Two research projects that focus on the health of social housing residents

Gina Agarwal’s program of research includes multiple projects focused on the health of social housing residents and their access to care; she has two recent publications from this work.

The first publication was a comparison of health-related factors among social housing residents in Ontario and Quebec. It was found that social housing residents in Quebec were less likely to have a family physician or their blood pressure checked recently. While Quebec residents had fewer issues with self-care and mobility compared to Ontario residents, they were also less active, ate fewer fruits and vegetables, and smoked more cigarettes per day. These findings are important for understanding the different contexts when scaling out chronic disease prevention programs. Check out an infographic of this research.

The second publication examined self-reported cardiometabolic rates and risk factors in social housing residents. Compared to the general population, social housing residents reported higher rates of diabetes (28.6% vs. 17.9%) and hypertension (59.1% vs. 43.7%). In addition, those with CVD or diabetes were significantly more likely to report having issues with mobility, pain, self-care and ability to do their usual activities — all important markers of quality of life. This study highlights the need for chronic disease prevention and management programming tailored for social housing residents