Housing booms and media coverage

This article analyses news media coverage of the housing market. Building on theories of media influence where word of mouth is the final mechanism of opinion change but media initiate discourse, I examine the relationship between news media and the recent UK house price boom. Over 30 000 articles on the UK housing market from the period 1993 to 2008 are analysed, and it is found that media Granger-caused real house price changes, suggesting the media may have influenced opinions on the housing market. However, media sentiment on the housing market did not change with the secular increase in house prices in the 2000s, suggesting that the media did not contribute to the UK’s housing boom and may have helped constrain it.

IDEAhaus: A Modular Approach to Climate Resilient UK Housing

This paper describes the result of a project to develop climate adaptation design strategies funded by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board. The aim of the project was to look at the threats and opportunities presented by industrialized and house-building techniques in the light of predicted future increases in flooding and overheating due to anthropogenic climate change. The paper shows that the thermal performance of houses built to the current UK Building Regulations is not adequate to cope with changing weather patterns, and in light of this, develops a detailed design for a new house: one that is industrially produced and climatically resilient, but affordable. This detailed concept IDEAhaus of a modular house is not only flood-proof to a water depth of 750 mm, but also is designed to utilize passive cooling, which dramatically reduces the amount of overheating, both now and in the future.

The Governance of Mandated Partnerships: The Case of Social Housing Procurement

Partnership working is nowadays a seemingly ubiquitous aspect of the management and delivery of public services, yet there remain major differences of opinion about how they best work for the different stakeholders they involve. The balances between mandate and trust, and between hard and soft power, are crucial to current debates about public service partnerships. This paper explores the example of social housing procurement in Northern Ireland, and the requirement to form mandated procurement groups. The research shows that the exercise of hierarchical power is still important in network governance; that mandated partnerships alter the balance between trust and power in partnership working, but the impact is uneven; and that these relationships are (re)shaping the ‘hybrid’ identity of housing associations. The balance between accountability for public resources and the independence of third sector organisations is the key tension in mandated partnerships. The Northern Ireland experience suggests that trust-based networks could provide more productive working relationships in partnerships for service delivery.

Psychosocial aspects in cardiac rehabilitation: From theory to practice. A position paper from the Cardiac Rehabilitation Section of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation of the European Society of Cardiology

A large body of empirical research shows that psychosocial risk factors (PSRFs) such as low socio-economic status, social isolation, stress, type-D personality, depression and anxiety increase the risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and also contribute to poorer health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and prognosis in patients with established CHD. PSRFs may also act as barriers to lifestyle changes and treatment adherence and may moderate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Furthermore, there appears to be a bidirectional interaction between PSRFs and the cardiovascular system. Stress, anxiety and depression affect the cardiovascular system through immune, neuroendocrine and behavioural pathways. In turn, CHD and its associated treatments may lead to distress in patients, including anxiety and depression. In clinical practice, PSRFs can be assessed with single-item screening questions, standardised questionnaires, or structured clinical interviews. Psychotherapy and medication can be considered to alleviate any PSRF-related symptoms and to enhance HRQoL, but the evidence for a definite beneficial effect on cardiac endpoints is inconclusive. A multimodal behavioural intervention, integrating counselling for PSRFs and coping with illness should be included within comprehensive CR. Patients with clinically significant symptoms of distress should be referred for psychological counselling or psychologically focused interventions and/or psychopharmacological treatment. To conclude, the success of CR may critically depend on the interdependence of the body and mind and this interaction needs to be reflected through the assessment and management of PSRFs in line with robust scientific evidence, by trained staff, integrated within the core CR team.

The impact of rehabilitation using removable partial dentures and functionally orientated treatment on oral health-related quality of life: a randomised controlled clinical trial

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare two different tooth replacement strategies for partially dentate older patients; namely functionally orientated treatment according to the principles of the shortened dental arch (SDA) and conventional treatment using removable partial dentures (RPDs) using a randomised controlled clinical trial. The primary outcome measure for this study was impact on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) measured using the short form of the oral health impact profile (OHIP-14).

METHODS: Patients aged 65 years and older were randomly allocated to two different treatment groups: the RPD group and the SDA group. For the RPD group each patient was restored to complete arches with cobalt-chromium RPDs used to replace missing teeth. For the SDA group, patients were restored to a premolar occlusion of 10 occluding pairs of natural and replacement teeth using resin bonded bridgework (RBB). OHRQoL was measured using the OHIP-14 questionnaire administered at baseline, 1 month, 6 months and 12 months after treatment intervention.

RESULTS: In total, 89 patients completed the RCT: 44 from the RPD group and 45 from the SDA group. Analysis using a mixed model of covariance (ANCOVA) illustrated that treatment according to the SDA concept resulted in significantly better mean OHIP-14 scores compared with RPD treatment (p<0.05). This result was replicated in both treatment centres used in the study.

CONCLUSIONS: In terms of impact on OHRQoL, treatment based on the SDA concept achieved significantly better results than that based on RPDs 12 months after treatment intervention (trial registration no. ISRCTN26302774).

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Functionally orientated treatment delivery resulted in significantly better outcomes compared to removable dentures in terms of impact on OHRQoL.