Work on links between housing, health lauded
COMPANIONS OF THE NEW ZEALAND ORDER OF MERIT (CNZM)
DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR PHILIPPA HOWDENCHAPMAN Wellington
For services to public health
For Distinguished Professor Philippa HowdenChapman, being appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit is an indication the work she does in public health is making a difference.
‘‘It is very heartening . . . I think it is an indication that housing health is really recognised as important,’’ she said.
‘‘It is really nice to know that it has made a difference.’’
Prof HowdenChapman was appointed a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order in 2009 for her services to public health.
Since then, she has continued her work and is now codirector of He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme.
The programme examines and clarifies the links between poor housing and ill health and, under her leadership, was recognised with the Prime Minister’s
Science Team Prize in 2014. She has conducted randomised housing trials in partnership with local communities, which have had a significant influence on housing, health and energy policy in New Zealand.
Prof HowdenChapman has also collaborated on several research publications on health and social impacts caused by inadequate housing, including Home Truths: Confronting New Zealand’s Housing Crisis (2015).
She chaired the World Health Organisation Housing and Health Guideline Development Group and was a member of the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty in 2012.
She is a professor of public health at the University of Otago, Wellington where she teaches public policy, and in 2019 was appointed one of seven inaugural sesquicentennial distinguished chairs.
Prof HowdenChapman is director of the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities, chairwoman of the International Science Council Urban Health and Wellbeing Committee, and a director on the Board of Kainga Ora — Homes and Communities.
While she was delighted to receive the honour, the real reward had been receiving two large grants this year which meant she could employ her research team on a permanent basis, she said.
‘‘Life is so precarious for many young people.
‘‘It is nice to do that and let them have opportunities because I think life is much tougher now than when I was beginning.’’