While these links between poor health and living on the streets or in unstable accommodation are intuitive for many stakeholders in the supportive housing sector, the literature on this topic is wide-ranging and immense. In order to clarify the scope of existing literature, we have reviewed twenty-five studies published between 2002 and 2017 to determine:
- Healthcare metrics best evaluated in the evidence base
- Studies that describe anticipated cost avoidance and cost savings for the
healthcare sector
In addressing these topics, we highlight areas of concern with the current evidence base and the limitations of studies published to date. We hope that supportive housing and healthcare providers can use this briefing as a starting point for further exploration of the studies that most closely align with their interests.
Please note that this is not an academic meta-analysis of supportive housing studies nor has it been peer reviewed. We do not make any claim as to the strength of individual studies. Instead, this briefing describes the content of a subset of publicly available evaluations in order to draw attention to studies that may be of interest to our audience.