Nearly half of the patients served by community health centers have housing problems, according to a new report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Among those problems:  two or more homes in the past year alone, difficulty paying their rent or mortgage, and homelessness.  Some have homes that are not their own.

Practitioners need to understand this and help patients address their housing challenges, the study suggests, because housing concerns often prevent such patients from complying with medical instructions.

Learn more about how housing challenges affect health and health care in the JAMA report “Prevalence of Housing Problems Among Community Health Center Patients,” which can be found

Nearly half of the patients served by community health centers have housing problems, according to a new report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Among those problems:  two or more homes in the past year alone, difficulty paying their rent or mortgage, and homelessness.  Some have homes that are not their own.

Practitioners need to understand this and help patients address their housing challenges, the study suggests, because housing concerns often prevent such patients from complying with medical instructions.

Housing issues are especially challenging for the patients served by private safety-net hospitals because those hospitals serve communities with especially large numbers of low-income residents.

Learn more about how housing challenges affect health and health care in the JAMA report “Prevalence of Housing Problems Among Community Health Center Patients,” which can be found here.

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