Kent County residents say housing is now their biggest health concern.
That's according to a new Community Health Needs Assessment released by the Kent County Health Department, which releases the assessment every three years. This year's assessment is more than 160 pages long and is based on feedback from more than 5,000 county residents, the department said.
Housing issues were cited more than any other issue in that feedback, said Maris Brummell, the county's public health epidemiologist.
“People weren't just worried about finding and getting affordable housing,” Brummell said, “but they were also worried about being evicted from their current housing.”
According to the assessment report, one-third of county residents live in housing they cannot afford, meaning they pay more than 30% of their income on housing. The assessment finds that housing burden will hit renters hardest, with rents set to rise 36% between 2020 and 2023. Additionally, more black and Hispanic residents in the county have been unable to make their rent or mortgage payments in the past year.
Brummell said housing can affect health in a number of ways, starting with safety and exposure to environmental contaminants such as lead.
“Housing is so important to health, it's almost a prerequisite,” Brummell says, “so if you don't have a safe, stable place to live, you can't focus on other things that impact your health.”
While housing was residents' biggest concern, it wasn't their only one. People said access to insurance and health care was also an issue. Immigrants and residents who identify as LGBTQ+ said they especially struggle to access health care.
Many residents said access to healthy foods was also a concern, with nearly one in five saying they had trouble affording healthy foods or food altogether in the past year.
The full report can be found online here.
