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Abstract
This study is among the first to review current evidence on the association between public subsidized housing and physical health (i.e. health outcomes, health behaviours, and health care use) in low-income households and provides direction for future research and policy. A systematic search of four databases produced 125 articles. Among quantitative peer-reviewed articles published within the past 28 years (1995–2022), 24 examine this particular relationship. Additionally, the bulk of this work is cross-sectional and limited primarily to the US. Although there is some degree of evidence that subsidized housing is associated with improved health, inconsistent results prevent a robust conclusion. The specific type of intervention, targeted group, along with the quality of the neighbourhood and housing all contribute to this heterogeneous mix of findings. This review underscores a need for future research that analyzes causal relationships across a large and varied geographic space using a robust set of physical health outcomes.
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful for the helpful comments received from both Dr. Daniel Dutton, and Dr. Connie Stewart. We also thank Community Housing Canada for their support.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
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Notes on contributors
Imad Dweik
Imad Dweik is a public health and pharmaceutical policy expert. He holds an undergraduate degree in Pharmacy, as well as a graduate degree in Public Health (Epidemiology and Biostatistics) from Tulane University. Mr. Dweik is currently a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of New Brunswick with over 15 years of professional experience in: evidence-based strategic planning, policy analysis/evaluation, and the delivery of national development programs. He has served as a principal investigator, project director, and research analyst on several projects, while also being a consultant on a variety of research programs. His work has sought to address the socioeconomic challenges in both the health and pharmaceutical sectors, with a particular emphasis on marginalized populations.
Barry Watson
Barry Watson is an associate professor of economics with the Faculty of Business at the University of New Brunswick. He holds a PhD in economics from Dalhousie University, receiving both the SSHRC Graduate Fellowship and Killam Scholarship during his doctoral studies. Specializing in health, well-being, and labour, Dr. Watson has published in several highly recognized journals including Social Science & Medicine, Social Indicators Research, and Health Economics. He has presented his research both nationally and internationally, recently speaking at the bi-annual International Association for the Review of Income and Wealth general conference. In 2019, Dr. Watson was an invited speaker at the Queensland University conference on Inequality of Opportunity.
Julia Woodhall-Melnik
Julia Woodhall-Melnik is an associate professor of sociology with the Faculty of Arts at the University of New Brunswick. She is the Canada Research Chair in Resilient Communities with expertise in the areas of community and affordable housing, homelessness, and climate change and housing. Dr. Woodhall-Melnik holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Waterloo. Her work has been published in several internationally ranked journals including, Housing Studies, Social Science and Medicine, and PLOS One. Dr. Woodhall-Melnik’s program of research aims to promote social, environmental, cultural, and economic inclusion for all individuals. She strives to contribute to health equity and wellbeing for populations who have been systemically denied the human right to housing.