Advancing health equity through housing
Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG) is honored to be a grantee of The Kresge Foundation’s Advancing Health Equity Through Housing Initiative. This initiative seeks to identify community-driven practices that connect the housing and health sectors and recognize multisector partnerships that preserve and increase the supply of stable housing to improve the health and well-being of families and communities in cities around the country. Key tenets of this grant include:
- Housing, particularly for low- and moderate-income households, is an important platform for individuals and families to achieve health, well-being, and economic stability;
- Solutions designed with significant and meaningful input from those most affected are most likely to result in positive long-term change; and
- The most effective approaches will emerge when community members have the tools, power, and support necessary to influence the public and private systems that shape their lives.
To support this work, BMSG is conducting media research and analysis and providing strategic communication and narrative-change trainings and tools that will support grantees in advancing equity-focused solutions to improve housing affordability and quality and to improve health outcomes.
Related resources
Shifting housing narrative in the news: Educating media on housing, health & racial justice
Housing affordability, racial equity, and health are inextricably linked. In this webinar, the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII), Council of Community Housing Organizations (CCHO), Housing Now! California, REP SF, and Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG) shared a new guide to support journalists in uncovering the roots of housing, racial, and health inequities and elevating solutions for racial equity and housing justice.
Connecting housing justice, health, and journalism: A guide for Bay Area news reporters
Today’s housing climate is the result of centuries of history, policies, and practices. To move forward, we must acknowledge the past and how it shapes our lives today. Read more on how journalists can uncover the roots of housing and health inequities and elevate solutions for social justice, in this new guide from the Council of Community Housing Organizations, the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative, and BMSG.
Housing, equity, and health in U.S. news, 2020-2021: Findings and recommendations
Understanding how journalists currently frame housing, and how those choices shape long-term narratives, can help housing and health advocates be strategic about their communication strategies. To understand the specific nuances of how news coverage frames the complex intersections of housing and health equity, BMSG analyzed news about housing and health equity from media markets across the country. We share our findings — and recommendations for advocates and journalists — in this report.
Connecting housing, justice, health, and journalism
Berkeley Media Studies Group health equity coordinator Katherine Schaff hosted an online webinar with panelists from Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) and Council of Community Housing Organizations (CCHO). Panelists discussed how reporters can deepen housing coverage in California.
Six media advocacy lessons from a campaign for housing justice and health equity
In this blog, we go behind the scenes to explore strategic communication insights from a housing justice coalition’s recent policy wins and challenges, as well as implications for future campaigns. Advocates share lessons on rapid-response data collection, tailoring frames to different audiences, building a diverse group of spokespeople, and more.
Communicating for change: News about housing, equity, and health
Policy that increases access to safe, stable, affordable housing can improve community health. But are residents and policymakers seeing that connection? This series of news analyses, part of a larger project for the Kresge Foundation, provides insights that may help advocates in cities across the country more effectively frame housing as a health issue.
Talking about health, housing, and COVID-19: Keeping equity at the forefront
We developed this working document to support public health practitioners, community organizers, and others who are striving, amid COVID-19, to elevate equity-focused solutions in housing and health news and before policymakers. The guide is focused on shifting the narrative from safety during the pandemic to the importance of treating housing as essential to public health.
How can we connect racial and health equity with housing in news coverage?
BMSG’s news analysis offers insights into how Bay Area housing justice and public health organizations are leveraging the media to support their policy agendas and elevate the connection to health. Based on those insights, this blog offers seven recommendations for practitioners and advocates working to make safe, affordable homes a reality in their communities.
Equity and health in housing coverage: A preliminary news analysis from Northern California
Housing impacts health in widespread, well-documented ways. But does media coverage reflect this? To find out, BMSG analyzed news from the San Francisco Bay Area — the epicenter of the crisis — and paid special attention to how equity and health appear in coverage. While the analysis focused on local news, our report provides insights for housing advocates across the country.
Local health departments addressing the social determinants of health: A national survey on the foreclosure crisis
The foreclosure crisis has had more than just financial consequences for families throughout the United States; it has also been linked to negative mental and physical health outcomes and has disproportionately harmed communities of color. What role, then, should local health departments (LHDs) play in addressing social determinants of health, such as housing? In this article for the journal Health Equity, BMSG’s Katherine Schaff and Lori Dorfman report that more than a quarter of LHDs engaged in work related to the foreclosure crisis, and 30% of those surveyed said that LHDs should work on this issue.
Case study of Alameda County Public Health Department’s housing and health equity initiative
This case study, part of a series developed by the Berkeley Media Studies Group and supported by The California Endowment (TCE), highlights the innovative work that the Alameda County Public Health Department is doing to advance health equity. Alameda was one of four health departments in California honored by TCE for its equity-oriented efforts in December 2014. To learn more, view the case study, full report, or companion videos.
Reframing housing as a health issue in Napa County, California
Together with community residents, elected officials, industry leaders, and community-based organizations, the Public Health Division of Napa County’s Health and Human Services Agency is working to make housing more affordable for everyone in the county and to reframe housing as a health issue — not just for individuals, but for the entire community. This case study explores how they are using a combination of community engagement, policy change, and strategic communication to push forward innovative solutions to the area’s housing crisis.
Shifting the media conversation on affordable housing
In this Q&A, the Alameda County Public Health Department’s Tram Nguyen discusses how the department has used media advocacy to illuminate the link between housing and health. Nguyen also offers insights for advocates and reporters looking to improve coverage.
Issue 16: Moving from head to heart: Using media advocacy to talk about affordable housing
This is the story of how a group of dedicated but frustrated affordable housing advocates learned to tell their story so it reflected their values and the values that resonated with policy makers. What they thought would be a simple refresher course in working with the media transformed their own understanding of affordable housing, how to talk about it, and, ultimately, what was done about it.
Giving effective public testimony to support health equity: 9 tips for advocates
When advocates reach out to BMSG for help shaping the public narrative and advancing policy change on a particular public health or social justice issue, they often are eager to improve their ability to write op-eds or speak with reporters. But public testimony is another powerful way to deliver compelling messages that reach decision-makers. In this blog, our health equity coordinator offers tips for doing so, based on her recent experience providing public comment on conservatorship, an issue that disproportionately affects people who are unhoused, at San Francisco City Hall.