Case Study: Built Environment Policy Change
CASE STUDY FINAL (4-29-2013)
Presented by: ***
Strategic Direction: Healthy and Safe Physical Environments
Title: Improving Physical Environments to Increase Health for High-Risk Residents
Alignment with CTG: Reducing obesity and diabetes in adults
“Housing is important to healthy and sustainable communities because a community is strongest and most successful when workers and families, especially children, have safe and affordable homes. Housing and neighborhood conditions can promote or adversely impact health outcomes. Health is especially influenced by housing location, home maintenance and design, and housing costs.” California Department of Housing and Community Development
Issues
In *** County more than 16% of the population has been diagnosed with diabetes or are borderline diabetic, 56% of adults and 44% of children age 5 – 19 are overweight or obese and therefore at high risk of developing diabetes and other chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
Epidemiological research has made the connection between poor health, including heart disease, obesity, and depression, with living in disadvantaged neighborhoods – unsafe neighborhoods with housing that is crowded, unsafe, and too costly. For households where earnings are at or below the median income in *** County ($76,728), finding affordable places to live in safe, clean neighborhoods is a major problem. This is especially true for the 55% of families who are renters and earning less than $50,000 per year, and who are most often Hispanic working families, single-female head of household, elderly, or special needs residents. The majority of these families (88%) pay more than 30% of their income for housing, limiting their ability to purchase healthy, fresh foods. Lack of affordable housing results in families living “wherever they can afford”, which can be housing that has poor ventilation and heating and unhygienic living conditions such as old carpeting, peeling paint,
Presented by: ***
Strategic Direction: Healthy and Safe Physical Environments
Title: Improving Physical Environments to Increase Health for High-Risk Residents
Alignment with CTG: Reducing obesity and diabetes in adults
“Housing is important to healthy and sustainable communities because a community is strongest and most successful when workers and families, especially children, have safe and affordable homes. Housing and neighborhood conditions can promote or adversely impact health outcomes. Health is especially influenced by housing location, home maintenance and design, and housing costs.” California Department of Housing and Community Development
Issues
In *** County more than 16% of the population has been diagnosed with diabetes or are borderline diabetic, 56% of adults and 44% of children age 5 – 19 are overweight or obese and therefore at high risk of developing diabetes and other chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
Epidemiological research has made the connection between poor health, including heart disease, obesity, and depression, with living in disadvantaged neighborhoods – unsafe neighborhoods with housing that is crowded, unsafe, and too costly. For households where earnings are at or below the median income in *** County ($76,728), finding affordable places to live in safe, clean neighborhoods is a major problem. This is especially true for the 55% of families who are renters and earning less than $50,000 per year, and who are most often Hispanic working families, single-female head of household, elderly, or special needs residents. The majority of these families (88%) pay more than 30% of their income for housing, limiting their ability to purchase healthy, fresh foods. Lack of affordable housing results in families living “wherever they can afford”, which can be housing that has poor ventilation and heating and unhygienic living conditions such as old carpeting, peeling paint,