New Lancet editorial on housing and homelessness feature Dr Rob Aldridge’s work.
4 October 2019
“The shameful state of housing and homelessness, and their repercussions on health in the UK is a collective societal responsibility, and one that is too often failing to be tackled.”
![Editorial makes front cover The Lancet](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/health-informatics/sites/health_informatics/files/styles/large_image/public/egbfy_dxoaeyxap.jpeg?itok=gY_fZq2c)
The Lancet published an editorial this week (and featured it on their front cover) entitled Housing and Homelessness as a Health Crisis. This editorial reports that 8.4 million people are affected by the UK’s housing crisis, this data was recently released by the UK’s National Housing Federation. These 8.4 million people are affected in a number of ways such as overcrowding, poor quality housing and being homeless (400,000 people are homeless or at risk of homelessness).
This editorial highlights the health effects of being homeless, featuring a study by the UCL IHI’s Dr Rob Aldridge and colleagues. This study found that homelessness confers a heightened risk of mortality with almost one in three deaths among people who were homeless and had experienced hospitalisation being due to amenable causes.
![](https://www.ucl.ac.uk/health-informatics/sites/health_informatics/files/styles/xl_image/public/causesofdeathinhomeless_0.png?itok=CQXdPOBt)
Causes of death in homeless individuals.
To read the full editorial and their recommendations for addressing this crisis, visit The Lancet website.
To read Rob’s featured study, visit the Wellcome Open research website.