Can Having a Home Impact Your Health? Exploring the Link Between Stable Housing and Well-being
- cdekleva1
- Mar 21
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 30
If you look into news media or conduct a scholarly article search, you'll find inequities everywhere. Unfortunately, emotional content sells. Whether they are fact or not, we often see those who are experiencing homelessness or inequities painted in a not so flattering light, and this may be the reason why there is so much stigma associated with caring for this population (Oudshoom, et. al, 2016).
Individuals who are experiencing homelessness end up being from many different races and genders. Homeless Hub states that Indigenous peoples and Black communities face homelessness at much higher rates than other groups, according to data from the 2021 Canadian census (2025). Data shows that many factors end up contributing to someone becoming homeless (HomelessHub, 2025). In order to understand the health inequities related to being homeless these factors need to be taken into account and considered (HomelessHub, 2025).
In New Brunswick, housing and homelessness used to fall under the Department of Social Development. In other jurisdictions this department is sometimes called "social services". In the past few years the issue of not having enough housing, affordable housing, and shelter beds for those who needed them because an issue.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a provincial website was developed, and the push towards community hubs and out-of-the-cold shelters became the focus of work (Department of Social Development, n.d.). During this same time the drug poisoning crisis already occurring further highlighted concerns for health and safety in those who are homeless (Guthrie et al., 2021).
In other parts of the country issues arose as well related to managing potential communicable disease concerns. In an effort to prevent transmission of COVID-19, several shelter clients were housed in hotels across Canada so they could have their own space. Unfortunately, this took clients away from the harm reduction supply, peers and life saving drugs such as naloxone, in some cases, and introduced the idea of solo substance use potentially leading to overdoses and deaths (Guthrie et al., 2021).
The New Brunswick Housing Corporation (NBHC) was separated from the Department of Social Development in early 2023 in hopes of providing support for those who needed housing and also those who still relied on shelters in a separate way (Government of New Brunswick, 2025). During the same time period I learned that the Department of Social Development took on supporting many of the shelters in the province and allocated additional resources to what is a very large and labour intensive file.
To understand how many individuals the Department might be caring for or supporting I consulted the Human Development Council of NB (2025). Their webpage states that up to 1500 people were experiencing homelessness at least one day in the month of February 2025 when you add together the numbers for the three larger urban centres across the province (2025). To appreciate the need to change how we serve individuals experiencing homelessness I'll reference some information about the disparities and then the potential issues can then be multiplied by 1500 to imagine what instituting change could do for a small province like New Brunswick.
Being someone who is homeless often means that your life expectancy is less than those who have a home (Davies & Wood, 2018). Given the knowledge that the factors that contribute to homelessness are often things the individual can't control, it's unfortunate that this statistic is a reality (Harris, et. al, 2019). What's interesting is that in some cases there is an inverse relationship between people who are experiencing homelessness who have health issues and people who have health issues then becoming homeless (Davies & Wood, 2018). An example of this is an individual worrying about housing or housing instability and then choosing not to purchase medication needed for diagnosed health concerns to instead devote that money to housing costs (Harris et. al, 2019). The individual is already ill, but financial issues cause disparity and may leave the person feeling as if they have no choice when it comes to being complaint with healthcare recommendations.
In their 2018 article about how moving among those who are experiencing homelessness might contribute to substance use Harris et al., state that those who are homeless "tend to suffer from higher rates of illness, substance use disorders, injuries, assaults and mortality" (p.399). Additional literature points to "increased risk of many health problems including psychiatric illness, substance use, chronic disease, musculoskeletal disorders, skin and foot problems, poor oral health, and infectious disease such as tuberculosis, hepatitis C and HIV infection" (Davies & Wood, 2018, p.230).
A potential cause to some of these health issues developing after becoming homeless may be attributed to challenges in receiving healthcare-sometimes related to real or perceived stigma and discrimination by healthcare providers (Oudshoom, et. al, 2016). Past interactions and the gap in power often has clients feeling that they won't receive what they need when they ask for help and that providers will apply a critical lens and prevent their ability to trust in their suggestions (Oudshoom, et. al, 2016). In addition, lack of primary care providers means that individuals who are homeless fail to get the preventative healthcare that those who are housed might, and barriers might exist that prevent them from attending scheduled appointments or seeking urgent care as soon as they need it (Miller et. al, 2024).
Addressing the issues related to better serving this population mean work to educate those who interact with individuals who are homeless so the reasons for this disparity can be explained more clearly. Work in creating trusting relationships for clients with providers needs to be done including acknowledging the power gap, and treating clients with dignity, compassion and respect at all times (Oudshoom, et. al, 2016). Furthermore, healthcare providers creating positive relationships with clients could mean keeping them from presenting to emergency rooms for non urgent matters (Davies & Wood, 2018).
Avoiding these visits is important for the client and the healthcare system due to the high costs associated with being registered in an emergency room and potentially being admitted to the hospital (Davies & Wood, 2018). Working must be done with clients to respect their choices, and mitigate the barriers that keep them from adhering to suggestions by healthcare providers such as no fixed address to mail appointment reminders to, no phone to call or send send texts to, no safe place to keep medication or harm reduction supplies leading to the loss or theft of these items, and lack of finances to purchase medication or supplies (Davies & Wood, 2018).
Some of these health issues are addressed by creating stable housing for everyone (Davies & Wood, 2018). Other research suggests that specialized healthcare programs needs to be created to cater to those who are homeless to address their complex needs (Davies & Wood, 2018).
I note that there is a major shift in discussion about housing and homelessness across the country and I see coverage almost daily related to something concerning this marginalized group in the province of New Brunswick. The work that I do in harm reduction is greatly impacted by these issues, and I hope that ongoing work will address the huge financial costs related to caring for individuals who are homeless in comparison to other population and make this a healthcare issue that decision makers can't continue to ignore.
References
Cherner, R., Aubry, T., Sylvestre, J., Boyd, R., & Pettey, D. (2017). Housing First for Adults
with Problematic Substance Use. Journal of Dual Diagnosis, 13(3), 219–229.
Department of Social Development. (2025). Supports for people experiencing
homelessness. Social Supports NB. Retrieved March 20, 2025, from
Government of New Brunswick. (2025). New Brunswick Housing Corporation.
Guthrie, K., Garrard, L., & Hopkins, S. (2021). Guidance document for harm reduction in
shelter Programs: A ten point plan. In City of Toronto. Retrieved March 21, 2025, from
Harris, M., Gadermann, A., Norena, M., To, M., Hubley, A., Aubry, T., Hwang, S., & Palepu,
A. (2018). Residential moves and its association with substance use, healthcare needs,
and acute care use among homeless and vulnerably housed persons in Canada.
International Journal of Public Health, 64, 399–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-018-
HomelessHub. (2025). Health and Homelessness. Retrieved March 11, 2025, from
Miller, J.-P., Hutton, J., Doherty, C., Vallesi, S., Currie, J., Rushworth, K., Larkin, M., Scott,
M., Morrow, J., & Wood, L. (2024). A scoping review examining patient experience and
what matters to people experiencing homelessness when seeking healthcare. BMC
Health Services Research, 24(492). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10971-8
NB Data Portal - Human Development Council. (2025, March 18). Human Development
Council. https://sjhdc.ca/nb-data-portal/
Oudshoorn, A., Ward-Griffin, C., Berman, H., Forchuk, C., & Poland, B. (2016).
Relationships in healthcare and homelessness: Exploring solidarity. Journal of Social
Distress & the Homeless, 25(2), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2016.1254862
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