TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-assessed health status and neighborhood context
AU - Baum, Scott
AU - Kendall, Elizabeth
AU - Parekh, Sanjoti
PY - 2016/10/1
Y1 - 2016/10/1
N2 - In recent years, there has been growing interest in the relationship between the characteristics of neighborhoods and the health and well-being of residents. The focus on neighborhood as a health determinant is based on the hypothesis that residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood can negatively influence health outcomes beyond the effect of individual characteristics. In this article, we examine three possible ways of measuring neighborhood socio-economic status, and how they each impact on self-reported health status beyond the effect contributed by individual-level factors. Using individual-level data from the Household Income and Labor Dynamics Australia survey combined with neighborhood-level (suburb) data, we tested the proposition that how one measures neighborhood socio-economic characteristics may provide an important new insight into understanding the links between individual-level outcomes and neighborhood-level characteristics. The findings from the analysis illustrate that although individual-level factors may be important to understanding health outcomes, how one accounts for neighborhood-level socio-economic status may be equally important. The findings suggest that in developing place-based health programs, policy makers need to account for the complex interactions between individual drivers and the potential complexities of accounting for neighborhood socio-economic status.
AB - In recent years, there has been growing interest in the relationship between the characteristics of neighborhoods and the health and well-being of residents. The focus on neighborhood as a health determinant is based on the hypothesis that residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood can negatively influence health outcomes beyond the effect of individual characteristics. In this article, we examine three possible ways of measuring neighborhood socio-economic status, and how they each impact on self-reported health status beyond the effect contributed by individual-level factors. Using individual-level data from the Household Income and Labor Dynamics Australia survey combined with neighborhood-level (suburb) data, we tested the proposition that how one measures neighborhood socio-economic characteristics may provide an important new insight into understanding the links between individual-level outcomes and neighborhood-level characteristics. The findings from the analysis illustrate that although individual-level factors may be important to understanding health outcomes, how one accounts for neighborhood-level socio-economic status may be equally important. The findings suggest that in developing place-based health programs, policy makers need to account for the complex interactions between individual drivers and the potential complexities of accounting for neighborhood socio-economic status.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84982161803&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10852352.2016.1197726
DO - 10.1080/10852352.2016.1197726
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84982161803
SN - 1085-2352
VL - 44
SP - 283
EP - 295
JO - Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community
JF - Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community
IS - 4
ER -