Cambridge Health Alliance partners with Vinfen
COURTESY OF CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE
Cambridge Health Alliance, or CHA, an academic community health system serving Cambridge, Somerville and Boston's metro-north region, developed an innovative partnership with health and human services organization Vinfen to provide comprehensive housing support to patients in need.
The program aims to help certain members of the Tufts-CHA MassHealth Accountable Care Organization plan who have chronic medical or behavioral health conditions and who are experiencing housing instability or homelessness.
Each year, millions of American households face “housing insecurity,” a condition that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While there is no single definition of housing insecurity, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services bases it on several key factors — trouble paying rent, overcrowding, moving frequently, staying with relatives or spending the bulk of household income on housing. HealthyPeople.gov notes that housing instability is a key social determinant of health and numerous studies have shown these conditions to be barriers to physical health and access to health care.