Explore the vast range of titles available.

A practical guide to creating healthy houses. What is a healthy, low-allergy house? What is a \"sick\" building? How is a healthy house designed and built? How can a sick environment be made healthier? These are some of the questions answered in this book.

Background Housing is considered a social determinant of health. In Catalonia and Spain, ensuring affordable housing is challenging and cooperative housing under a grant-of-use emerges as an alternative, challenging traditional housing models. This study aims to quantify its impact on health before and after moving to the cooperative house. Methods A longitudinal study of individuals in cooperative housing projects in Catalonia (July 2018-April 2023) was conducted. Data, including sociodemographic, housing information, and health-related details, were collected through baseline and follow-up surveys. Results Seventy participants (42 women, 28 men) showed positive changes in housing conditions during follow-up. Improved perceptions of health, mental health, and social support were observed. Despite limitations in sample size and short follow-up, initial findings suggest improvements in health. Conclusions Cooperative housing under a grant-of-use in Catalonia appears promising for improving health and living conditions. Further research is warranted to explore its full potential as an alternative amid housing challenges in the region.

\"In this book, we use a transactional approach to examine the person-occupation-environment interaction and provide therapists with a detailed understanding of the various dimensions of the home environment that impact on home modification decisions. We also examine the context of home modification services and the impact of various demographic, legislative, policy, and service delivery traditions on the development and delivery of home modification services. In particular, we explore the roles and perspectives of each stakeholder in the home modification process, and we present a range of strategies to assist occupational therapists to achieve effective and positive service delivery outcomes. Additionally, we review the current legislative environment and the funding schemes that facilitate service delivery. We examine, in detail, the home modification process, including a review of approaches to evaluating, measuring, and drawing the environment; identifying and evaluating interventions; applying design standards; and reporting and legal issues. To assist the reader in identifying bases for evidence-based practice and topics for future research and theory development, we provide an overview of the literature on evaluating home modification outcomes and review the evidence for home modification interventions. The book concludes with a series of case studies that highlight the application of the home modification process in developing effective solutions for a range of client groups\"-- Provided by publisher.

Background Palestinian health conditions are exacerbated by high housing density, overcrowding, moisture issues, poor air circulation, poverty, limited health services, and housing insecurity, leading to chronic illnesses and mental health challenges. This study aims to explore the intricate connection between housing conditions and health outcomes, particularly focusing on the psychological, mental, and physical well-being of Palestinians. Methods The study employs a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. A structured questionnaire, developed based on expert discussions and previous research, assesses health indicators across the three domains. Descriptive statistics and Stepwise Multiple Regression techniques are used for data analysis. Additionally, ten structured interviews are conducted to provide qualitative insights into the detrimental impacts of housing conditions on health. Results The quantitative analysis reveals significant associations between housing characteristics and health outcomes. Participants residing in smaller households, with higher family incomes, and in private homes report better health across all domains. Urban residents generally exhibit better health outcomes compared to rural or refugee camp dwellers, highlighting disparities in resource accessibility. Moreover, stability in residential environments positively correlates with overall well-being. Qualitative findings underscore the negative impact of cramped living conditions, poor building supplies, and military occupation/ conflict on mental and physical health. Conclusion The study emphasizes the interconnectedness of socio-demographic factors with health outcomes among Palestinians. It highlights the crucial role of family dynamics, socioeconomic status, housing type, residential environment, and the political situation—particularly its impact on housing security and stress levels—in determining physical, mental, and psychological well-being. Addressing structural inequalities and promoting equitable access to resources and opportunities are essential steps towards improving health outcomes in Palestinian society. The study’s findings can inform policy development for Palestinians, addressing structural inequalities and improving healthcare, housing affordability, and socioeconomic opportunities, with future research utilizing longitudinal designs and cross-cultural comparisons.

Background Evidence has linked poor housing conditions to negative health outcomes. However, in urban contexts characterized by social vulnerability and population-level inequalities, the gender perspective is often overlooked, despite evidence showing that housing conditions impact men and women differently in terms of health. This study aimed to describe the association between housing conditions and the prevalence of COVID-19 among men and women in Barcelona, Spain. Methods An observational cross-sectional study was conducted using the 2021 Barcelona Health Survey. The study population consisted of non-institutionalized residents over 14 years of age in Barcelona. The survey was administered to a sample of 3,545 participants during the COVID-19 pandemic, between February 2021 and February 2022. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios of COVID-19 (aPR), along with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), were estimated using multivariate Poisson regression models with robust variance. The analysis was stratified by gender. Results A significant gradient was observed across age groups for both men and women, with higher COVID-19 prevalence in younger categories. The prevalence was notably higher among individuals born in low-income countries, particularly for women (aPR 1.62). We also identified a significant association between housing conditions, vulnerability factors, and COVID-19 prevalence in both men and women. Living with four or more cohabitants was associated with higher prevalence (aPR 1.96 for women and 1.89 for men), as was the presence of dampness in the home (aPR 1.34 for women and 1.27 for men). Additionally, energy poverty was significantly associated with higher COVID-19 prevalence in women (aPR 1.36), but not in men. Conclusion This study highlights the association between housing conditions and COVID-19 in Barcelona, with a pronounced impact on young people, women from low-income countries, and women experiencing energy poverty.

Background Housing insecurity is an important social determinant of health that has been linked to poor mental health. The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic marked a time of major upheaval and has been linked to worsening experiences with anxiety and depression. It is not well understood how pre-pandemic housing insecurity may be associated with trajectories of anxiety and depression in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Using data from the NIH All of Us Research Program, we estimated the correlation between pre-pandemic housing insecurity and repeated measures of anxiety and depression symptoms between May and July 2020. We combined data from baseline surveys and the COVID-19 Participant Experience Survey (COPE) and used generalized linear models with a logit link to estimate results. Results Our sample included 37,535 participants. Those who reported housing insecurity prior to the start of the pandemic were significantly more likely to report moderate-to-severe symptoms of anxiety (AOR 1.630, p  < .001) and depression (AOR 1.877, p  < .001) across all months. Trajectories of anxiety and depression symptoms did not differ between May and July 2020 for those who reported housing insecurity versus those who did not. Conclusions This study examined how experiences and trajectories of anxiety and depression symptoms differed by housing insecurity status among a novel large national sample. Experiencing housing insecurity prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a greater likelihood of moderate-to-severe anxiety and depression from May to July 2020, and this difference was consistent over time.

Background Shared equity homeownership – a model in which low- and moderate-income households purchase homes at affordable prices on the condition that the houses remain affordable upon resale – has been shown to produce several health-enhancing housing outcomes. These include permanent affordability, housing stability, and modest wealth-building. However, studies suggest low- and moderate-income households may sacrifice neighborhood quality when becoming homeowners, which can undermine the health benefits of homeownership. To understand the health impacts of the shared equity homeownership model more fully, it is important to evaluate participants’ neighborhood health trajectories – how their neighborhood health environments change when they move into homeownership – and how these trajectories compare to those of similar households entering traditional homeownership and those continuing to rent. Methods We conducted difference-in-differences analyses comparing changes in neighborhood health characteristics (walkability, food access, socio-economic vulnerability, and life expectancy) for US households moving into shared equity homeownership between 1997 and 2017 compared to households moving into traditional homeownership and those continuing to rent. Shared equity homeowner data was obtained through the Grounded Solutions Network HomeKeeper National Data Hub and households from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics served as matched controls for the analysis. All data on neighborhood characteristics were obtained from publicly available, census tract-level datasets. Results Compared to households entering traditional homeownership, households entering shared equity homeownership experienced a relative increase in walkability (difference-in-differences 1.07, p  = 0.004), increase in food access (0.13, p  < 0.001), increase in socio-economic vulnerability (0.06, p  = 0.02), and similar life expectancy. Compared to households moving between rental units, households entering shared equity homeownership experienced similar trajectories in terms of walkability and food access but experienced a relative increase in socio-economic vulnerability (0.06, p  = 0.01) and decrease in average neighborhood life expectancy (-0.64, p  = 0.01). Conclusions Households entering shared equity homeownership avoid the sacrifices in neighborhood walkability and food access that are associated with moving into traditional homeownership, but they experience increased neighborhood socio-economic vulnerability. While understanding the net impact of these factors on individual and household health requires further study, these results can inform the siting and design of shared equity homeownership units to maximize the health benefits of the model.

Objectives. To examine whether access to housing assistance is associated with better health among low-income adults. Methods. We used National Health Interview Survey data (1999–2012) linked to US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administrative records (1999–2014) to examine differences in reported fair or poor health and psychological distress. We used multivariable models to compare those currently receiving HUD housing assistance (public housing, housing choice vouchers, and multifamily housing) with those who will receive housing assistance within 2 years (the average duration of HUD waitlists) to account for selection into HUD assistance. Results. We found reduced odds of fair or poor health for current public housing (odds ratio [OR] = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.57, 0.97) and multifamily housing (OR = 0.75; 95% CI = 0.60, 0.95) residents compared with future residents. Public housing residents also had reduced odds of psychological distress (OR = 0.59; 95% CI = 0.40, 0.86). These differences were not mediated by neighborhood-level characteristics, and we did not find any health benefits for current housing choice voucher recipients. Conclusions. Housing assistance is associated with improved health and psychological well-being for individuals entering public housing and multifamily housing programs.

The links between housing and health are now known to be strong and multifaceted and to generally span across 4 key pillars: stability, affordability, quality and safety, and neighborhood opportunity. Housing disparities in the United States are tenaciously patterned along axes of social inequality and contribute to the burden related to persistently adverse health outcomes in affected groups. Appreciating the multidimensional relationship between housing and health is critical in moving the housing and health agenda forward to inspire greater equity. We assessed the current state of research on housing and health disparities, and we share recommendations for achieving opportunities for health equity centered on a comprehensive framing of housing. Despite the vastness of existing research, we must contextualize the housing and health disparities nexus in a broader web of interrelated variables emerging from the same roots of structural inequalities. There is more we can do to maximize the extent to which existing research furthers our understanding of housing’s relationship to health and potential related interventions; however, there are also several areas where new research is warranted.

Background. Accumulating evidence suggests responses to HIV that combine individual-level interventions with those that address structural or contextual factors that influence risks and health outcomes of infection. Housing is such a factor. Housing occupies a strategic position as an intermediate structural factor, linking “upstream” economic, social, and cultural determinants to the more immediate physical and social environments in which everyday life is lived. The importance of housing status for HIV prevention and care has been recognized, but much of this attention has focused on homeless individuals as a special risk group. Analyses have less often addressed community housing availability and conditions as factors influencing population health or unstable, inadequate, or unaffordable housing as a situation or temporary state. A focus on individual-level characteristics associated with literal homelessness glosses over social, economic, and policy drivers operating largely outside any specific individual’s control that affect housing and residential environments and the health resources or risk exposures such contexts provide. Objectives. We examined the available empirical evidence on the association between housing status (broadly defined), medical care, and health outcomes among people with HIV and analyzed results to inform future research, program development, and policy implementation. Search methods. We searched 8 electronic health and social science databases from January 1, 1996, through March 31, 2014, using search terms related to housing, dwelling, and living arrangements and HIV and AIDS. We contacted experts for additional literature. Selection criteria. We selected articles if they were quantitative analyses published in English, French, or Spanish that included at least 1 measure of housing status as an independent variable and at least 1 health status, health care, treatment adherence, or risk behavior outcome among people with HIV in high-income countries. We defined housing status to include consideration of material or social dimensions of housing adequacy, stability, and security of tenure. Data collection and analysis. Two independent reviewers performed data extraction and quality appraisal. We used the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for randomized controlled trials and a modified version of the Newcastle Ottawa Quality Appraisal Tool for nonintervention studies. In our quality appraisal, we focused on issues of quality for observational studies: appropriate methods for determining exposure and measuring outcomes and methods to control confounding. Results. Searches yielded 5528 references from which we included 152 studies, representing 139 757 HIV-positive participants. Most studies were conducted in the United States and Canada. Studies examined access and utilization of HIV medical care, adherence to antiretroviral medications, HIV clinical outcomes, other health outcomes, emergency department and inpatient utilization, and sex and drug risk behaviors. With rare exceptions, across studies in all domains, worse housing status was independently associated with worse outcomes, controlling for a range of individual patient and care system characteristics. Conclusions. Lack of stable, secure, adequate housing is a significant barrier to consistent and appropriate HIV medical care, access and adherence to antiretroviral medications, sustained viral suppression, and risk of forward transmission. Studies that examined the history of homelessness or problematic housing years before outcome assessment were least likely to find negative outcomes, homelessness being a potentially modifiable contextual factor. Randomized controlled trials and observational studies indicate an independent effect of housing assistance on improved outcomes for formerly homeless or inadequately housed people with HIV. Housing challenges result from complex interactions between individual vulnerabilities and broader economic, political, and legal structural determinants of health. The broad structural processes sustaining social exclusion and inequality seem beyond the immediate reach of HIV interventions, but changing housing and residential environments is both possible and promising.