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Healthy Homes Assessment Tools

Housing conditions can significantly affect public health. Many factors influence health and safety in homes, including structural and safety aspects of the home; quality of indoor air; water quality; chemicals; resident behavior; and the house's immediate surroundings. Such factors support or detract from the health of those who live there.

Childhood lead poisoning, injuries, respiratory diseases such as asthma, and quality of life issues have been linked to the more than 6 million substandard housing units nationwide. Residents of these units are also at increased risk for fire, falls, rodent bites, and other illnesses and injuries. Additional issues of concern include exposure to pesticide residues, tobacco smoke, and combustion gases.

Most public health efforts take a single issue approach to health and safety hazards in the home, focusing narrowly on one issue, even in the presence of multiple issues. A Healthy Homes approach is holistic and comprehensive and provides public health professionals, including environmental public health practitioners, public health nurses, and housing specialists, the requisite training and tools necessary to address the broad range of housing deficiencies and hazards associated with unhealthy and unsafe homes.


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