Find me a physician who treats patients living with HIV/AIDS, and I'm certain the physician stresses medication adherence to anyone who will listen (yes, probably even Dr. Ben Carson). Find me a patient living with HIV/AIDS, and I'm certain the patient notes an equally important message: I cannot worry about my medications unless I have a roof over my head (yes, someone needs to tell Dr. Ben Carson). Intertwined are these two important facts.
The important linkage between housing and healthcare was spelled out last year in a blog by Kathie Hiers, who serves as the President & CEO for AIDS Alabama. In her blog, Housing=Healthcare, Hiers stated the following key points:
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2015 Out of Reach Report, not a single state in our nation offers a one-room apartment that a person working full time and making minimum wage can afford. In fact, federal minimum wage has not increased since 2009 while rents have risen in almost all metropolitan areas. For PLWH, the need for housing assistance is far too commonplace. According to the National AIDS Housing Coalition, at any given time about 50% of 1.2 million PLWH in our country experience homelessness or housing instability. Additionally, research indicates that people who are unstably housed or homeless have HIV rates up to 16 times as high as persons in stable housing. Unfortunately the need substantially outstrips the resources. But here’s the bottom line: housing for PLWH improves medical outcomes, reduces new transmissions through a reduction in risky behaviors, and provides cost savings. So much research exists to confirm these results that AIDS and Behavior in 2007 dedicated an entire issue to illustrate the findings.[1]Unfortunately, there aren't enough affordable, stable housing units available to keep up with demand. The shortage undermines efforts to achieve positive health outcomes in many areas of the country, both in rural and urban areas. Efforts are underway to modernize the federal housing programs designed to help those in need, including the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). But not all of the "efforts" are necessarily good for the people the programs are designed to assist.
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| Photo Source: Slate.com |
Testifying earlier this week before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), summarized some of these changes to the federal government's housing policy:
"Last year’s changes to the formula for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) was a great step towards efficiency, shifting funding to areas with higher numbers of HIV/AIDS cases, rather than historical incidents. This is the kind of targeted efficiency that will help us do the most with limited Federal resources. We provide a phased-in approach to the new formula to provide communities time to adjust. The additional funding in 2017 also will help provide communities more time to adjust to the new formula. The 2018 Budget provides $330 million for HOPWA."[2]Ironically, Secretary Carson failed to mention that the Trump Administration's proposed Fiscal Year 2018 budget calls for a $26 million funding cut from HOPWA and that "these cuts will certainly increase the number of people living with HIV who will not have stable housing."[3] The proposed reduction represents nearly a 7 percent cut in funding.
Concerns have been mounting over the potential impact of funding cuts to housing programs, as well as healthcare programs. David Reiss' Op-Ed earlier this year characterized the proposed budget as "bad news."[4]
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| Photo Source: Community Partnership of the Ozarks |
In an effort to raise awareness about affordable, stable housing and how it improves medication adherence for people living with HIV/AIDS and/or viral hepatitis, we will host an educational training webinar on June 28, 2017. The webinar, "Housing is Healthcare: Linking Stable Housing & Medication Adherence," will discuss the research that supports housing as a structural intervention that improves health outcomes through improved adherence to treatment. Presenters will share successful housing models where residents have seen this success. It will provide webinar attendees with how to use research to show the direct causation between health outcomes and housing placement, and understand strategies to the connection between medication adherence and stable housing.
Registration is open to all stakeholders. Registration is complimentary for PASWHA members, and it is also complimentary for patients living with HIV/AIDS. Use this scholarship link if you are a patient living with HIV/AIDS applying for a webinar scholarship.
Additional information about the webinar is available online at https://www.123signup.com/event?id=nhjqn.
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[1] Hiers, Kathie (2016, May 6); ADA Blog; Housing=Healthcare; ADAP Advocacy Association. Retrieved from http://adapadvocacyassociation.blogspot.com/2016/05/by-kathie-hiers-president-ceo-aids.html.
[2] Carson, M.D., Ben (2017, June 7); Written Testimony on Review of the FY2018 Budget Request
for the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development; Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Retrieved from https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/060717-Carson-Testimony.pdf.
[3] Schmid, Carl (2017, May 23); TRUMP BUDGET: A SETBACK TO HIV AND HEPATITIS ELIMINATION; The AIDS Institute. Retrieved from http://www.theaidsinstitute.org/sites/default/files/attachments/TAI%20FY18%20Budget%20Press%20Release%20FINAL.pdf.
[4] Reiss, David (2017, March 16); Trump's budget proposal is bad news for housing across the nation; The Hill. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-budget/324211-how-trumps-budget-cuts-could-affect-housing-for-thousands.
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