>
 SDOH-Listserv Bulletin No. 6, March 3, 2004
> Housing as a Social Determinant of Health
>
> This Bulletin is contributed by Toba Bryant, PhD of York University in
> Toronto.
> Dr. Bryant can be reached at [log in to unmask]
>
> This Bulletin is available as a Word File at
> http://quartz.atkinson.yorku.ca/QuickPlace/draphael/Main.nsf/
> Please forward this Bulletin to potentially interested parties.
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> Housing and Health: Not a New Phenomena
>       A pamphlet published in 1944 quotes the Chief Medical Officer at the
> then new Ministry of Health in United Kingdom at the time on the three
> "evils" of inadequate housing: "There is diminished personal cleanliness
> and physique leading to debility, fatigue, unfitness, and reduced powers of
> resistance. A second result of bad housing is that the sickness rates are
> relatively high, particularly for infectious, contagious, and respiratory
> diseases. Thirdly, the general death-rates are higher and the expectation
> of life is lower. The evidence is overwhelming, and it comes from all parts
> of the world - the worse people are housed the higher will be the death
> rate."
> - J.N. Morris, Health. No. 6, Handbooks for Discussion Groups. London:
> Association for Education in Citizenship. Reprinted in M. Shaw, Health and
> housing: A lasting relationship. Journal of Epidemiology and Community
> Health 2001; 55:291.
>
>       The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion recognizes shelter as a basic
> prerequisite for health (WHO, 1986). Yet, Canadian political leaders and
> the housing policies they offer are failing to meet the housing needs of
> many Canadians. As documented in Federal NDP leader Jack Layton's book on
> homelessness, the number of Canadians who sleep in the streets, use
> temporary shelters, or spend more than 30% and/or 50% of their income on
> housing is increasing at alarming levels (Layton, 2000). These developments
> have clear implications for the health of Canadians.
>
> Housing and Health
>       A recent review of the housing and health literature concluded that
> research has focused on, and identified findings in, four key areas (Dunn,
> 2000). Homeless people experience poor health status and have limited
> access to health care. Problematic dimensions of dwellings are associated
> with adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Stresses linked with
> unaffordable and/or inadequate housing can affect health status. Unhealthy
> individuals are disadvantaged in the housing market and are directed into
> substandard housing conditions. ...  SNIP...
>
>
>

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