{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Healthy Project Podcast","title":"Homelessness Is a Housing Problem with Dr. Margot Kushel","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3038,"description":"Corey Dion Lewis sits down with Dr. Margot Kushel, a practicing general internist with over 30 years of experience at San Francisco General Hospital and Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, to explore why homelessness is fundamentally a housing problem—not a healthcare problem—and what this means for medical professionals and communities.\nDr. Kushel shares compelling insights from her three decades of clinical practice and research, revealing how the lack of affordable housing creates impossible situations for healthcare providers trying to treat patients experiencing homelessness. From managing diabetes in a tent to storing insulin without refrigeration, she illustrates why \"there is no medicine as powerful as housing.\"\nWhat You'll Learn:\nWhy regions with high homelessness rates are defined by housing affordability, not mental health prevalence\nHow structural racism and redlining created the current crisis, with Black Americans 4-5 times overrepresented in homeless populations\nThe stark reality: only 36 affordable housing units exist for every 100 extremely low-income households in America\nWhy Housing First policies work better than Treatment First approaches, backed by evidence from veteran homelessness reduction\nThe hidden homeless population: workers living in cars, college students couch-surfing, and older adults losing housing for the first time\nHow the politicization of Housing First policies threatens progress and patient outcomes\nPractical ways healthcare providers can advocate for housing as a health intervention\nKey Clinical Insights:\nDr. Kushel explains why treating chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and mental health disorders becomes nearly impossible when patients lack stable housing. She shares real stories from her practice, including a 63-year-old patient who hadn't eaten in four days while fighting eviction, and discusses how readmission penalties unfairly penalize hospitals serving homeless...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/MSRYwgzVwmOkZXeinjXJXt6vM1REXDF2oD3ZSMgwLMU/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9lY2Zl/MzVlNDRkOWQ4MDEz/ZTNkOTY2MzMyNzYx/M2I0MC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}