, charitable and voluntary sector partners. It will add to existing body of academic knowledge and help to forge new inter-disciplinary discussions, theoretical propositions and research collaborations. Interconnections will be explored between academic disciplines, cross government departments and organisations and cross sector. As the seminar series is focused upon the behaviour and vulnerability of high risk groups early dissemination and impact is vital and interim dissemination methods will be adopted via the project website and briefing papers. The seminars will adopt a lifecourse approach in the first year and look at vulnerability to cold across ages. Seminars in the second year will focus on specific vulnerable groups where little research has been conducted and there are existing social and health inequalities, these are Black and Minorty Ethnic (BME) groups, the rural poor and the socially isolatated. In the final year the focus will be on understanding the current policy enviroment, global and national influences regarding the implications for future evidence based policy. The seminars will be one day events targeted at 30 people. The morning will consist of presentations followed by structured round table discussions in the afternoon. The final event will be in the form of a mini-conference of up to 100 people to pull together learning from accross the seminar series, agree recommendations and outputs including publications and future research collaborations and projects. All contributers are coonfirmed unless stated.