The economic meltdown coupled with the plummeting real estate market is making some Americans more than a little worried: It's making them sick.
Many jobless as well as employed workers with decreased income or high medical bills are faced with unaffordable mortgage payments and are forced into foreclosure. A study just released from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia finds the nation's housing woes are causing a health crisis.
"Foreclosure is a crisis that is across the United States and it remains at historic highs right now," says lead study author Craig E. Pollack, MD, MHS, a physician scientist at Rand Corp., a health research company. "As the mortgage crisis continues to unfold, we have only just begun looking at the potential health consequences of this crisis."
The study titled Health Status of People Undergoing Foreclosure in the Philadelphia Region is published this month in the American Journal of Public Health. The report examines the health state of 250 people undergoing mortgage foreclosure in the Philadelphia area.
A major research finding is that out of the study group, almost half presented with depression symptoms while 37 percent met screening criteria for major depression, says Dr. Pollack, who conducted the research while working as an internist and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at Penn during the summer of 2008.
"In addition, people undergoing foreclosure were frequently reporting they missed going to the doctor because of cost and skipped their medicine because they could not afford it," Dr. Pollack explains. "We are talking about families, many with children living at home. The tradeoff is they [are likely to] have health consequences over time."
Americans make stressful choices regarding health care, Dr. Pollack says, the long-term effect of health neglect will most likely lead to more serious medical issues in time-and higher costs. Likewise, the stress of foreclosure is causing unhealthy behaviors such as an increase in cigarette smoking and the disease risk associated with the habit.
"What we did find is about 65 percent of individuals said they were increasing the amounts they were smoking after they received their foreclosure notice," Dr. Pollack explains. "Similarly, many people reported an increase in drinking alcohol after receiving their foreclosure notices."
These behaviors can harm health over time, Dr. Pollack says, leading to higher medical costs which can cause foreclosure. The research, for example, found 9 percent of foreclosures were due to high medical costs for individuals or household members, expenses not covered by insurance.
"So for a portion of the population in Philadelphia undergoing foreclosure, medical cost and poor health is driving people into foreclosure," Dr. Pollack says.
As a result, Dr. Pollack and colleagues are continuing their research on a national level and hope to open discussions with medical groups and mortgage companies. The end result is to link clients with health care services.
"I think it is important that we think about the ways we can connect services to patients undergoing foreclosure," he says.
Scott Hatfield is multimedia editor of www.advanceweb.com. He can be reached at shatfield@advanceweb.com.
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