This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: For low-income older adults, where they live may affect how long they live, according to new research from Washington University in St. The study, forthcoming in the September print issue of the journal Social Science & Medicine, examined the relationship between housing, social isolation and risk of death among low-income renters 65 and older.
Researchers analyzed 12 years of nationally representative data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, following 2,790 older renters across 9,337 observations. Sojung Park, an associate professor at the Brown School and co-author of the study, said the findings point to the importance of considering housing as part of the broader social environment that shapes health. "Our findings show that housing and social connection work together to shape health and survival in later life, particularly for low-income older adults," she said.
Researchers compared subsidized housing for low-income older adults, nonsubsidized congregate housing communities and traditional rental housing. In this study, nonsubsidized congregate housing means market-rate or private-pay senior or independent living communities. Subsidized senior housing is for low-income residents and receives public housing support or government rental assistance.
After accounting for demographic, socioeconomic and health characteristics, residents of traditional rental housing were 56% more likely to die over time than those in subsidized senior housing. The estimated death rate over time among residents of private-pay senior housing communities fell between the rates observed in subsidized senior housing and traditional rental housing. Social isolation also was independently associated with a higher risk of death.
Isolated residents had a 51% higher death rate. The study suggests that housing and health policies are closely linked. "The findings can inform housing policies by showing that socially embedded and affordable housing environments may be associated with lower mortality risk and with longer, healthier lives," Park and her co-authors wrote.
Among socially connected older adults, predicted death rates were similar across housing types, at 6% to 7%. But as social isolation increased, those risks rose to 9%–13% among residents of nonsubsidized and traditional housing, while remaining lowest among residents of subsidized senior housing. Among socially isolated residents of nonsubsidized housing, the risk of death was nearly twice that of socially connected residents of subsidized senior housing.
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