Financialization of Housing in Turkey and the Relationship With Health Within the Framework of Commercial Determinants of Health
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2024
Yazarlar: İrem ŞEVİK, Meltem Çiçeklioğlu
Toplum ve Hekim (Community and Physician), Diğer Kurumların Hakemli Dergileri, Uluslararası, Scopus, 2024, cilt 39, ss 228-240
Özet
This study examines the relationship between the financialization of housing and health in Turkey using the Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH) framework. It discusses how this framework can contribute to existing literature by highlighting both the commonalities and differences with current approaches. The transformation of housing into an investment vehicle through financial mechanisms supported by neoliberal policies has deepened inequalities, depriving many individuals of the fundamental conditions necessary for health. Rising housing costs and instability lead to issues such as stress, poor living conditions, and limited access to essential services, underscoring the importance of social housing models and public health interventions. Therefore, the housing crisis in Turkey must also be addressed from a health perspective. The Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) framework offers an approach to understanding the relationship between housing and health; however, incorporating the CDoH framework into analyses will better elucidate the impact of market-oriented forces on health outcomes. While the CDoH framework also falls short in adequately recognizing dominant production relations, it proposes different steps to evaluate the relationship between commercial activities and health, facilitating the exploration of under-researched areas in the literature, and encouraging the design of interventions targeting intermediate steps or generating evidence on how profit motives determine health outcomes. Thus, public health professionals have a crucial role to play, and it is imperative that they move away from perspectives that evaluate housing solely or predominantly based on its physical characteristics. Studies that incorporate both the SDoH and CDoH frameworks and recognize dominant production relations can provide more accurate and comprehensive analyses of the negative health impacts of housing financialization, aiding in the formulation of policies to mitigate these effects and supporting advocacy efforts against the commodification of housing.