Breaking down barriers by knocking on doors: an innovative health intervention in Vancouver's downtown eastside.

In August 2007 Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCH) implemented the Clinical Housing Team (CHT) intervention aimed at improving the health of tenants residing in low barrier housing in Vancouver’s downtown eastside (DTES). In April 2008 a preliminary program evaluation was carried out in order to assess the impact of the intervention. The resulting report was intended for use within VCH and was focused on the specific intervention that was evaluated. Hence, the report did not provide an in depth discussion of findings beyond the specific intervention that was evaluated. The current paper aims to provide a more in depth examination of findings from the evaluation from a population health perspective. Included is a review of relevant literature, an overview of the original CHT evaluation, and a discussion including areas for future research, implications of findings from the CHT evaluation, and recommendations.