New Study Finds Association between Veteran Housing Status and Cancer Outcomes

An article published in a recent housing and health-focused issue of Health Affairs found a significant association between housing stability and improved cancer survival rates among U.S. veterans. The study examined all-cause survival among a national cohort of over 100,000 veterans diagnosed with cancer between 2011 and 2020 to evaluate whether being unhoused, obtaining housing, or losing housing in the year following a diagnosis of cancer was associated with worse survival rates when compared to being continuously housed. The study found that veterans who were either continuously unhoused or who lost housing had poorer survival rates compared with those who were continuously housed. The findings highlight the importance of stable, affordable housing in improving health outcomes for cancer patients, particularly for the veteran population, and indicate that policies to promote housing access may positively impact cancer-related outcomes. Read the article here and the full issue here.