Energy use in the home and consequences on healthcare practices

Social determinants of health (SDoH), such as the way people use energy in their homes, are influential on patient health. The impacts of SDoH are often utilised to shape both health policy and practices; the impact of energy use in the home should be no exception. The current landscape of how energy use in the home and its connection to health is understood by healthcare professionals, is not well known and needs to be reviewed. This paper aims to understand the current body of literature that engages with healthcare professionals’ perceptions of patient energy use and health, as well as how the role of the patient home in healthcare practices is understood. This review demonstrates this area is underresearched, but where studied, challenges faced by healthcare professionals to consider SDoH in their practices are raised. While it is shown that healthcare professionals understand the home to be influential to patient health, literature discussing healthcare practices conceptualises the home as a location only. This is an understanding that has the potential to shape how policy and practice is influenced between energy use, home, and health.