Inaugural Health and Housing Conference aims to address inequalities

Leaders and professionals from the health, housing and community sectors met in Wolverhampton this month for the inaugural Black Country Health and Housing Conference.
The event at Molineux on Wednesday 4 September was organised by Midlands landlord whg in partnership with the Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB).
It was attended by members of the Health and Housing Forum, which brings together the health and housing sectors to help tackle health inequalities across the region.
Delegates heard a keynote address by Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan, author of Poor, a memoir of her personal story of overcoming poverty, in which she explored the needs of some of the most disadvantaged in society.
Other speakers included former NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson, now Chair of several NHS Trusts across the Black Country, Professor Patrick Vernon OBE, Chair of the Walsall Together Partnership Board and NHS Birmingham Solihull ICB, and Mark Axcell, Chief Executive of the Black Country ICB.
Connie Jennings, Director of Stronger Communities at whg, was joined by Viv Marsh, Clinical Lead for Children’s Asthma Transformation at the Black Country ICB to present on the joint ACEing Asthma initiative, which combines health and housing interventions to support families dealing with childhood asthma.
She said: “Research shows that people who live in social housing may die up to 10 years earlier than the general population and have a healthy life expectancy of just 56.
“This event has shown just how powerful collaboration between the health and housing sectors can be in tackling this inequality. By working together, we can make sure that everyone, especially those in social housing, has access to the services and support they need to lead healthier, happier lives.
“This is just the first event of its kind in the Black Country and I am looking forward to seeing how bringing people together in this way will generate even greater collaboration and partnership working in this vital area.”
There were also presentations from Taps Mtemachani, Director of Transformation at the Black Country ICB and Andrew Van Doorn, CEO and Sarah Parsons, Health & Research Lead at the Housing Associations Charitable Trust (HACT) who outlined steps to build a lasting collaboration between sectors.
The Health and Housing Forum, led by landlord whg in partnership with Black Country ICB, seeks to tackle health inequalities by ensuring that people who live in social housing are able to access health services.
Housing members alongside whg include GreenSquareAccord, Bromford, CHADD, Nehemiah Housing, Black Country Housing Group, Midland Heart, Wolverhampton Homes, City of Wolverhampton Council, Sandwell Council and Dudley Council.