Premium
Comment: Housing Policy and Health
Author(s) -
Catalano Ralph,
Kessell Eric
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/1540-4560.00081
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , context (archaeology) , work (physics) , value (mathematics) , public health , health policy , public economics , public policy , political science , economics , economic growth , medicine , health care , engineering , computer science , geography , nursing , mechanical engineering , archaeology , machine learning
We summarize and comment on the policy sections of the articles in this issue concerned with the health effects of residential environments. We review the implications in the context of public policies implemented over at least the last century to improve the least, as well as most, expensive housing. We make the argument that public policy can reduce but not eliminate the contribution of housing to the differences in health between the wealthy and poor. We conclude that the applied value of work such as that presented in this issue arises from its contribution to sustaining the improvements in health enjoyed over the last century, not from whether it helps eliminate the gap in health between the poor and wealthy .