Housing and health. The role of the environmental health practitioner

From a health standpoint, the residential environment is both the dwelling and its associated areas. The dwelling and related area are interrelated both in terms of sanitation problems affecting physical health and other problems affecting mental health. The residential environment certainly represents a complicated public health problem. The issue of inadequate shelter has been addressed throughout history, but the relationship of shelter and health brings it to our attention now. It is estimated that one out of every four persons in our nation lives with some kind of shelter deficiency. The Federal Housing Act of 1949 was instrumental in creating an awareness that the quality of shelter and the surrounding environment has a great influence upon the physical and mental health and well-being of each individual. When the Housing Act of 1949 was passed, the American Public Health Association Committee on the Hygiene of Housing acknowledged the role public health agencies would have in eliminating and preventing health hazards associated with substandard dwellings. It also recognized the need for a formal code to establish minimum standards for the condition and maintenance of dwellings.