The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently unveiled a new mobile app to help educate the public about hidden home hazards that can impact the health of their families. The Healthy Homes App is designed to raise awareness about potentially serious health and safety problems in the home and the steps consumers can take to protect themselves.
As consumers increasingly rely upon smartphones and other mobile devices to access information, this Healthy Homes app offers a convenient tool for users to learn about common health and safety risks in the home. The app provides extensive content in clear, simple language so that users can quickly understand the potential hazards throughout a home. The app also helps residents who live in condominiums, single- family detached homes, townhouses, or in apartment buildings.
“There are many potential hazards that can be found in our homes such as mold and lead based paint,” says Michelle Miller, Acting Director of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes. “Our new app helps identify these potential problems and offers simple steps that consumers can take to fix them.”
The app’s content covers fundamental questions including:
- What specific actions should a resident take to keep their home healthy?
- How can users connect healthy homes concepts to their health? For example, what does keeping your home dry have to do with your health, and
- What kinds of information do consumers need to help them take action?
A series of quizzes have been included in the app to help familiarize users with the basic information on lead, indoor air quality, mold, and many other housing-related hazards. Toxins such as lead, asbestos, and household chemicals are detrimental to health in many ways. Invisible poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide and radon also pose serious threats to family health. Since most residents spend 70 percent or more of their time inside their home, this app was developed to provide tips on how to make and keep homes safe from health hazards.
For more information, visit www.hud.gov/healthyhomes.
