Gabe Schwartz
@gabeschwartz.bsky.social
Social epidemiologist studying eviction, segregation, policing, & health. He/him. Always learning how to care for plants & people 🏳️🌈 🐋🌱
📣 In a new paper using data on >11,000 kids, we find children who are #evicted suffer worse mental health & increased sleep problems... but so do children whose families simply struggle to pay the rent each month, implicating the health of 100,000s of young people in the housing crisis. #episky 🧪
October 16, 2025 at 6:26 PM
So: do these policies work? We use a variety of staggered difference-in-differences models using data from 1993-2018 on 10 states from NHIS, 9 of which enacted policies some time between 1997 and 2008. (Here's a map showing when states enacted warranties, with wide variation.) 4/
May 27, 2025 at 8:29 PM
So: do these policies work? We use a variety of staggered difference-in-differences models using data from 1993-2018 on 10 states from NHIS, 9 of which enacted policies some time between 1997 and 2008. (Here's a map showing when states enacted warranties, with wide variation.) 4/
📣 Poor housing conditions like mold, cockroaches, peeling paint, & dilapidation harm health. States have policies to protect tenants from those exposures, but until now, no one ever tested whether they work. In a new paper, we find these policies are failing: 🧵 #episky 1/
May 27, 2025 at 8:29 PM
📣 Poor housing conditions like mold, cockroaches, peeling paint, & dilapidation harm health. States have policies to protect tenants from those exposures, but until now, no one ever tested whether they work. In a new paper, we find these policies are failing: 🧵 #episky 1/
Please join us tomorrow at the Drexel Urban Health Collaborative to hear from Dr. Diana Hernández about energy insecurity, housing, and health equity! #episky
You can RSVP for a Zoom link here: drexel.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
You can RSVP for a Zoom link here: drexel.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
May 6, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Please join us tomorrow at the Drexel Urban Health Collaborative to hear from Dr. Diana Hernández about energy insecurity, housing, and health equity! #episky
You can RSVP for a Zoom link here: drexel.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
You can RSVP for a Zoom link here: drexel.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Low referral rates did not appear to be improving over time: despite huge rises and falls in the number of older patients identified as housing insecure from 2013-2022, the number of referrals to social work among those patients was almost perfectly flat. 4/
April 14, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Low referral rates did not appear to be improving over time: despite huge rises and falls in the number of older patients identified as housing insecure from 2013-2022, the number of referrals to social work among those patients was almost perfectly flat. 4/
Homelessness is rising among older adults. Are healthcare systems meeting that challenge? Using data on 119k older patients in CA, we find the answer is 'no': even when clinicians identify them as housing insecure, only 7% get a social work referral. #episky 🧵1/
![Screenshot of the abstract for the scientific paper this thread is about. The title is: "Identifying and Addressing Housing Insecurity in Older Patients: Trends, Referrals, and Inequities in a California Medical System." The abstract reads: "Housing insecurity is rising among older adults, especially for racially minoritized people. Few studies have evaluated whether healthcare institutions are meeting that challenge. Using data from a large California medical system, we examined how often older patients are (A) identified as housing insecure and then (B) referred to social services, as well as inequities in those rates.
Research Design & Methods
We analyzed electronic health records (2013–2022) for 119,127 older adults (55+) receiving primary or emergency care. We used a natural language processing model to identify housing insecurity and social services referrals/connections from unstructured notes, with referrals also captured via structured data. Trends in identification were compared to eviction and homelessness trends in the general population. Racial inequities in referrals were evaluated using logistic regression.
Results
0.6% of encounters (n = 6,253) screened positive for housing insecurity. Positive screening trends were nonlinear, with initial increases followed by declines to baseline (roughly tracking regional eviction trends). Only 7% of patients identified as housing insecure were referred to social services, and connections were more likely in primary than emergency care (odds ratio [OR] = 2.04, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.41–2.96). Asian patients had lower odds of referral than non-Hispanic White patients (OR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.28–0.95).
Discussion and Implications
We identified urgent unmet needs for housing intervention among older patients. Healthcare systems must do more to ensure older patients, especially racially minoritized older adults, are screened for housing insecurity and connected to housing services."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:j7ciy7fc3pzwpfwqojihmceu/bafkreig7ujg2jcopse5ldpsugptvjxksuokog5i7rnz4esafldmdlznw2u@jpeg)
April 14, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Homelessness is rising among older adults. Are healthcare systems meeting that challenge? Using data on 119k older patients in CA, we find the answer is 'no': even when clinicians identify them as housing insecure, only 7% get a social work referral. #episky 🧵1/
Thousands of people out in Philadelphia to defend science from lethal budget cuts 🦅
March 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Thousands of people out in Philadelphia to defend science from lethal budget cuts 🦅