Term
| Describe the importance of studying the impact of neighbourhoods on human health, and new developments which have emerged within this field of study. |
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Definition
Important to study because where one lives impacts one's health, and knowledge can be used to reduce inequities.
New developments:
1) evidence supporting the above claim
2) cross-disciplinary dialogue on concepts and methods |
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Term
| For what health outcomes do we already have evidence of neighbourhood-based inequalities? |
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Definition
Infectious disease spread
Infant mortality
Low birth weights
Asthma
Deprivation and poverty (?)
Obesity
Depressive symptoms
Individual risk of smoking |
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Term
| Following Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which needs do we need from our neighbourhoods to be healthy? |
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Definition
Physiological needs (food/air/water)
Safety (living free from harm or threat)
Social needs (belonging, friends)
Esteem (attention, recognition, respect)
Self-actualization (beauty, aesthetic inspiration, profound happiness, harmony) |
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Term
| Macintyre et al. outline a modified list of human needs. What is on this list? |
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Definition
| Air, water, food, security, hygiene, education, healing, housekeeping, work, means of exchange, information, transport, personal relationships, religious expression, involvment in group activities, social/political capital, play. |
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Term
| What are the characteristics of place that are "probably" meaningful for health? |
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Definition
| Employment opportunities, education provision, retail provision, transportation, prevalence of incivilities, access to leisure, healthcare, healthy food, healthy physical environment, social networks, cultural norms, geology, climate, environmental hazards. |
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Term
| What are the two possible roles of neighbourhood deprivation in determining health outcomes? Explain. |
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Definition
1) Psychosocial hypothesis. Relative deprivation has a negative impact through pathway of social comparison (i.e. I have worse outcomes because I compare myself to people who are better off and this has trickle-down effects)
2) Material hypothesis. It's the actual lack of stuff/material/access that determines my lower health status. |
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Term
| What problems arise in defining what a neighbourhood is? |
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Definition
If neighbourhood is defined as an area surrounding a residence, problem of where to draw the buffer. Could be based on strictly distance or based on access to services.
Neighbourhood boundaries may be perceived.
Neighbourhood boundaries may be flexible. |
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Term
| What proxies are commonly used for neighbourhoods? |
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Definition
Census tracts (USA/CAN)
Buffers around neighbourhoods (1km, 800m, etc.)
Postal codes, areas based on topology may be problematic. |
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Term
| Describe the characteristics of Canadian census tracts with reference to size, stability, location, population, and diversity. |
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Definition
Canadian census tracts:
- small geographic areas
- must be relatively stable
- population usually between 2500 and 8000 persons
- located in census agglomerations and metropolitan areas that have a core population >50000
- strive to be as homogenous as possible (w.r.t. socioeconomic characteristics) at the time they are created |
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Term
| What case study from Montreal was provided in class as an example of the impact of neighbourhoods on health w.r.t. segregation? |
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Definition
| The fence on Boul. de l'Acadie separating the neighbourhoods of Mont Royal and Parc Extension. |
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Term
| Define 'ecological fallacy'. |
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Definition
| A logical fallacy inherent to making causal reference from group data to individual data (usage of the former as a proxy for the latter). |
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Term
| Define 'ecological perspective'. |
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Definition
| Analysis of effects of social and physical environments on health of individuals. |
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Term
| Describe the difference between compositional and contextual factors |
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Definition
Compositional factors describe the differences that people make to places (age, sex, etc.)
Contextual factors describe the differences that places make to people (access to transit, proximity to exposure sites, social environments, etc.) |
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Term
| How is multi-level analysis used in research on neighbourhoods and health? |
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Definition
| Multilevel analysis is used to compare the differences between different levels being analyzed. For instance, is the difference between individuals in groups less than the difference between the average of these groups? How does that difference compare to differences between cities? and etc. |
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Term
| What is intraclass correlation (ICC)? What is a typical value in neighbourhood studies? |
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Definition
ICC is a descriptive statistic that can be used when measurements are made on units that are organized into groups. It describes how strongly units in the same group resemble each other (i.e. how similar they are).
Typical value of 5-10% in neighbourhood studies, depending on the health outcome. |
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Term
| What four main factors influence neighbourhood choice? How does self-selection plays into this? |
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Definition
- Location and budget constraints
- Housing preference and tastes
- Neighbourhood preference
- Travel preference
The latter three are biased between self-selection. |
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Term
| What are two examples of projects that studied neighbourhoods an health effects? |
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Definition
1) Moving to Opportunity programme
2) Project of Human Development in Chicago neighbourhoods |
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Term
What was the Moving to Opportunity programme? What was the treatment group? were its positive and negative control groups?
Results? |
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Definition
Treatment group: received vouchers to relocate to high income neighbourhoods
Positive control group: a standard, geographically unrestricted voucher
Negative control group: received standard continued project-based support
Results:
- less unemployment and psychological stress, less obesity
- positive effects for female youth: drastically reduced psychological stress, less marijuana use, less property crime and behavioural problems
- negative effects for male use: more psychological stress, behavioural problems, property crime, marijuana use |
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