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  • Washington Highlights

    AAMC participates in Hill Briefing on the Intersection of Housing and Health

    Philip Alberti, Senior Director, Health Equity Research and Policy

    The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute hosted a March 26 briefing titled “The Intersection of Housing and Health: Paving Opportunities for Hospitals to Invest in Community Health.” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) opened the briefing by discussing the importance of community investment in reducing long-term health problems in local communities.

    Speakers included:

    • Philip M. Alberti, PhD, senior director, Health Equity Research and Policy, Association of American Medical Colleges;
    • Manuel Aviña, CHCI PepsiCo Foundation Preventative Health Fellow;
    • Sara Rosenbaum, JD, professor of Health Law and Policy, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University;
    • Adam Lustig, manager, Promoting Health and Cost Control in States, Trust for America’s Health; and
    • George Kleb, executive director for Housing and Community Development, Bon Secours Baltimore Health System.

    The briefing provided insight to the challenges and opportunities health systems across the country face when trying to invest in social and economic determinants of health. Speakers focused on community investments in low-income housing to help reduce long term health issues of local residents. Alberti stated that, “addressing patient social risk factors like homelessness and lack of stable housing is essential to improving patient outcomes, but it will not address the underlying, fundamental drivers of community health inequities — racism, poverty, xenophobia, etc. — that give rise to unequal access to safe, stable, affordable housing in the first place.”