Testing of stair climbing point-of-choice prompts in Barcelona at an outdoor set of stairs and scalators on the Montjuïc site

Regular stair climbing has well-documented health dividends, such as increased fitness and strength, weight loss and reduced body fat, improved lipid profiles and reduced risk of osteoporosis. The general absence of barriers to participation makes stair climbing an ideal physical activity (PA) for health promotion. Studies in the US and the UK have consistently shown that interventions to increase the accumulation of lifestyle PA by climbing stairs rather than using the escalators are effective. However, there are no previous in Catalonia. This project tested one message for their ability to prompt travelers on the Montjuïc site to choose the stairs rather than the escalator when climbing up the Monjuïc hill. One standard message, " Take the stairs! 7 minutes of stair climbing a day protects your heart" provided a comparison with previous research done in the UK. Translated into Catalan and Spanish, it was presented on a poster positioned at the point of choice between the stairs and the escalator. The study used a quasi-experimental, interrupted time series design. Travelers, during several and specific hours on two days of the week, were coded for stair or escalator use, gender, age, ethnic status, presence of accompanying children or bags by one observer. Overall, the intervention resulted in a 81% increase in stair climbing. In the follow-up period without messages, stair climbing dropped out to baseline levels. This preliminary study showed a significant effect on stair use. However, caution is needed since results are based on a small sample and, only a low percentage of the sample took the stairs at baseline or the intervention phase . Future research on stair use in Catalonia should focus on using bigger samples, different sites (metro stations, airports, shopping centers, etc) , different messages and techniques to promote stair climbing.

The Benefits of building barrier-free: a contingent valuation of accessibilty as an attribute of housing

Estimating the social benefits of barrier-free building has always required indirect solutions, such as calculating the savings in social services, hospitalisation or adaptations made possible by the increase in accessibility. This research uses the Contingent Valuation Method to gain a direct appraisal of the benefits from barrier-free housing. When comparing two similar dwellings, with the only difference being their accessibility conditions, the 1,007 randomly chosen households that answered the direct survey would pay, on average 12.5 per cent more for being barrier-free. None of the different appraisals made on accessibility costs reaches 5 per cent. This confirms the social profitability of building without barriers and shows the potential size of the private market for those housing developers that meet the demand. Accessibility is a general concern, an economic good or attribute that most households value, irrespective of the physical conditions of their members.

The influence of building materials on the residual action of BHC

Residual insecticide activity of BHC vapors from various building materials in controlled humidity chambers in the laboratory were significantly different. Laboratory-reared, first instar nymphs of Dipetalogaster maximus were exposed to vapors of BHC which were being released from the treated surfaces of building materials taken from Mambaí, Goiás.

Saving and Re-building Lives: an Analysis of the Determinants of Disaster Relief

We analyse both theoretically and empirically, the factors that influence the amount of humanitarian aid which countries receive when they are struck by natural disasters. Our investigation particularly distinguishes between immediate disaster relief which helps the survival of victims and long term humanitarian aid given towards reconstruction and rehabilitation. The theoretical model is able to make predictions as well as explain some of the peculiarities in the empirical results. The empirical analysis, making use of some useful data sources, show that both short and long term humanitarian aid increase with number of people killed, financial loss and level of corruption, while GDP per capita has no effect. Number of people affected had no effect on short term aid, but significantly increased long term aid. Both types of aid increased if the natural disaster was an earthquake, tsunami or drought. In addition, short term aid increases in response to a flood while long term aid increases in response to storms.

IPH response to Building an Active Travel Future for Northern Ireland

IPH responded to the Department for Regional Development consultation Building an Active Travel Future for Northern Ireland, March 2012 The draft Active Travel strategy seeks to set out how to increase active travel by demonstrating that walking and cycling are safe, healthy, flexible, inexpensive and social means of travel and by setting out ways in which opportunities for active travel can be significantly improved.IPH welcomes the new Active Travel Strategy and highlights the need for a truly integrated approach to the strategy which has the potential to positively influence health in areas such as obesity, mental health and cardiovascular health.  IPH suggest a health impact assessment is undertaken on each of the Active Travel Demonstration projects to fully maximise the potential health outcomes of developing the required infrastructure for active travel.

Health Building Note 00-10 (PDF 1MB)

Part D: Windows and associated hardware

Improving Patient Safety - Building Public Confidence (PDF 440 KB)

A response by the Department of Health, Social Services & Public Safety to the recommendations contained in the Shipman Inquiry Reports 3, 4 & 5.

Building Healthier Hearts: The Report of the Cardiovascular Health Strategy Group

This introduction to "Building Healthier Hearts" will give readers an overview of the report of the Cardiovascular Health Strategy Group. Firstly, it sets out the background to the strategy and its policy context. A brief description of mortality and morbidity trends from cardiovascular disease in Ireland follows. Next an overview is given of current health service provision and of the changes considered necessary by the Group Download the Report here

Building a Culture of Patient Safety - Report of the Commission on Patient Safety and Quality Assurance

The Commission on Patient Safety and Quality Assurance was established in January 2007 and reported to the Minister in July 2008. The report was considered by government in January 2009 which agreed the implementation process. The overall objective of the Commission was to develop clear and practical recommendations to ensure that safety and quality of care for patients is paramount within the healthcare system. The Commission’s report set out a wide range of policy measures that will drive the safety and quality agenda in Irish healthcare in the coming years. The establishment of the Commission was prompted by an increasing awareness of patient safety issues in general and high profile health service system failures at home and abroad and in particular by the Lourdes Hospital Inquiry. These have underlined the need for an increased focus on patient safety and quality. Download document here Download summary document on the Report