315227
Public housing relocations and relocaters' health: Post-relocation improvements in neighborhood conditions are associated with reductions in depressive symptoms, substance misuse, and biobehavioral HIV risk in a cohort of African-American adults
Methods: Baseline data were collected from 172 public housing residents before relocations began; post-relocation data were collected every 9 months thereafter, generating four waves of data spanning 2009-2012. We tested participants’ urine for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Trichomoniasis using PCR methods. Depressive symptoms, sexual risk behaviors (e.g., concurrency), and substance misuse (e.g., dependence) were ascertained at each wave via survey. Administrative data were analyzed to describe the census tracts where participants lived (e.g., poverty rates, alcohol outlet density) at each wave. Multilevel models were used to analyze relationships between post-relocation changes in neighborhood characteristics and each outcome.
Results: Participants experienced improvements in all tract-level conditions between baseline and Wave 2 (the first post-relocation assessment); improvements were sustained thereafter. Participants who experienced greater improvements in tract-level economic conditions had fewer depressive symptoms and “risky” sex partners, and had reduced odds of recent binge drinking and illegal drug use; reduced alcohol outlet density predicted reduced odds of binge drinking. Participants who moved to tracts with more equitable sex ratios were less likely to test positive for an STI.
Discussion: This policy shift represents an innovative approach to reducing neighborhood-level HIV vulnerability. Findings can inform future housing and public health policies.
Learning Areas:
EpidemiologyPublic health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Explain how public housing relocations in Atlanta (Georgia) altered adult relocaters' exposure to local socioeconomic conditions, social disorder, and sex ratios.
Describe the relationships between post-relocation changes in these place-based exposures to a range of health outcomes among relocaters, including depressive symptoms, substance misuse, and sexually-transmitted infections.
Keyword(s): Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Policy/Policy Development
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was PI on this study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.