The Spanish Society of Epidemiology (SEE), through its Working Group on Health Determinants, has disseminated a positioning document in which it warns that the difficulties in accessing and maintaining housing directly impact well-being and can intensify social inequalities. Therefore, it argues that the debate on housing also constitutes a "public health crisis."
In the context of citizen mobilizations in defense of the right to housing, this scientific society emphasizes that ensuring an adequate, stable, safe, and affordable home should be prioritized as a public health issue. "Having stable housing provides individuals with security, privacy, and a sense of belonging," it states in the document.
Conversely, it warns that residential insecurity, including processes or threats of eviction, brings significant negative effects on health and well-being. It points out that those experiencing these circumstances have worse mental health indicators, with a higher risk of suicide, as well as poorer physical health, impacts that can extend to children and adolescents.
Specialists emphasize the risks arising from economic pressure to meet rent or mortgage payments, a burden that can force households to cut spending on food, heating, supplies, or medications. In this regard, they note that dedicating a high proportion of income to housing, or living with the constant fear of losing it, acts as a factor of chronic stress.
These situations, they add, can lead to residential exclusion and homelessness. Homeless individuals bear a high burden of health problems, greater premature mortality, and multiple barriers to accessing and maintaining ongoing healthcare.
Furthermore, they remind that there is ample evidence regarding the relationship between housing conditions and health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), extreme temperatures inside the home, overcrowding, and dampness are associated with an increase in respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, injuries, and mental health problems.
TOURISTIFICATION, GENTRIFICATION, AND NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORKS
The SEE also focuses on the consequences of touristification and gentrification, which displace the resident population, transform local commerce, and weaken neighborhood networks.
According to the scientific society, the breakdown of these bonds can decrease social support and the feeling of belonging, while favoring isolation, unwanted loneliness, and uprooting.
On the other hand, epidemiologists warn that the shortage of affordable housing can hinder the availability of professionals necessary to sustain essential public services. In particular, they point out that this situation can become an obstacle to attracting and retaining healthcare and teaching professionals, among other key profiles.
In light of this scenario, the SEE argues that access to decent housing is "fundamental" to protect and promote the health of the population and specifies that "this access cannot be limited to having a roof," but must include the necessary conditions to develop a life project "without the cost of the home compromising food, basic supplies, or health care."
"Investing in housing is investing in health, in healthy neighborhoods, cohesive communities, and in a society with fewer health inequalities. Guaranteeing the right to housing is also guaranteeing the necessary conditions for the right to health to be realized," concludes the scientific society.