Paul Karakusevic has been appointed as a fellow for the inaugural Social Medicine Housing Fellowship programme at the UHN’s Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine, – University Health Network in Toronto.
UHN’s Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine recognises the housing crisis as a bonafide health crisis and is engaging international experts in various domains to help inform health policy strategies and partnerships to advance housing access as a social determinant of health.
This marks the first time the largest academic health sciences network in Canada will have global experts working alongside the Centre’s Lived Experience Advisory Council to advocate, expand and explore more social housing options for UHN’s highest needs patients who are unhoused.
The inaugural cohort of Social Medicine Housing Fellows underscores how undeniable the pathologies of poverty are for tens of thousands of patients. In addition to the Social Medicine Housing Initiative at 90 Dunn Avenue — set to open this summer for UHN patients – the arrival of the Social Medicine Housing Fellows furthers the Gattuso Centre’s commitment to implementing and scaling housing and health interventions.
The evidence is clear, the human toll of homelessness is immense. A recent Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) editorial lead authored by Dr. Andrew Boozary underscored the homelessness crisis as a public health crisis that warrants meaningful action by health care networks across the country.
“We know that housing and health are inextricably linked. Without a secure place to call home, individuals face increased risks of chronic illnesses, mental health issues, and premature death. People who are unhoused live half as long as the general public. Through the Social Medicine Housing Fellows program, we aim to better address these disparities by advocating for more housing solutions and integrating them as a form of health care,” says Dr. Andrew Boozary, founding Executive Director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine.
The UHN Social Medicine Housing Fellowship is about partnering beyond hospital walls, advancing unconventional solutions, and creating more opportunities to improve health outcomes for the patients and communities we serve.
Paul will be working alongside other Fellows, Global Director of THE SHIFT, Leilani Farha and Canadian Architect and Principal from Omar Gandhi Architects, Omar Gandhi.
