Housing, Environment, And Living Conditions for Transformed Health (HEALTHe)

Housing, Environment, And Living Conditions for Transformed Health (HEALTHe Birmingham)

This project will compare the health effects of public housing renovation, neighborhood built and social environment improvements, and indoor air purification, alone and in combination, as well as the cost effectiveness of each approach.

STUDY 1: The study will assess the effects of public housing and neighborhood environment (built and social) improvements on health-related behaviors, psychosocial and physiologic stress, and self-reported and physiological markers of lung health and chronic disease.

STUDY 2: The study will determine whether indoor air purification can positively impact lung health in public housing sites not undergoing housing renovation, comparing a site near industrial pollution vs one less contaminated.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Lung Diseases; Chronic Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Indoor Air Purification; Other: Neighborhood Improvements; Other: Housing Improvements

Detailed Description

Participants will complete surveys, physical exam, lung function tests, and blood draw. An indoor air purifier with a usage tracker and an indoor air quality monitor will be provided, and used filters will be analyzed.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 460
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Gabriela R Oates, PhD; Phone Number: 205-996-5689; Email: goates@uab.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Joy R Ledvina, Program Director, MBA; Phone Number: 205-975-7852; Email: jrledvina@uabmc.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Alabama
    • Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35233
      • Recruiting
      • UAB Lung Health Center
      • Contact: Sonya Hardy, Clinical Research Regulatory Coordinator, MA; Phone Number: 2059346685; Email: sonyahardy@uabmc.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults age 18 years and older
• English speaking
• Residents of one of 4 public housing site in Birmingham, Alabama

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals who are not 18 years or older
• Do not speak English
• Do not meet the residency criteria

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Elyton Village Community; Participants will receive improved neighborhood environment (built and social) and indoor air purification.	Other: Indoor Air Purification; An indoor air purifier with a dual HEPA/activated carbon filter, a usage tracker, and an indoor air quality monitor will be installed in public housing residences.; Other Names: Coway Airmega 400; Other: Neighborhood Improvements; Improved built environment (green space, sidewalks, street lights) and social environment (educational and workforce development programs, wrap-around social services, Internet access).
Active Comparator: Southtown Court Community; Participants will receive new public housing.	Other: Housing Improvements; High-quality public housing
Active Comparator: Smithfield Court Community; Participants will receive new public housing and improved neighborhood environment (built and social).	Other: Neighborhood Improvements; Improved built environment (green space, sidewalks, street lights) and social environment (educational and workforce development programs, wrap-around social services, Internet access).; Other: Housing Improvements; High-quality public housing
Active Comparator: Collegeville Community; Participants will receive indoor air purification.	Other: Indoor Air Purification; An indoor air purifier with a dual HEPA/activated carbon filter, a usage tracker, and an indoor air quality monitor will be installed in public housing residences.; Other Names: Coway Airmega 400

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Indoor Air Quality	Particulate matter (PM2.5). Measures particles in the air that are 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter.	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months (Study 2 only)
Change in Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS-10) Global Health	A self-reported measure of physical, mental, and social health. 10 item questionnaire T-score metric from zero to 100 where higher T-scores indicate better health.	Baseline, 12 months, 24 months
Change in Allostatic load	Measure of cumulative stress burden as the number of 10 indicators above a threshold: (1) serum albumin <3.8 g/dL, (2) C Reactive Protein (CRP) >3 mg/L, (3) High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) <40 mg/dL, (4) total cholesterol ≥240 mg/dL, (5) heart rate ≥90 beats/min, (6) systolic Blood Pressure (BP) ≥140 mmHg, (7) diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, (8) serum creatinine ≥1.3 mg/dL, (9) Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) ≥18 mg/dL, and (10) waist circumference >88 cm in women, >102 cm in men.	Baseline, 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The percentage change in FEV1/FVC	FEV1/FVC. A measure of lung funtion that compares the amount of air exhaled in the first second (FEV1) to the total amount of air exhaled in a forced breath (FVC).	Baseline, 6 months, 12 months (Study 2 only)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Collaborators: National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Gabriela R Oates, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 18, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 11, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 6, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 13, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): June 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 19, 2025
• Last Verified: June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Chronic Disease; Lung Health
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Chronic Disease
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-300013400; 1U01NR021591 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data that underlie the reported results, after de-identification.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data will be available beginning 12 months and ending 36 months after publication.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Data will be available to investigators who submit an approved proposal and sign a Data Use Agreement. Proposals should be submitted to goates@uab.edu.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No