Housing and Health Where We Live Matters for Our Health: The Links Between Housing and Health

Publication Date: October 2008

Publisher: RWJF Commission to Build a Healthier America

Author(s): Sadegh-Nobari Tabashir.; Susan. Egerter; Craig. Pollack; Paula. Braveman; Mercedes. Dekker

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

Where we live is at the very core of our daily lives. For most Americans, home represents a place of safety, security and shelter, where families come together. Housing generally represents an American family’s greatest single expenditure, and, for homeowners, their most significant source of wealth. Given its importance, it is not surprising that factors related to housing have the potential to help—or harm—our health in major ways. This issue brief examines the many ways in which housing can influence health and discusses promising strategies to improve America’s health by ensuring that all Americans have healthy homes.

The focus is on three important and interrelated aspects of residential housing and their links to health: the physical conditions within homes; conditions in the neighborhoods surrounding homes; and housing affordability, which not only shapes home and neighborhood conditions but also affects the overall ability of families to make healthy choices.

This issue brief produced for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America examines the many ways in which housing can influence health and discusses promising strategies to improve America’s health by ensuring that all Americans have healthy homes.