Conceptualizing Pathways Between Neighborhood Environments and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Year: 2017
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Using cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk as an example, this paper discusses conceptual and methodological developments to advance research about neighborhood effects on health across the life course. CVD is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and modifying the neighborhood physical and social environment is a promising strategy for reducing racial and income disparities in CVD risk. However, empirical evidence of the specific pathways through which environments influence CVD risk is limited because previous studies: 1) measure only a few neighborhood characteristics rather than multiple indicators, 2) assess cardiovascular health primarily through self-reported measures or mortality rather than clinical biomarkers of risk, 3) do not consider intermediary pathways, and 4) analyze predominantly white samples. We present an adapted version of the Social Determinants of Health and Environmental Health Promotion model (Shultz & Northridge, 2004), which conceptualizes the multiple pathways through which neighborhood environments influence individual and population health. We illustrate the potential of this conceptual model for reducing cardiovascular health disparities by demonstrating an approach for combining data from multiple sources at multiple levels. Specifically, we link household- and neighborhood-level data from administrative sources to Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span dataset (HANDLS), a 20-year epidemiological study examining health disparities among socioeconomically diverse African American and white adults in Baltimore City, USA. We discuss the implications of our conceptual model and analytic approach as a means of leveraging community data to inform the design of multilevel interventions to reduce cardiovascular health disparities in an urban adult population.
Source: Innovation in Aging
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,977
OpenAlex ID: W2725900771