Work

Assessment of Neighborhood Context in a Nationally Representative Study

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: This paper introduces new measures of neighborhood context that are included in the second wave of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). We describe the use of field interviewer ratings of respondents' neighborhood conditions, as well as the adaptation of existing measures for the assessment of neighborhood social context among urban and nonurban older adults. METHOD: We construct scales of neighborhood problems, neighborhood social cohesion, neighborhood social ties, and perceived neighborhood danger, and assess their reliability and validity. We then calculate descriptive statistics for measures of neighborhood context across respondent age, gender, and racial/ethnic background, and across low-, moderate-, and high-density residential blocks. RESULTS: We find that older women report greater neighborhood cohesion and more neighborhood ties than older men, but women also perceive more neighborhood danger. Black and Hispanic older adults reside in neighborhoods with more problems, lower cohesion, fewer social ties, and greater perceived danger. Neighborhood characteristics also vary across residential densities. Neighborhood problems and perceived danger increase with block-level density, but neighborhood social cohesion and social ties were lowest among residents of moderate-density blocks. DISCUSSION: The inclusion of neighborhood context measures in the second wave of NSHAP provides a unique opportunity to explore associations among neighborhood context, social connectedness, and indicators of health and function among older adults. We discuss limitations of the measures and provide recommendations for their use.

Source: The Journals of Gerontology Series B

DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbu052

Authors: E. York Cornwell, K. A. Cagney

Institutions: Cornell University, University of Chicago

Language: English

Topic: Health disparities and outcomes

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Office of AIDS Research, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences