Housing interventions for homeless,pregnant/parenting women with addictions: a systematic review

Family homelessness is a growing problem in North America with most of these families headed by single women. Homeless women also experience high rates of pregnancy and addiction (drugs and alcohol). Housing interventions have been identified as key to addressing the complex needs of pregnant/early parenting, homeless women with addictions. The aim of this systematic review is to determine what housing models and programs for this population yield the best outcomes. We systematically searched 10 databases and retrieved eight articles describing four distinct studies that met the inclusion criteria for this review. Overall, improved outcomes were found for all intervention groups with the most recent and rigorous studies favoring models combining Housing First and case management. However, methodological limitations, study quality, and varied outcomes made comparison across studies difficult. Further research must be done in this area using standardized outcomes and rigorous designs to develop evidence-based best practice guidelines to address the unique needs of this population.     

基于住宅过滤理论对广州城市廉租房建设模式的思考

受到政府资金供给不足影响,广州廉租房建设出现了政策覆盖面窄、廉租社区配套不足等问题。由住宅过滤理论对城市住房保障问题的启示,笔者认为广州不应再采用规模兴建新住宅的方式,而应该引导、促进市场的住房过滤,将市场过滤出的低质量住宅作为向低收入家庭提供廉租住宅的主要渠道。     

Housing Conditions and Risk: Reporting on a European Study of Housing Quality and Risk of Accidents for Older People

The declining capacities in older people often lead to limitations in activities of daily living and a simultaneous rising demand for care services. Many of these limitations in daily activities are to a varying degree caused, enhanced or facilitated by disadvantageous housing and environmental conditions. Home modifications have been credited as an important part of the solution, allowing for an extended and safer use of the home. In order to examine this issue in more detail, this paper provides empirical evidence on the type and extent of risks associated with accidents around the home. It reports on findings from a European case study on the difficulties using the home and risks of accidents which may lead to injury. It is argued that healthy housing conditions for older persons are important to maximize the supportive capacity of one's home, to stimulate an active and healthy lifestyle, and to avoid unnecessary institutionalization.     

A Comparison of Spanish and American Housing Policy Frameworks Addressing Housing for the Elderly

Abstract

Housing policies in Spain and die United States have important similarities and dissimilarities mat affect housing for the elderly. Spain, even more so than me United States, promotes homeownership. Bom countries face significant challenges in addressing the housing needs of the elderly, particularly those challenges associated wim aging in place. The paper reviews me broader housing policy frameworks in bom countries in order to understand me context for elderly housing policy. The paper identifies lessons from the American experience mat can expand housing policies in Spain.     

城市农民工的住房问题与改革政策

本文研究城市农民工的住房问题和改革政策。农民工住房问题的制度根源是城乡二元住房制度改革滞后。农民工住房问题主要表现为绝大多数农民工无力在城市购买住房以及住房质量和居住环境较差。住房问题对农民工市民化具有严重的负面影响,住房房租支出比重偏高削弱了农民工的经济收入,居住质量差阻碍了农民工思想观念和行为方式的市民化,居住边缘化造成严重的社会隔阂对立。本文分析了广东省农民工住房政策和实施情况,提出深化改革的建议。     

Female-headed households in nonmetropolitan areas: Housing and demographic characteristics

This article describes selected demographic and housing characteristics of nonmetropolitan female-headed households. It compares nonmetropolitan female householders with the average U.S. household, including regional differences. Female heads are older and more likely to have members in poor health than U.S. households on average. Female heads are also more likely to be in poverty and to experience housing poverty. Although the female householders do not suffer from space and quality problems, housing affordability is a problem. Most female heads live in owned, single-family dwellings and are more likely to live in mobile homes than the average U.S. household. This research was funded under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research Service, and the experiment stations in Idaho, Indiana (Purdue University), Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and New York (Cornell University). Also supporting the research were East Carolina University, Illinois State University, Kansas State University, and Western Michigan University. The authors thank Mary Ann Horvath and Roxanne Miller for their assistance in preparing the figures and document. She received her Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. Her work includes research in housing and the economic well-being of women. She received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Her research interests include housing and neighborhood assessment and women and public policy issues.     

The Role of the Housing Allowance for the Elderly in Norway: Views of Recipients

This article concerns the housing allowance, an economic benefit provided to low-income households and the elderly in Norway. Ensuring a high quality of housing for the elderly has been a priority in the development of the Norwegian welfare state. This article is based on results from a qualitative study among elderly recipients of a housing allowance. The study shows that while these recipients viewed the financial support the allowance offered as crucial, they still felt impoverished. The study raises some questions about whether the housing allowance scheme encourages high-quality housing.     

Housing Concepts For and By the Elderly: From Subjects of Design to a Design Resource

ABSTRACT

The perception of elderly residents as a homogeneous group is challenged by the diversification of lifestyles and emphasis on individuality in housing. Recently, there has been a rise in Finland in housing projects initiated by groups of elderly people, where the seniors themselves are seeking to fill in qualitative gaps in the offering of housing. This article presents a comparative analysis of four senior housing concepts that represent both a producer-driven (“for the elderly”) and a resident-driven (“by the elderly”) approach. The study shows that elderly people can be a resource for residential development and that this necessitates a different “design logic” than in conventional senior housing.     

Perceived Safety in Extra-Care Housing for Senior Residents

Extra-care housing (ECH) is a new housing model in Sweden, falling in between ordinary homes and sheltered housing. The perception of safety among residents living in ECH was explored with the use of in-depth interviews (n = 28, on average 83 years old). A qualitative thematic analysis resulted in a model of perceived safety in the housing environment consisting of four themes: being able to manage on my own; a safe social context; being able to stay; and protection and safety. The model can be used for information, planning, and development of ECH in general.     

Live-in Care Workers in Sheltered Housing for Older Adults in Israel: The New Sheltered Housing Law

Supportive housing schemes were historically aimed to provide group accommodation for older adults. With the aging of residents, facilities were required to enable them to receive care services in order to allow them to age in place. Thus, different countries and different facilities developed different models of housing with care, reflecting cultural and policy diversities. Despite all of the different models, there are many commonalities among the supportive housing schemes across countries. These include provision of dwelling units and care services provided by either the facility or by external agencies. The aims of this article are threefold: to describe the historical development of the ever-evolving supportive care housing phenomena; to point at variations in models of housing and care within the international context; and to present a new Israeli model that enables residents to privately hire live-in care workers to meet their care needs. This is a unique model in the international context that has not been reported before. The article describes the main ideas of the new model and discusses the challenges that it raises and pinpoints the unresolved issues associated with the presence of live-in care workers employed by residents of sheltered housing that should be addressed.     

Meeting Family Housing Needs: Experiences of Rural Women in the Midst of Welfare Reform

Though sometimes overlooked, the availability, affordability, and quality of housing in rural communities are a potential barrier to transitioning from welfare to work. In this investigation we examine housing issues confronting 17 rural women and their families who were recipients of welfare benefits in 1997. Respondents' housing accounts illustrate the significance of reliance on both government housing subsidies and informal subsidies supplied by friends, family, and more distant relatives. The study focuses on concerns women have in meeting their families shelter needs and the complexities involved in doing so. The findings of the research suggest that additional housing policy initiatives, as well as a targeted research agenda are needed, especially for families whose welfare benefits are nearing termination.     

Housing and transport: access issues for disabled international students in British universities

This article explores two disabled people’s ‘Seven Needs’ to independent living, those of ‘housing’ and ‘transport’ issues, in relation to disabled international students in British universities. Firstly, students’ living arrangements, including issues related to the suitability of university accommodation to their disability-related needs, have been identified. Secondly, the choice and accessibility of transport used is examined. A range of barriers that this group of students encounter based on their double or multiple identities as ‘disabled’, ‘international’ and sometimes ‘mature’ or ‘postgraduate’ students has thus been identified and discussed. The article highlights the barriers that are reinforced and exacerbated by the interplay of students’ different identities, proposing ways of removing these difficulties.     

Listen to the Elders: Design Guidelines for Affordable Multifamily Housing for the Elderly Based on Their Experiences

There is an increasing demand for affordable multifamily housing for a rapidly growing population of ethnic elders. Using the lived experiences of Korean American elders currently residing in affordable housing in the Midwest as one such example, this study seeks to develop design guidelines to meet the specific living needs and desires of this aging population. Verified against well-established building standards and accepted guidelines, these design recommendations lay the groundwork for multifamily housing that will assist elders to age in place in safer, healthier and happier environments.     

Building Affordable Rental Housing for Seniors: Policy Insights From Canada

ABSTRACT

In the context of healthy aging, we explore newly constructed, unassisted affordable rental housing with respect to design, location, and the involvement of seniors in decision making. We do so from the perspectives of seniors and project sponsors. Overall, the themes that emerged from these two groups of participants diverge. Seniors spoke about the importance of shared space, design-related barriers to aging in place, and problems accessing transportation. They also expressed a range of views regarding participation in decision making, from conveying it was not necessary to requesting resident involvement. Project sponsors spoke about cost, feasibility, and, in certain cases, learning how to build housing; they also evinced disparate views about the nature of the housing they were providing and the importance of seniors' involvement. Recommendations include linking housing to health and social policy, implementing guidelines for sponsors related to design and location, and providing increased funding to offset new costs.     

Environmental Barriers and Housing Accessibility Problems Over a One-Year Period in Later Life in Three European Countries

Abstract

The objective of this study was to describe environmental barriers and investigate the nature of accessibility problems in housing among single-living, very old people (N = 1,150) in urban regions in three European countries (Sweden, Germany, Latvia), in a one-year perspective. A specific feature of this study is the explicit conceptual differentiation between environmental barriers and accessibility problems, underlying the presentation of the following results: Environmental barriers were very common, and in all three national samples the 20 most prevalent environmental barriers were found in 77–98% of all dwellings investigated. The magnitudes of accessibility problems were similar among the three samples and did not change over one year, while differences were indicated in the types of environmental barriers generating accessibility problems.     

Aging in (Privatized) Places: Subsidized Housing Policy and Seniors

The market-based approach of delivering affordable housing has led to a net loss of traditional public housing and an increase in alternative subsidized housing options. For poor, physically frail older adult residents, subsidized housing and its associated services and support provide an important safety net. This article explores the implications and consequences of this movement for low-income seniors. Specifically, we look at the past and current housing policies, the focus on public-private partnerships, and the transition toward mixed-income communities. The article ends with suggestions for protecting vulnerable older adult populations in a market-driven arena.     

Acquired disability in young women: a challenge for identity?

ABSTRACT

Youth can be described as a transitional phase for the formation of identity. As young people often hold taken-for-granted assumptions regarding their future, disability may pose a challenge for their identity development. This paper analyses the retrospectively written autobiographical narratives by three young women who became disabled during their adolescence. The structure of the narratives is approached with sociologist Arthur Frank’s typology of illness narratives and identity through data-driven content analysis. This paper suggests that chaotic stories may hinder the development of identity, as the identity is described as delayed, hidden, silenced or neglected.     

Beyond Home: Forging the Domestic in Shared Housing

ABSTRACT

This article examines how connections between intimacy and the realm of the domestic are propelled by conditions of shared residence. Informed by research among low-income families in Buenos Aires who organize to attain collectively owned housing, I depict how the propinquity provided by common social activism and co-residence creates both a political and an affective community. The groups in question organize their cohabitation and everyday life according to a set of explicit and collectively sanctioned rules and regulations concerning distribution and uses of space, maintenance, etc. However, living together also implies embracing a myriad of norms regarding aspects of intimacy and the body—particularly those related to sexuality—which, although alluded to by written rules, can only gain voice in the more nuanced, semi-public idioms of gossip and rumor. The article explores these assertions by considering several instances where rules and gossip intersected in deliberations about (im)proper attire in common areas, and the making of decisions about kinship and care. I describe the emotional undertones that emerge around these issues—such as jealousy, modesty, or suspicion—in order to examine how they articulate a domestic domain.

These reflections are based on extended interviews. In order to preserve my informants' anonymity I used pseudonyms in all cases.     

Differential Health and Social Needs of Older Adults Waitlisted for Public Housing or Housing Choice Vouchers

Affordable housing is an important form of income security for low-income older persons. This article describes characteristics of older persons waitlisted for either public housing or a housing choice voucher (HCV; previously Section 8) in Portland, Oregon. 358 persons (32% response rate) completed a mailed survey with questions about demographics, health and housing status, food insecurity, and preference for housing with services. Findings indicate that many waitlisted older persons experienced homelessness or housing instability, poor health, high hospital use, and food insecurity. Public housing applicants were significantly more likely to report lower incomes, homelessness, and food insecurity than HCV applicants. We conclude with policy implications for housing and health agencies that serve low-income older persons.