Addressing housing insecurity as a social determinant of health: A systematic review of interventions in healthcare settings
A new research paper from the Upstream Lab explores how the healthcare system and healthcare providers can help refer their patients to stable housing and address the housing crisis.
We conducted a systematic review of studies about healthcare system referrals of patients to housing, published from 1990 to 2025, and included 19 studies, primarily from the United States, as well as from Canada, Switzerland, and Australia.
We identified three common characteristics of housing interventions with positive outcomes:
1. Active Community Resource Referrals:
Connect patients with a healthcare professional (such as a social worker or case manager), who can actively refer them to housing services, instead of passively sharing information
2. Utilizing Complex Interventions:
Not only address patients’ housing needs, but also connect them to additional health and social supports, such as mental health services, employment skills or opportunities, and supportive social environments
3. Case Management or Assertive Community Treatments:
Use specifically engaged case managers, community healthcare and social care teams to provide comprehensive supports to meet the complex health needs of patients
Primary care providers can identify housing insecurity and connect patients to housing resources early on – before they are in crisis – by screening for people’s social needs (such as by using Upstream Lab’s SPARK Tool).
Published in Social Science & Medicine
