Environment & Health Research Unit

The Health, Environment & Development (HEAD) study

The HEAD study is an initiative of the partnes of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Urban Health. The overall goal of the study is to build research and environmental health capacity amongst environmental health students of the University of Johannesburg, public health students of the University of the Witwatersrand and environmental health staff of the City of Johannesburg. As part of their experiential learning, environmental health students at the University of Johannesburg are trained in the research process, interviewing and interview techniques and conduct the fieldwork for the HEAD study. From the analysis of the data, suggestions for Masters and Doctorate level studies are provided to the Universities of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand and staff of the City of Johannesburg.

The objective of the HAD study is to monitor change in housing conditions and health status in five Johannesburg settlements. A Panel Study is being conducted in the settlements of:

1. Hillbrow - a high-rise, densely populated inner city area in central Johannesburg;
2. Bertrams - a mixed development, inner city suburb that has been undergoing a process of degradation over the past two decades, but is now earmarked for rapid development in the run-up to the World Cup soccer tournament in 2010;
3. Riverlea (Extension 1) - an impoverished, degraded apartheid-era township to the south-west of the City;
4. Braamfischerville - a relatively new housing development initiated under the umbrella of the Reconstruction and Development Programme;
5. Sweetwater and Hospital Hill - two informal settlements to the west of Johannesburg.

Phase (Year) One of the HEAD study was undertaken in August/September 2005, when representatives of 581 households in the five settlements were interviewed. Information was collected in respect of:

• Socio-economic status;
• Migration patterns;
• Health and injury status;
• Mental health;
• Perceptions of neighbourhood infrastructure.

The main findings of the HEAD study will be posted as soon as they are available.