Connecting Neighborhood Characteristics and Clinical Health Outcomes: Novel Data from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment

47 Pages Posted: 18 May 2020

See all articles by Julia Dennett

Julia Dennett

Harvard University

Bill Wright

Providence Health & Services - Center for Outcomes Research and Education

Hannah Cohen-Cline

Providence Health System - Providence Center for Outcomes Research and Education

Katherine Baicker

University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy

Date Written: April 21, 2020

Abstract

Although policy often emphasizes health care expansions to improve population health, neighborhood characteristics may also influence outcomes. Documenting the association between neighborhood features and health poses several empirical challenges, including the potential for bias from relying on self-reported outcomes, selection bias from using health care data, and contextual limitations due to a methodological focus on one element of neighborhood attributes. In this exploratory analysis, we introduce rich data linking individual clinical health outcomes from a low-income community sample with primary data on a variety of neighborhood characteristics, and investigate the relationships between multiple aspects of neighborhoods and health. We find that neighborhoods have widely varying combinations of attributes and that residents of areas with lower socioeconomic deprivation, greater grocery store availability, and more active living characteristics were in better health than individuals living outside of these areas. Although this analysis does not establish causal pathways, it provides a foundation for future analyses to examine how neighborhoods interact with health policy and health care access to improve population health.

Keywords: Social determinants of health, population health, neighborhood characteristics, physical and mental health outcomes

Suggested Citation

Dennett, Julia and Wright, Bill and Cohen-Cline, Hannah and Baicker, Katherine, Connecting Neighborhood Characteristics and Clinical Health Outcomes: Novel Data from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment (April 21, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3582108 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3582108

Julia Dennett (Contact Author)

Harvard University ( email )

1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Bill Wright

Providence Health & Services - Center for Outcomes Research and Education ( email )

United States

Hannah Cohen-Cline

Providence Health System - Providence Center for Outcomes Research and Education ( email )

1150 Varnum St NE Ste 209
Washington, DC 20017
United States

Katherine Baicker

University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy ( email )

1155 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

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