A report released by the Brookings Institution lists improved coordination between housing and health care as one of the most important building blocks for achieving greater health equity. The report highlights two examples of housing-health models that have improved health equity: one in Washington State and the other in Oklahoma City. “Housing conditions and housing-based initiatives have a strong relationship with health, leading to many proposals for coordinating housing with other services and using housing as a hub for support services,” explain the authors.
The report makes the case that good housing is essential for good health and identifies state and local initiatives that connect housing and healthcare systems. However, federal action is necessary to expand resources, set overarching policy priorities, and incentivize and support coordinated efforts at the state and local levels. With this need for federal action in mind, health care partners have joined NLIHC’s Opportunity Starts at Home campaign advocating for federal housing solutions.
Read the report here.