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Moving from Fact to Policy: Housing is HIV Prevention and Health Care

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Abstract

A growing body of empirical evidence shows strong correlations between improved housing status and reduced HIV risk behaviors, improved access to health care for persons living with HIV/AIDS, and better health outcomes. These findings support the provision of housing assistance for low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS: as a basic human right; as a necessary component of systems to enable individuals to manage their HIV/AIDS care and treatment; and as an exciting new tool to end the AIDS crisis in America by reducing the number of new HIV infections. This paper provides a public policy framework for consideration of the research reported in this special issue of AIDS and Behavior, and offers suggestions for using research to move policy and practice towards a true public health response to the housing needs of persons at risk for or living with HIV/AIDS.

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Notes

  1. The National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC) is a 501(c)(3) membership organization formed in 1994 to assert the right of all persons living with HIV/AIDS to safe, affordable housing, and supportive services responsive to their self-determined needs.

  2. NAHC will convene the third Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit March 5th through 7th, 2008, in collaboration with the Department of Health, Behavior and Society of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Information on the Housing Research Summit series and the Summit policy papers are available from the National AIDS Housing Coalition at www.nationalaidshousing.org.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shubert Botein Policy Associates, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, USA

    Virginia Shubert

  2. National AIDS Housing Coalition, Washington, DC, USA

    Nancy Bernstine

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  1. Virginia Shubert
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  2. Nancy Bernstine
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Correspondence to Virginia Shubert.

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Shubert, V., Bernstine, N. Moving from Fact to Policy: Housing is HIV Prevention and Health Care. AIDS Behav 11 (Suppl 2), 172–181 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-007-9305-9

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