The Relationship Between Federal Housing Assistance and Uptake of Cancer Screening Among Low-Income Adults

Excerpt

Lower rates of cancer screening among racial/ethnic minorities and low-income populations may contribute to disparate cancer outcomes.¹ Federal housing assistance programs may potentially influence cancer screening disparities but has received relatively little attention. These programs, which are administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and include public housing and rental assistance (i.e., Housing Choice Vouchers), currently serve approximately 10 million individuals.² Similar to populations in the USA with the lowest cancer screening rates, HUD housing assistance recipients are nearly exclusively low-income and disproportionately non-white.³ Federal housing assistance may affect cancer screening rates through several mechanisms. For example, housing assistance programs may increase household financial resources through rental subsidies, improve healthcare access by collocating housing with health centers and social services, and change the residential neighborhood context.^{3, 4} The primary aim of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in federal housing assistance programs and self-reported cancer screening among low-income adults. …