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House_tent_box report

Health & Hope is a newsletter designed to educate and inspire Western Montanans on life-saving procedures, community events and services to keep you and your family healthy.

Issue link: https://blog.providence.org/i/1267568

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In addition to these recommendations that come out of cultural models research, we can offer a speci"c recommendation about how to generate greater understanding of the health effects of housing that has been empirically tested and veri"ed. Coming out of descriptive research, we were particularly interested in whether frames that activate the Where You Live Affects You model and that draw speci"c explanatory connections between place and health could yield more productive conversations about housing. In a set of On-the-Street Interviews, FrameWorks researchers explored explanatory messages designed to cue this model and "ll out people's understanding of how housing affects health. #e results suggest that explaining the relationship between housing and health through a simple message that clari"es the connections between speci"c features of housing and speci"c health outcomes can help people better understand the relationship between housing and health. In addition, a better understanding of how community-level factors shape health helps to inoculate against a narrow individual focus and brings systems and policy solutions into view. Below, we offer a sample of what such an explanation might look like. However, it is important to emphasize that what matters is not the speci"c language of this message but rather the underlying principle that it represents—the need to explain connections and draw explicit links between speci"c aspects of housing and speci"c health outcomes. Explanation of Healthy Housing #e places where we live shape our lives and our health. Our communities and neighborhoods affect our health in important ways. When people's homes are near parks and bike paths, exercise is easier. When people live near grocery stores where good food is available, it's easier to eat healthy. #ings within our homes, like lead, mold, and other toxins can make us sick. And when housing is really expensive, it makes it hard to afford to go to the doctor, join sports leagues, or eat well, which harms our health. #is research showed that making speci"c links between housing and health shi%s public understanding and attitudes in several areas: • Health promotion. Analysis revealed that the frames that make housing-health connections explicit were able to move people away from thinking with the Do No Harm cultural model, helping people to think about housing as something that can not only harm health but also positively promote good health. • Access and opportunity. #e housing-health explanation was also highly effective in bringing into view the role and importance of community-level context. A%er hearing the reframe, people mentioned access and opportunity when talking about diet and exercise, recognizing that individual behavior is shaped by context. People talked about systems and built environments as well (e.g., food deserts and walkability). "A House, a Tent, a Box": Mapping the Gaps Between Expert and Public Understanding of Healthy Housing 35

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