No abstract

We sought to characterize and to evaluate the success of current public health interventions related to housing. Two reviewers content-analyzed 72 articles selected from 12 electronic databases of US interventions from 1990 to 2001. Ninety-two percent of the interventions addressed a single condition, most often lead poisoning, injury, or asthma. Fifty-seven percent targeted children, and 13% targeted seniors. The most common intervention strategies employed a one-time treatment to improve the environment; to change behavior, attitudes, or knowledge; or both. Most studies reported statistically significant improvements, but few (14%) were judged extremely successful. Current interventions are limited by narrow definitions of housing and health, by brief time spans, and by limited geographic and social scales. An ecological paradigm is recommended as a guide to more effective approaches.

This paper examines the interface between work stress and nonwork stress and how it relates to health. Results indicate that the way people feel at work is largely a function of conditions at work. Similarly, the way people feel outside of work is largely a function of things that occur outside the job. Both work and nonwork stress are independently associated with physical and mental health, although the relationship between nonwork stress and health is slightly stronger. Excessive demands or stresses in one domain can interfere with life in the other. Such conflict operates equally in both directions. When present it can be an added source of stress and adversely affect health. Taken together these findings suggest that the stress people experience at work is not simply a reflection of their "personal problems." This has implications for the design of health promotion and stress prevention programs in the workplace.