It may be summer, but it’s never too soon to start planning ahead for your winter health and wellbeing. In East Sussex there are services thinking ahead about our winter health all year round.

One very important factor for health and wellbeing in winter is the temperature of our homes. Living in a cold home can make a range of health conditions worse, such as breathing and heart problems, and asthma in children. It can also impact on your mental wellbeing.

That’s why Citizens Advice and NHS Sussex are working together to help identify people whose health is impacted by a cold home, and to help them get the financial and practical support they need ready for winter.

In a pilot project, Citizens Advice has been working with GP practices to identify people with breathing conditions, like asthma, who could benefit from advice on keeping warm and well in winter. These people are then contacted by text message to offer an appointment with an energy advisor from Citizens Advice.

People who take up the offer receive energy advice like how to be more energy efficient and save money on bills, and whether they could get grants and services to help them make energy efficiency improvements. They may also be linked into other Citizens Advice services if they need them, like maximising benefits, improving financial capability and debt management. The Advisors will also talk to people about the health benefits of keeping warm and why it’s important in managing their health condition.

So far over 400 people have been supported to make savings to their energy bills, improve their home energy efficiency and increase their knowledge about staying warm and well at home.

Whilst still at the pilot stage, the project is gradually developing, and the project team have worked with cardiologists at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust on the best way to identify people with heart conditions who may also benefit.  They will also be looking at mental health conditions.

The project began with one practice in Hastings and now almost half of the 55 GP practices in East Sussex are involved.

Ghiath Alhabrat, an energy adviser with Citizens Advice, said, ‘‘Getting energy advice to people to help them understand the importance of keeping warm in their homes is really valuable. We have been so pleased to have our colleagues in general practice reach out to patients who are most in need of our help due to their specific health conditions.’’

Peter Aston, Deputy Head of Joint Commissioning, Integration, and Health & Wellbeing at NHS Sussex says: ‘‘We know that having a warm home in winter can improve people’s health and wellbeing and lessen the impact of long-term conditions. This may also reduce their need for healthcare services. This is why the learning that’s being developed by Citizens Advice around improving people’s access to keeping warm and well advice is so important, both for local people and for our healthcare system.’’

Anyone in East Sussex can get advice on keeping warm and well at home on the Warm East Sussex website.  You can also visit the website find out who can apply for the Warm Home Check service, available all year round to people struggling to afford to keep warm at home.