222472 Healthy Homes Healthy Kids: An integrated multidisciplinary response to address housing-related health conditions

Monday, November 8, 2010

Anne Farrell-Sheffer, MPH , Department of Social Medicine, St. John's Well Child and Family Center, Los Angeles, CA
Slum housing conditions: chipping and peeling paint, cockroaches, bedbug, rats, holes in the wall, mold, leaking plumbing, extreme heat or cold impact many of the children living in the low income, urban communities of downtown and south Los Angeles. Many of these children suffer from health conditions linked to their housing such as asthma, high blood lead, eczema.

Healthy Homes Healthy Kids is an environmental health collaborative project that integrates comprehensive pediatric medical care with education, case management services and legal advocacy to reduce children's exposure to health hazards present in their own homes. St. John's Well Child and Family Center (SJWCFC), one of the largest ‘safety-net' health care providers in Los Angeles is the lead agency of the HHHK collaborative.

Pediatric patients with housing-related health conditions are identified and referred by clinic providers. Referred patient's families are connected with HHHK Case Manager who links the family to a variety of services including health education classes, visual home assessments, case management, distribution and demonstration of non-toxic cleaning materials, tenant's rights education, and letters to landlords requesting repairs, and follow-up with city inspection units. The dosage of intervention depends on the need and interest level of patient families.

An evaluation comparing a range of health and housing indicators at multiple points in the project is currently being conducted. Expected results include decreased severity of housing related health conditions, improved housing conditions, and increased knowledge of home remediation techniques and sense of social capital.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Environmental health sciences
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
1) Articulate the need to for integrated multidisciplinary responses for children suffering from housing related health conditions 2) Discuss the importance of clinical providers understanding the relationship between slum housing and an individual’s health. 3) Describe the role home-based interventions can play in improving health conditions such as asthma, lead poisoning, and eczema. 4) Articulate the need for legal advocacy to create sustainable improvements in housing-related health conditions.

Keywords: Housing, Poverty

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Master's Degree in Public Health
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.