A systematic review of housing interventions and health: introduction, methods, and summary findings.
Subject matter experts systematically reviewed evidence on the effectiveness of specific housing interventions in improving health. The panelists reviewed housing interventions associated with exposure to biological and chemical agents, structural injury hazards, and community-level interventions. Intervention studies were grouped together according to recommendations in the Guide to Community Preventive Services, which identifies similarities in the type of intervention, its delivery and setting, and the target population. Review panelists found that 11 interventions had sufficient evidence of effectiveness, 15 required more field evaluation, 19 needed formative research, and 7 either had no evidence of effectiveness or were ineffective. Although many housing conditions are associated with adverse health outcomes, sufficient evidence now shows that specific housing interventions can improve certain health outcomes. The results of these evidence reviews can inform a robust agenda for widespread implementation and further research. This article highlights the project's research methods and summary findings, and its companion articles detail the evidence reviews for specific housing interventions.
Jacobs
David E
DE
National Center for Healthy Housing, Columbia, Maryland 21044, USA. djacobs@nchh.org
Brown
Mary Jean
MJ
Baeder
Andrea
A
Sucosky
Marissa Scalia
MS
Margolis
Stephen
S
Hershovitz
Jerry
J
Kolb
Laura
L
Morley
Rebecca L
RL
D004782:Environmental Health; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans