Exploring resiliencies to housing eviction and alcohol-related harms: A photo elicitation study

Housing eviction is interrelated with alcohol consumption and harms that are fully and partially attributable to alcohol. For populations experiencing an increased risk of both eviction and alcohol-related harms, understanding community resiliencies that protect against both issues could reveal key intervention opportunities.

We recruited adults (n = 16) from Allegheny County, PA with lived experiences of eviction/eviction threat and regular alcohol use (ages 24-59, 68.8% identified as Black, 68.8% as female, 93.8% as heterosexual). Through semi-structured baseline interviews and follow-up photo elicitation interviews, participants discussed and photographed assets in their neighborhood and living environments that prevented or reduced the negative impacts of alcohol and/or eviction. We analyzed data from interviews using thematic analysis.

Challenges discussed by participants included eviction threat and post-eviction housing insecurity, drinking to cope with eviction-related stress, and alcohol-related harms and problems, which included eviction. Assets that protected against challenges related to both alcohol and eviction included social support, legal and financial assistance for housing, access (including transportation) to employment that pays a living wage, access to green space, opportunities to exercise, and community spaces. Community spaces increased access to other assets by facilitating social ties, resource dissemination, and activities to help cope with eviction-related stress.

Improving community resources and spaces could reduce the impacts of eviction and alcohol-related harms. Strategies that address housing insecurity in conjunction with other social determinants of health may reduce the burden of alcohol and eviction.