Public Housing Evaluation System for Environmental Health Assessment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tools are inadequate for assessing public housing environments to determine how various environmental factors impact the health of residents and for planning interventions to improve these conditions, particularly in addressing substandard housing issues like lead-based paint, mold, and pests affecting approximately 30 million households in the U.S.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented system that collects and analyzes survey data from public housing residents to create digital profiles, identifying interrelationships among environmental and demographic factors, and generates a public housing index to aid administrators in planning interventions and determining residents' ability to transition out of public housing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If comprehensive survey data collection is implemented to assess public housing environments, then measurement precision of environmental factors is improved, but device complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the complex assessment task into multiple survey modules covering different environmental factors (physical environment, social environment, health outcomes). Each module can be independently administered and processed, making the comprehensive assessment manageable while maintaining high measurement precision through multiple data points.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a centralized data collection and processing system that acts as an intermediary between survey administrators and housing authorities. This intermediary system handles the complexity of data aggregation, validation, and analysis, allowing local administrators to conduct simple surveys while the central system manages the overall complexity.
2Loss of information
If detailed environmental profiling is conducted for each resident, then information completeness about housing conditions is improved, but loss of time for data collection and processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary data processing and validation during data collection itself. Survey responses are automatically validated, coded, and preliminarily analyzed as they are collected, rather than waiting for batch processing later. This reduces the time burden of detailed environmental profiling while maintaining complete information recording.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables continuous data collection and processing operations. Multiple surveys can be administered simultaneously across different housing units, and data processing occurs continuously rather than in discrete batches. This maintains complete information gathering while reducing overall time loss through parallel processing.
3Reliability
If the system analyzes interrelationships among multiple environmental and demographic factors, then reliability of intervention planning is improved, but device complexity and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a multi-functional data analysis platform that can perform various types of analyses (descriptive statistics, interrelationship analysis, predictive modeling) using the same underlying data infrastructure. This universal platform reduces overall system complexity by consolidating multiple analysis functions into a single integrated system rather than requiring separate tools for each analysis type.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where analysis results are continuously refined based on new survey data and intervention outcomes. The interrelationship models are updated and validated against actual housing improvements and resident outcomes, increasing reliability while the feedback loop automates much of the complex computational work, reducing manual system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a system and method for public housing evaluation including a computer-implemented public housing evaluation unit that receives survey data from a remotely connected survey device. The survey data comprises information about the physical environment of one or more public housing residents that is used to create a digital public housing environment profile for each survey participant. A plurality of digital public housing environment profiles may be statistically analyzed to create a public housing index identifying interrelationships among physical environment and demographic data in the digital public housing environment profiles. Public housing authority computers may access and view the public housing index to determine whether actions may be taken that may improve a public housing resident's physical environment and/or likelihood that they may successfully transition out of public housing.