As the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and eviction protections come to an end, researchers are examining the relationship between varying periods of eviction protection during the pandemic and psychosocial distress in the post-pandemic period. The Health Outcomes Post-Eviction Moratoria (HOPE-M) project, led by Daphne Hernandez, PhD, Associate Professor at UTHealth Houston’s Cizik School of Nursing, aims to shed light on how these protections affected individuals’ mental health.
Eviction protections during the pandemic varied greatly from one state or city to another. For example, Austin implemented a stronger local moratorium, preventing potential evictions earlier in the process compared to Houston. The HOPE-M project aims to recruit participants from both cities to determine if tenants who faced a lower risk of eviction during the pandemic are experiencing less mental distress amidst ongoing disruptions.
The study will involve two groups of participants. One group will be identified based on landlord-initiated evictions and court filings for eviction proceedings in Travis and Harris counties, while the other group will be identified using a machine learning model called the Housing Precarity Risk Model. The model, developed by Timothy Thomas, PhD, will identify households that may have been adversely affected during the pandemic but did not face court-filed eviction threats.
The research team will follow these participants for a year, collecting data on economic hardships, psychosocial stressors, mental health outcomes, and sociodemographic backgrounds. The study will also include focus group interviews to understand how participants’ decision-making in avoiding eviction contributes to their overall psychosocial distress.
The study is funded by the NIH Grant No. 1R01NR021156 and involves collaboration with several co-investigators and institutions. It aims to provide insights into the impact of eviction protections during the pandemic on mental health outcomes in the post-pandemic period.
