For good health outcomes, we need good housing incomes
Good housing can make a world of difference in a personâs health, just as a lack of housing can be devastating.
By Katherine Gergen Barnett and Megan SandelUpdated January 23, 2021, 3:00 a.m.
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Policy makers and advocates must prolong the national moratorium on evictions until at least next fall.Lane Turner/Globe Staff
As primary care physicians, we are accustomed to receiving hard news from our patients. A recent message came in the form of a text message, a string of crying emojis, from a patient who had already suffered so much. Jean (name changed for privacy), though only in her mid-30s, has suffered from uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure, an early heart attack, and a long history of trauma, and was recently diagnosed with HIV. Though Jean has made great strides in her health â intensive therapy for her trauma, new medication regimens for her diabetes, high blood pressure, and now HIV â stable housing was the one key element to her health that had proved elusive.