“The connection between health and the dwelling of the population is one of the most important that exists.” -Florence Nightengale

What do dust-mites, cockroaches, mold and rodents have in common? Besides their respective “ick” factors, these organisms are big-time asthma triggers. The right mattress cover and a good vaccum can help eliminate dust-mites, but those other opportunistic critters can be a little harder to boot out of your home – even more so if you’re a renter without control over the root cause of the infestation.

Multnomah County’s Environmental Health Division recently hosted a Healthy Homes Summit to study the nexus between our health and our homes. Participants helped compile a laundry list of recommendations for Multnomah County and the City of Portland (the full list is after the jump) ranging from updating building codes and enforcement to reflect public health to increasing and improving landlord education.

What you think Multnomah County should do to make our homes healthier?

Healthy Homes Summit Recommendations

Forge Coalitions in the Community
• Develop a sustainable Healthy Homes Partnership group to: 1) serve as content experts in identifying current and local data and key constituents, 2) improve outreach education and service coordination, 3) enhance opportunities for dialogue between business and consumers, 4) advocate for policy change supporting the connection between health and housing.
• Support the City of Portland’s Quality Rental Housing Workgroup by providing the Portland City Commissioners and the Workgroup with a summary of the Summit.
• Provide briefings to Multnomah County Board of Commissioners and the local jurisdictions within Multnomah County.
• Increase support for county-wide Community Based Organizations to perform assessments, education, outreach, mediation and advocacy.
• Create a funded coalition to advocate for decent, affordable housing for low and moderate income people and those with special needs by bringing together housing and service providers.

Engage Market Forces for Change
• Identify drivers and barriers related to market forces.
• Work with lending and insurance industries and governmental agencies to ensure there are financial incentives that support affordable housing and health solutions.
• Engage landlords and developers in the process of remediation and construction that supports the health and housing connection.
• Create market based solutions; engage lenders, insurance companies, funding sources to create incentives for building/renovation that minimizes the use of natural resources and provides a healthy indoor environment.
• Create pilot and demonstration projects such as affordable green remodeling or affordable green housing construction contests.
• Use market data to raise awareness about market forces that support health and housing connections.

Pursue Stronger Regulations and Better Enforcement
• Clarify the terminology, narrative language, and intention related to health and safety issues used in the existing housing codes, standards, and policies in the City of Portland.
• Review the current City of Portland Housing codes against national standards that support the connection between health and housing and revise as appropriate.
• Create Housing Codes and enforcement mechanisms in all Multnomah County jurisdictions reflective of national standards supporting the connection between health and housing.
• Consider the development of a universal inspection model that certifies housing rather than a complaint-driven model.
• Evaluate construction codes for inclusion of mechanisms for safety, energy efficiency, health issues and indoor air quality.
• Evaluate and revise state statutes to assure equitable nondiscriminatory treatment of renters by balancing renter/landlords rights and responsibilities.

Raise Awareness Among Community Organizations and Developers
• Create culturally and linguistically appropriate educational messages describing the rights and responsibilities of renters and landlords. Renter/landlord guides in multiple languages prepared for the renter culture and the landlord culture.
• Incorporate renter and landlord responsibility training into housing, health, community and academic venues.
• Educate health care providers about the intersection between the home environment and health.
• Balance tenant responsibility around behaviors that may contribute to environmental health problems with landlord responsibility for structural maintenance for healthy and safe housing.
• Educate the general public.

Focus Further Research and Advocacy on Effective, Achievable Public Policy
• Collect and analyze data to monitor health and housing indicators in support of science-based policy that promotes positive health outcomes.
• Perform cost benefit analysis of green building, social capital, and health benefits.
• Conduct community assessments to identify community knowledge and gaps related to health and housing issues.
• Develop education and outreach strategies.
• Communicate the meaning of data analysis to the general population in understandable messages.

Posted on July 17, 2007

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