Michigan housing initiatives involving health systems: A narrative review

Recent U.S. health system efforts to address social drivers and determinants of health include housing, but detailed information about housing initiatives involving health systems is not well documented. This narrative review based on a systematic search of news media articles identified and characterized Michigan housing initiatives involving health systems between January 2015 and December 2024. Proquest, NewsBank, and Google News database searches for magazine, newspaper, and web-only articles were performed in January 2025. Housing initiative (initiative type, duration, cost; housing type, benefits, location), health system (type, status, role), and other partner characteristics were documented and synthesized. Of the 1037 records identified, 27 health systems engaged in 36 housing initiatives that met inclusion criteria. Nonprofit, for-profit, and government health systems engaged in 12 housing initiative types such as housing service referral, on-site healthcare services, home repairs and modifications, rental assistance provision, and new affordable housing development. Initiatives addressed a variety of resident populations and were supported by modest grants and awards ($5k-$60k) to multimillion-dollar development projects. Example health system partners were community organizations, foundations, developers, and government entities. Programs and policies targeting housing would benefit from a more systematic understanding of health system engagement with housing efforts. Development of best practices, guidelines, and evaluation strategies and metrics; quantifying return on investment; and evaluating improvements to patient and population health resulting from these housing initiatives are needed to inform housing and health research, practice, and policy.