title: Healthy housing: a structured review of published evaluations of US interventions to improve health by modifying housing in the United States, 1990-2001.
abstract: We sought to characterize and to evaluate the success of current public health interventions related to housing. Two reviewers content-analyzed 72 articles selected from 12 electronic databases of US interventions from 1990 to 2001. Ninety-two percent of the interventions addressed a single condition, most often lead poisoning, injury, or asthma. Fifty-seven percent targeted children, and 13% targeted seniors. The most common intervention strategies employed a one-time treatment to improve the environment; to change behavior, attitudes, or knowledge; or both. Most studies reported statistically significant improvements, but few (14%) were judged extremely successful. Current interventions are limited by narrow definitions of housing and health, by brief time spans, and by limited geographic and social scales. An ecological paradigm is recommended as a guide to more effective approaches.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Center for Human Environments, City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York City, NY 10016, USA. ssaegert@gc.cuny.edu
authors.forename: Susan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Saegert
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klitzman
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Freudenberg
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cooperman-Mroczek
authors.forename: Salwa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nassar
mesh_terms: D000061:Accidents, Home / Q000517:prevention & control; D001249:Asthma / Q000517:prevention & control; D018672:Community Health Planning; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004782:Environmental Health; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006798:Housing / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007855:Lead Poisoning / Q000517:prevention & control; D015980:Public Health Practice; D011640:Public Policy; D014481:United States