Improving Domestic Environmental Health Among Migrant Service Families: Lessons from a Community Service Program in Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

This community service paper presents the implementation and reflection of a field-based engagement program aimed at improving domestic environmental health among migrant service-worker families in Kuala Lumpur. The target group consisted of long-term migrant families working in the service sector, including domestic work, construction, and other informal urban services, who have lived with their families in the city for many years. Despite their important contribution to urban life, many of these families experience limited housing quality, overcrowding, inadequate ventilation, insufficient lighting, sanitation challenges, and constrained domestic space that affects family well-being. The program was designed and delivered by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in architecture and building engineering. It focused on increasing participants’ awareness of the relationship between housing conditions, everyday health, and family resilience. The activities included field observation, participatory discussion, environmental health education, and practical guidance on low-cost improvements that could be applied in rented or modest living environments. Key topics addressed in the program included airflow and ventilation, natural lighting, hygiene, moisture control, household safety, waste management, and the more effective organization of domestic space. The program showed that community-based interventions grounded in spatial understanding can help migrant families better recognize environmental risks and identify realistic ways to improve their living conditions. The paper argues that community service in architecture and building engineering can contribute meaningfully to healthier domestic environments, especially for vulnerable migrant families in dense urban settings. It also highlights the value of practical, context-sensitive knowledge as a form of empowerment for long-term migrant communities.