DPH Healthier Housing=Healthier Communities Initiative
In January 2015, DPH launched the Healthier Housing=Healthier
Communities initiative as part of its broad efforts to
address the social determinants of health and promote
health equity.
Why is housing important to public health?
Housing is a fundamental factor in determining health
and wellbeing. While affordable and quality housing can
be a protective factor against health problems and
hazards, unaffordable and poor quality housing
contributes to a range of health issues and inequities.
For example, in L.A. County, individuals living in
unaffordable housing are twice as likely to experience
difficulty affording health services and nutritious food
compared to individuals whose housing is affordable.
Individuals with a history of homeless are nearly three
times as likely to be at risk for major depression
compared to individuals who have not experienced
homelessness. Families and children living in poor
quality housing are at greater risk for exposure to lead
as well as allergens that worsen asthma symptoms.
These connections between housing and health call for
public health involvement as housing becomes even more
out of reach for L.A. County residents. While the county
minimum wage is $10.50 per hour, workers need to earn
$40.54 per hour to afford an average 2 bedroom
apartment. This economic context leaves individuals and
families with fewer affordable options, pushing them
into poorer quality, unaffordable housing or even
homelessness. Nearly 88% of extremely low income
households cannot afford their housing; 12% of
households are overcrowded; and 48,874 people are
homeless on any given night. Improving population health
in L.A. County requires DPH to pursue upstream
interventions that address the county’s housing crisis.
Click on the video below to learn more about
the connections between health and housing:
Healthy Housing= Healthier Communities Video
Return to Home
