Two students who are enrolled at Harvard Medical School have collaborated on an article in which they speak up for the people who live in public housing. The students, Arya Rao and Shira Hornstein, start from the premise that public housing will continue to be an essential part of the US housing stock. They also point out that public housing residents are at greater risk for illness than the US population as a whole. Improving the condition of the public housing stock will mean better health outcomes for tenants.
Their next step is to discuss how climate change will add to the existing health risks. For example, public housing tenants have minimal incomes and can’t afford air conditioners to cool their homes as temperatures rise. As well, some of the housing is located in areas that are prone to flooding as water levels rise1.
Rao and Hornstein discuss modifications to public housing buildings that will improve health outcomes for tenants. They note that climate change responses and public housing responses are largely proceeding on separate tracks, but could be worked on together. They contend that by taking a narrow (or siloed) approach to an issue, decision makers miss opportunities for bigger improvements in tenants’ health outcomes.
To read more of Rao and Hornstein’s thinking, see their article in statnews: How The Twin Crises Of Climate Change And Poor Public Housing Are Harming People’s Health
Footnotes
- Hurricane Sandy is a recent example. Try: Climate Change Threatens Another Knockdown Blow To Affordable Housing
