Housing and health: an overview

Living environment, and especially dwellings, affect directly and indirectly health in several ways end represent one of the key social determinants of health. The relationship between health and housing has long been recognized and, in the last decades, researchers developed several conceptual models to put in relation the numerous housing factors able to impact on inhabitants' health. For some authors, factors linked to housing and neighborhood conditions that influence health, can be grouped into four broad categories: first considers the health impacts of not having a stable home (residential instability); second, the financial burdens resulting from high-cost housing (affordability); third, the health impacts of conditions inside the home (the housing' safety and quality); lastly, the health impacts of neighborhoods, including both the environmental and social characteristics of where people live (neighborhood). It is evident that the theme of "housing and health" nowadays needs to be assessed with a multidisciplinary approach, because of the complexity and wideness of its components. Moreover it is today clear that to guarantee good health standards it is indispensable to direct political and administrative choices to improve the overall conditions of the neighborhood and of the buildings, and, At the same time, to dispose of a clear and updated regulatory system, since key factor to ensure Public Health protection and social justice.