As We’ve Been Saying: Housing Homeless People Results in Better Health Outcomes and Financial Savings

For years Care for the Homeless has been advocating that stable housing results in both better health outcomes and savings of public resources, and that “Housing is Healthcare”. So, we like to point it out when a major study backs us up. Last month the well-respected Rand Corporation think tank study, “Evaluation of Housing for Health”, called homelessness “…a pervasive public health issue.”

 They’re right, of course. Our Care for the Homeless health care providers have long said that any medical or mental health condition, and almost any treatment, is improved with stable housing. Care for the Homeless Executive Director George Nashak recently said if Care for the Homeless providers could write just one script, it wouldn’t be for a wonder drug, it would be for stable housing. That’s why we’ve passed out buttons that proclaim, “Housing is Healthcare”.

The Rand study documented that people experiencing homelessness “…utilize health and other social services at a significantly higher rate than similar individuals who are not experiencing homelessness.” The study followed 890 individuals in Los Angeles county over 2.5 years.

 The study documents that for people experiencing homelessness who were given supportive housing “…use of medical and mental health services dropped s
ubstantially, including ER visits and inpatient use,” resulting in “… costs, correspondingly, also decreasing.” In the first year of stable housing they found emergency room visits decreased 1.64%, the duration of inpatient hospital stays decreased by more than four days, and outpatient visits decreased by an average of four visits.

 In the Rand study the “…average public service utilization cost in the year prior to housing totaled $38,146; in the year after receiving housing it totaled $15,358”. Evan after factoring in the cost of housing and administration the study found a 20% net cost savings year-over-year.

 If housing is healthcare, and healthcare is a basic human right, then providing stable housing to vulnerable people is the right thing to do. Because stable housing equals better health outcomes, it’s the right health policy. And the Rand study is more documentation that, over time, fighting and ending homelessness is also the least costly thing to do.

By Policy and Advocacy

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