National AIDS Housing Coalition
Policy Tool Kit
www.nationalaidshousing.org/policytoolkit.htm
Based on Research Presented at the
Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit Series
Christine Campbell
2010 HIV Research Catalyst Forum
Baltimore, MD
April 22, 2010
Policy & practice implications of research findings
•
Policy implication: HIV prevention and care strategies will not succeed
without addressing structural barriers such as homelessness & housing
instability
•
Policy implication: housing for persons with HIV/AIDS is a sound health
care investment
•
Practice implication: housing status is likely the most important
characteristic of each new client - the most significant determinant of
each PLWHA’s health and risk outcomes
Yet housing remains the greatest
unmet service need of PLWHA
•
1.1 million PLWHA in the United States—half (500,000) will need
housing assistance at some point
•
The Federal Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
program serves only 56,600 households/year nationwide
•
More than 140,000 households living with HIV lack stable housing and
have an immediate need for housing assistance
•
Rates of homelessness also high among persons at high risk of HIV
infection due to substance use, mental health issues, domestic violence
NAHC Policy Toolkit:
www.nationalaidshousing.org/policytoolkit.htm
Advocacy for housing assistance:
– As a basic human right
– As a necessary component of systems of care to enable
PLWHA to manage their disease
– As an exciting new mechanism to end the AIDS crisis by
preventing new infections
What’s in the tool kit?
• Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit policy papers
• Issue fact sheets (in your materials)
• PowerPoint presentation of research findings
– Annotated presenter’s guide to the PowerPoint presentation
• Sample letter to elected or appointed officials
• Talking points on frequently asked questions (policy obstacles)
• Summit IV briefing book (table of contents in your materials)
Tool: Talking points on frequently asked questions
•
Why HIV-specific housing resources?
•
Aren’t homeless/unstably housed PLWHA just risky people?
•
Isn’t housing too expensive?
•
Isn’t health care more important than housing for PLWHA?
•
Can’t PLWHA use existing low-income housing resources?
•
Can PLWHA with chronic substance use issues be housed?
Summit IV policy action strategies
•
Implement a coordinated communication strategy to disseminate the strong
evidence base for housing as HIV prevention and health care;
•
Increase opportunities for collaboration in the development, implementation
and evaluation of effective housing programs and policies;
•
Mainstream human rights in HIV/AIDS prevention and care strategies,
including the basic human right to housing;
•
Redefine appropriate housing for PLWHA as housing that is affordable, safe
and accessible to all; and
•
Engage in comprehensive planning that establishes norms, beginning with
adoption of the International Declaration on Poverty, Housing Instability & HIV
Summit IV Research Action Strategies
•
Move towards integrated cross-sector data systems to better target, deliver
and evaluate housing resources;
•
develop a deeper understanding of different models of housing, including
the causal mechanisms at work in effective housing interventions;
•
Broaden our understanding of the unique housing needs of special
populations;
•
Foster community based participatory research (CBPR) approaches;
•
Increase opportunities for meta-analyses of HIV/AIDS housing needs and
interventions to amplify the power of program data.
Office of National AIDS Policy
consultation on housing and HIV/AIDS
Evidence-based recommendations:
•
To reduce HIV incidence – recognize, support and fund housing as an
evidence-based prevention strategy
•
To improve health outcomes – acknowledge that housing is health care for
PLWHA, with an immediate goal of 140,000 new units of housing by 2012
•
To reduce HIV health disparities – adopt a public health approach to housing
that removes barriers, targets housing assistance to those most vulnerable, and
fosters cross-system “silo-busting” resource coordination to meet real need
Get Involved!
•
Stay in touch with NAHC - www.nationalaidshousing.org
•
Join the International AIDS Housing Roundtable http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iahr/
•
Endorse the International Declaration on Poverty, Homelessness
and HIV - http://nationalaidshousing.org/2008/07/endorseconference/
•
Use the NAHC Policy Tool Kit to inform local policy & funding
decisions http://www.nationalaidshousing.org/policytoolkit.htm
•
Share your successes - let NAHC know how you use research
findings to inform practice and policy
Register Now!
North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit V
June 2nd - 4th, 2010
Toronto, Canada
Convened by
The National AIDS Housing Coalition
and
The Ontario HIV Treatment Network
in collaboration with
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
For more information and to register, visit
http://www.hivhousingsummit.org/frmHome.aspx