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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Housing and Homes

Goal: Promote healthy and safe home environments.

Two parents hold hands with their young son as they walk down a residential sidewalk.

People’s homes can have a major impact on their health and well-being. Healthy People 2030 focuses on reducing health and safety risks in homes.

Some homes have problems like lead paint or secondhand smoke, which can cause serious health issues.1,2 Other homes aren’t accessible to people with disabilities and older adults. Both individual-level strategies and policy-level actions can help people stay safe and healthy at home.

Some people also struggle to pay for their homes. This is linked to worse mental health and an increased risk of disease.3 Policies that make housing more affordable can help improve health and reduce the risk of homelessness.

Objective Status

  • 0 Target met or exceeded
  • 3 Improving
  • 1 Little or no detectable change
  • 0 Getting worse
  • 1 Baseline only
  • 0 Developmental
  • 2 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Housing and Homes — General

Reduce blood lead levels in children aged 1 to 5 years — EH‑04
Baseline only
Reduce the proportion of families that spend more than 30 percent of income on housing — SDOH‑04
Little or no detectable change

Mental Health and Mental Disorders

Increase the proportion of homeless adults with mental health problems who get mental health services — MHMD‑R01
Research

People with Disabilities

Reduce the proportion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who live in institutional settings with 7 or more people — DH‑03
Improving
Increase the proportion of homes that have an entrance without steps — DH‑04
Improving

Tobacco Use

Increase the proportion of smoke-free homes — TU‑18
Improving
Increase the number of states, territories, and DC that prohibit smoking in multiunit housing — TU‑R01
Research

Other topics you may be interested in

References

1.

Health Impact Project. (2017). 10 Policies to Prevent and Respond to Childhood Lead Exposure. Retrieved from https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2017/08/hip_childhood_lead_poisoning_report.pdf [PDF - 7.8 MB]

2.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). The Health Consequences of Smoking — 50 Years of Progress. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/consequences-smoking-exec-summary.pdf [PDF - 2.2 MB]

3.

Keene, D.E., Cowan, S.K., & Castro Baker, A. (2015). “When You’re in a Crisis Like That, You Don’t Want People to Know”: Mortgage Strain, Stigma, and Mental Health. American Journal of Public Health, 205(5), 1008-1012.