Document Type

Capstone Experience

Graduation Date

5-2022

Degree Name

Master of Public Health

Department

Health Services Research & Administration

First Committee Member

Hongmei Wang

Second Committee Member

Jungyoon Kim

Third Committee Member

Melissa Tibbits

Abstract

Housing is a vital aspect of an individual’s ability to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. It is so integral that the United Nations has stated that housing is a human right and extends beyond just basic shelter where housing should provide a certain level of structural integrity of the infrastructure, security, affordability, and access to surrounding resources. Existing research studying the relationship between housing and health outcomes suggest those with poor housing exhibit higher levels of chronic conditions such as asthma, heart disease, and diabetes, and higher chances of accidents within the home. The goal of this literature review, which has not been done previously, is to organize all studies with housing factors impacting health outcomes into two pathways, the Affordability and Stability (AS) pathway and the Housing and Environmental Quality and Safety (HEQS) pathway and see how each of these pathways and housing factors impact health outcomes. Fifteen articles were organized into the AS pathway and 24 articles into the HEQS pathway. Ten of the fifteen articles in the AS pathway and 22 of the 24 articles in the HEQS pathway has significant association with health outcomes suggesting these pathways have significant implications for health outcomes. Policy initiatives should consider policies that take advantage of the most amount of housing factors and pathways for greatest impact on health outcomes such as permanent supportive housing (PSH) to provide affordable, stable, and quality housing to people most at-risk of homelessness, increase public housing availability, and improve designs of neighborhoods, communities, and environments following evidence-based research to impact health outcomes.

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