Designing Housing to Reduce Overcrowding-Related Harms: Rheumatic Heart Disease as the Canary in the Coal Mine

Household overcrowding is a major driver of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, along with other adverse social, cultural and health outcomes in remote Aboriginal communities. Overcrowding is compounded by poor thermal performance of current housing, energy insecurity and climate change. Despite strong evidence of the causes of rheumatic heart disease, upstream prevention through housing design remains underexplored. Wilya Janta, an Aboriginal-led organisation in Tennant Creek, has developed the Explain Home design: a culturally responsive, climate-adapted prototype designed to reduce overcrowding-related harms. With an unprecedented $4 billion investment in remote housing, health professionals have a critical role in advocating for evidence-informed, culturally safe housing as a form of preventive health intervention to improve equity and outcomes.