Abstract

Refugees, immigrants and people of color experience disproportionate poor health outcomes. Cultural differences in how families cook, eat, and, in general, live in their homes can be partly responsible for some of these health disparities. Understanding and responding to cultural differences through housing that supports various ways of living i.e., culturally sensitive housing can facilitate healthy lifestyles and help improve the health and well-being of diverse communities. Interviews with 21 Minnesota practitioners (designers, affordable housing providers, developers,junders, and policy makers) point to the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to housing studies, one that includes the public health perspective. Although health, and in turn health disparities, were part of the discussion in all four steps of the process for working toward culturally sensitive housing there is room to further infuse health into these conversations. The current definition of healthy housing should be broadened to account for diverse ways of living and for solutions that range from the micro to the macro scale and from interior finishes to neighborhood amenities. Such a reconceptualization of healthy housing can chart new directions for education, policy, and practice.