December 12th, 2017
Housing is the central hub of everyday living. It is a multi-dimensional concept that encompasses the characteristics of the house (physical structure and design); home (social and psychological features); and neighborhoods (physical and social characteristics, and local services). The central influence of housing on people's lives raises the possibility that housing could act as a pathway through which social and economic determinants of health influence population health. The purpose of this paper is to summarize what is currently known about the relationship between housing and health to inform policy development and the identification of future research priorities. There is little doubt that shelter is a basic need for human life. However, some specific population groups and settings in Canada, the relationships between housing and health that are currently being considered are focussed on the potential impact of relative degrees of housing deprivation. Numerous studies have found that residents of poor neighborhoods suffer a diverse set of poorer health outcomes than those in richer neighborhoods. It remains unclear, though, to what degree this association can be attributed to illness caused by poorer housing.A substantial challenge is that people living in poor housing often suffer a variety of deprivations, making assesment of the impact of any one risk factor on poor health extremely difficult. To download this article, please go to http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=PG_284_E&cw_topic=284&cw_rel=AR_1129_E