The
partnership will equip communities with the tools necessary to target housing
security and the social determinants of health.
By Sara Heath
March
11, 2019 - Kaiser Permanente will continue its work to mitigate
housing security and the social determinants of health (SDOH) through a
strategic partnership with Community Solutions, a data analytics company that
aids housing support programs in different communities.
The
announcement, made today at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas,
outlined both stakeholders’ commitment to addressing chronic homelessness and
improving health through community outreach.
“Kaiser
Permanente is investing in efforts to reduce homelessness and housing
insecurity because there is a proven link between housing and health,” said
Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente. “Addressing affordable
housing and homelessness is crucial to Kaiser Permanente’s mission to improve
the health of our members and the communities we serve, and to advance the
economic, social and environmental conditions for health.”
Kaiser
will provide $3 million in funding over a three-year period to the Built for
Zero initiative, a program of Community Solutions. Built for Zero leverages
data analytics tools to support community leaders in their efforts to address
chronic homelessness.
Since
January 2015, Built for Zero has helped house over 65,000 veterans and 38,500
chronically homeless civilians. Three of the 70 participating Built for Zero
communities have ended chronic homelessness altogether, while another nine have
ended veteran homelessness, two pervasive issues that have a significant impact on health.
“Living
without a home can have a dramatic impact on a person’s health, yet many of the
communities we serve are grappling with extreme rates of housing insecurity and
homelessness,” said Bechara Choucair, MD, Kaiser Permanente’s chief community
health officer. “We know there is no simple solution to such a complex problem,
but through strategic partnerships, such as the one with Community Solutions,
we believe it can be solved.”
Homelessness
can have a significant impact on a patient’s ability to be healthy, experts agree. Patients experiencing
homelessness have three to four times higher mortality rates than patients with
stable housing, Kaiser reported.
Chronic
illnesses are more difficult to manage without a consistent place to live,
while acute health concerns may be exacerbated without a place to rest and
recover. When a patient does have a stable place to live, she no longer needs
to prioritize other factors over her own health.
The
Community Solutions partnership will empower communities to do the work that is
necessary for them to address homelessness. This will entail providing those
communities with the requisite tools and strategies. Kaiser did not say that
the partnership does not include new housing complexes or a prescription model for addressing
homelessness.
“We
are thrilled to work with Kaiser Permanente to accelerate Built for Zero in
these communities,” said Rosanne Haggerty, president of Community Solutions.
“Together, we will use data and analytics to help these communities adopt the
tools they need to end homelessness and address the conditions that create it.”
The
Kaiser and Community Solutions partnership will touch 15 communities in which
Kaiser has a medical facility. These communities span California, Washington
DC, Baltimore, Maryland, Virginia, Colorado, Georgia, and Hawaii.
This
is yet another step in Kaiser Permanente’s efforts to address homelessness in
its patient population. Earlier this year, the health system announced partnerships with
Enterprise Community Partners and East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation
(EBALDC).
The
announcement included a commitment to house 500 individuals living in the
Oakland, California, area who are over 50 and have at least one chronic
condition.
“Housing
security is a crucial health issue for vulnerable populations,” Tyson said of
the January partnership. “Access to affordable housing is a key component to
Kaiser Permanente’s mission to improve the health of our members and the
communities we serve and to advance the economic, social, and environmental
conditions for health.”
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