ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The SHARP study was funded by the Scottish Government, the Medical Research Council, the Chief Scientists Office (part of the Scottish Government Health Directorate) and the University of Glasgow. The research was originally commissioned by Communities Scotland (a Scottish Government executive agency which was abolished on 1st April 2008) in collaboration with the Chief Scientist Office.
Our thanks to all the Registered Social Landlords and their housing staff for working closely with us to facilitate this study. Special thanks to the residents themselves for agreeing to be interviewed for the study and giving their time on more than one occasion.
Many individuals deserve our thanks for contributing to the study. Caroline Hoy was the principal researcher on the study for most of its duration and put a lot of effort into all phases but especially the initial set up of the study. Catherine Ferrell, Kate Campbell and Julie Watson of the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit ( SPHSU) organised the fieldwork. Our thanks to the fieldwork team for their efforts throughout the project and for the assistance of Business Plus for conducting interviews in the north of Scotland for us. Thanks to Rosey Davidson, Maureen Hunter and Hilary Young for carrying out the first phase of qualitative interviews, and to Marcia Gibson for carrying out the second phase of qualitative research. Hilary Thomson of the MRCSPHSU lent her expertise to the project at various times, particularly in relation to her own review work on the health effects of housing improvements and in relation to the qualitative research phases. Betty Johnstone helped prepare the study reports for publication.
Thanks to the members of the project Steering Group for their advice, support and encouragement throughout.