A HIA? What’s a HIA?
Is it a Health Impact Assessment? Not in this case!
How about a Highlands & Islands Airport? Sorry, but no!
Is it the Hemp Industries Association? Wrong again?
We’re talking about Home Improvement Agencies!
HIAs are…. Commissioned by local authorities and health partners
So what does a HIA do?
They help vulnerable people to stay independent, safe and warm in their own home
And they do this in many different ways………..Such as……..
Major adaptations
Minor adaptations
Handyperson Services
Information & Advice i
Income Maximisation £
Safe Havens & Sanctuaries in the home
Accessing charitable funding Please Give Generously
Driving out rogue traders
Hospital discharge services
So how does all this fit together?
Consider this common scenario……..
Ernie & Ethel bought their council house in the 1980s
It was their pride and joy! They raised a family here.. And then sadly Ernie died.. Leaving Ethel home alone! Until they flew the nest…
Woof Woof ! ! She got a little dog for company!
But things became difficult.. The roof leaked causing damp.. Couldn’t maintain the garden.. Couldn’t afford to heat house.. Confined to living in one room..
Ethel was in a fix and it was affecting her health and wellbeing!
They’ll want me to go in a home? I’m cold and I can’t afford to heat the house? I can’t get upstairs to the bathroom? I can’t cope! If anything happens to me, who’ll look after my little dog? I’m feeling depressed! I don’t want to be a burden to my kids! I miss doing the garden! Money problems! I worry about break- ins. My doors and windows are rotten! What do I do? Where do I go? I need help!
Ethel is at high risk of……. Cold related respiratory illness Social isolation! Opportunistic crime Slips, trips and falls! Mental health issues! Financial abuse !
Who does Ethel turn to for help? Ethel’s problems are rooted in, or exacerbated by her home environment But who does she turn to?
DFG Assessment of Need Universal Credit Application A&E Acute Care? Benefits Office?GP Primary Care? Social Care?(Rogue) Tradesperson ? This is our plan….. This is my plan….. This is our plan….. This is my plan…..
The trouble is most plans operate independently of each other? Each service has a specific plan to help Ethel. So….What do we need?
DFG Assessment of Need Universal Credit Application Integrated Care
Home Improvement Agencies are a vital component of every integrated care plan
They provide services that keep vulnerable people safe, warm and independent in their own home
They help reduce the burden on statutory services
Foundations have produced a tool kit to show how HIAs benefit the NHS, Public Health and Social Care
To help services integrate