[Reblog] Connections between housing, health: Finding stories and getting the reporting right

Connections between housing, health: Finding stories and getting the reporting right | Association of Health Care Journalists.

Excerpt

People who are homeless face many health threats and are among the heaviest users of hospital services. Safe and affordable housing, some experts assert, is a necessary first step to care effectively for people with chronic mental health and substance abuse problems who live on the streets. And there is some evidence that this approach may, in some circumstances, even save taxpayers money (but probably not as much as is often claimed).

In an influential 2009 study in Seattle, researchers analyzed medical and law enforcement costs for 91 people given supportive housing and found that costs dropped to about half the level seen among 35 comparable homeless people on a waiting list. But note that this savings estimate doesn’t include the capital costs of building and refurbishing apartments. Raising capital is likely to be a tall hurdle for many communities and this issue often gets ignored in news reports about the promise of supportive housing.

Read the rest of the core topic on this issue here

 

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[Repost] Is ‘Patient Capitalism’ The Answer To Poverty?

From the 18 October 2013 NPR story

Part 5 of the TED Radio Hour episode Haves And Have-Nots.

About Jacqueline Novogratz’s TEDTalk

Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund, shares stories of how “patient capitalism” can bring sustainable jobs, goods, services and dignity to the world’s poor.

About Jacqueline Novogratz

Jacqueline Novogratz is redefining the way problems of poverty can be solved around the world.

She is a leading proponent of financing enterprises that can bring affordable clean water, housing and health care to poor people so that they no longer depend on traditional charity and aid.

The Acumen Fund, which she founded in 2001, has an ambitious plan: to create a blueprint for alleviating poverty using market-oriented approaches.

Rather than handing out grants, Acumen invests in fledgling companies and organizations that bring products and services to the world’s poor.

Novogratz places a great deal of importance on identifying solutions from within communities rather than imposing them from the outside.

In her book, The Blue Sweater, she tells stories which emphasize sustainable bottom-up solutions over traditional top-down aid.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jacqueline_novogratz_on_patient_capitalism.html

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• Is ‘Patient Capitalism’ The Answer To Poverty? (wnyc.org)
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• Haves And Have-Nots (wnyc.org)
• Book Giveaway: The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz (beth.typepad.com)
• Inspiring a life of immersion: Jacqueline Novogratz on TED.com (ted.com)
• The Blue Sweater 500 (bethkanter.org)

 

Child malnutrition caused by more than lack of food

Image via Wikipedia

From the 1 May 2011 Science News Daily article

ScienceDaily (May 1, 2011) — Giving poor families land on which to grow crops has been shown to improve child nutrition. New research also shows that giving families non-agricultural land and better housing also is beneficial for children’s growth and nutrition…

…”Malnutrition is a major problem for the health of children under 5 years of age in rural Mayan Guatemalan villages,” said Dr. Agulnik, lead author of the study and a resident at Children’s Hospital Boston. “This study demonstrates that in areas where land scarcity is a major problem, land distributions supporting improved housing and community organization can improve child nutrition without changing a family’s income. It also suggests that in our population, living conditions, sanitation, crowding and community organization play a major role in causing child malnutrition.”

The study underscores the fact that childhood malnutrition is not only about food, said study co-author Paul Wise, MD, MPH, FAAP, who created a program at Stanford University in California called Children in Crisis to improve health care to children living in politically unstable regions. “While this study documents the terrible toll of poverty on child health, it also emphasizes the interaction between the child, infections, community life and the exercise of political power.”

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by American Academy of Pediatrics, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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