Letters of Support for Patients with Environmental Issues

Introduction 

Letters from clinicians are an effective intervention to help families get repairs and improved housing conditions from their landlord. Standard letter templates that are integrated into the electronic medical record can provide a quick and simple action for a busy clinician to help support their patients. 

Quick and effective! A New York City study found that most families who gave letters to their landlords reported that the process led to landlord action and improved housing conditions (Lax et al, JAMA Network; 2021).  

We provide letter templates on common environmental housing issues that can be adapted for your patient. We also provide Epic templates for each letter with Epic “smart text” that can pull in your patient information.

Basic Components of a Clinician Letter 

• Explain your relationship to the patient, include name and address of family 
• Describe the patient’s health conditions relevant to the housing conditions (e.g, asthma, lead poisoning) 
• Note the concerning housing conditions as described by the patient 
• Describe how current housing conditions are adversely impacting the patient’s health condition[s] 
• Request the necessary repair or remediation