A systematic review of the relationship between publicly subsidised housing, depression, and anxiety among low-Income households

Abstract

Background:

Housing affordability is one of the most pervasive social determinants of physical and mental health in many parts of the world. To date, some housing scholars have looked at public housing interventions as a mechanism for increased affordability. However, their findings have not been synthesised and it is still unclear as to whether these interventions improve mental and physical health.

Method:

The present study is a systematic review of quantitative studies conducted over the past 25 years that assess the impact of publicly subsidised housing on mental health. In total, 1886 studies were identified from a structured search of four databases. Included articles were peer-reviewed sources that quantitatively measured the relationship between mental health and publicly subsidised housing interventions.

Results:

In total, 6 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. Evidence on mental health benefits from publicly subsidised housing was inconsistent, and depended on the specific housing subsidy programme, type of housing assistance, housing stability, and neighbourhood quality.

Conclusion:

This review identified a need for more rigorous studies to gain a better understanding of the conditions needed for housing affordability policies and programmes to positively contribute to mental health.

Keywords:

• Housing
• affordability
• non-market housing
• publicly subsidised housing
• social housing
• mental health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., McGuinness, L. A., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 372, n71.

Additional information

Funding

This manuscript contributes to the work of “Community Housing Canada: Partners in Resilience”, an academic-community partnership supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Grant Number: 1004-2019-0002). The partnership is directed by Professor Damian Collins at the University of Alberta (host institution), in collaboration with Civida (lead community partner). Dr. Woodhall-Melnik’s work is supported in part by the Canada Research Chair’s Programme.