National Study Highlights COVID
A new National Institute on Nursing Research (NINR) funded project, led by Drs. Matthew Eisenberg and Craig Pollack is shedding light on how housing policy changes during the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted mental health and substance use outcomes, especially among underserved populations.
We spoke with Yimin Ge, a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an affiliated trainee at the Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy (CMAP), who is leading the project’s quantitative claims data work to learn more about her work in exploring federal policy changes.
With a background in economics and health policy and a PhD from the University of Southern California, Ge has long been interested in how federal and social policy would shape the well-being of communities, particularly in mental and behavioral health. Since her doctoral studies, she has been interested in exploring how broader political changes impact the lives of individuals, often in unseen but significant ways. Her work with HOusing Policies Evaluating Substance use disorder study (HOPES) focuses on examining housing policies and how it impacts people with mental health and substance use disorders (SUDs).
HOPES is unique in its focus on the COVID-19 pandemic when housing policies in the U.S. shifted dramatically in a short span of time. These rapid changes created an opportunity to study how state-level differences in eviction and rental protections affected individuals’ health and treatment outcomes. One part of the project specifically focuses on SUDs during two critical phases of the pandemic: The early pandemic period and the post-lockdown period (August 2020–August 2021). Following the post-lockdown period, many states-level eviction moratoriums expired, creating varied protections across the country. Eviction moratoriums are policies that prevent residential evictions for nonpayment of rent. In their analysis, Ge and team compared states that maintained eviction protections with those that did not. Preliminary findings from the SUD-focused study suggest that the expiration of eviction moratoriums is associated with an increase in outpatient treatment claims for substance use, particularly for individuals with opioid use disorder.
Applying both qualitative and quantitative methods, HOPES is a collaborative initiative with researchers from diverse backgrounds and experiences. The qualitative team conducts interviews with stakeholders including tenants, landlords, nonprofit leaders, and individuals who use substances. The quantitative team uses commercial datasets to assess behavioral health outcomes. Ge’s role lies primarily in analyzing these data.
Looking ahead, Ge and researchers involved in HOPES are interested in examining how emergency rental assistance programs may have moderated mental health and substance use outcomes. They are also interested in analyzing emergency department data and overdose measures to capture a broader picture of behavioral health impacts. They hope that their insights will inform future policy decisions and equip leaders with the data needed to create housing systems that support the well-being of communities during times of crisis.
Stay Connected
As the SUD-focused study is nearing completion, the team encourages readers to stay tuned for its release. For inquiries or more information, please contact Yimin Ge at yge22@jh.edu.
