IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v120y2014icp142-152.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accessibility patterns and community integration among previously homeless adults: A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach

Author

Listed:
  • Chan, Dara V.
  • Gopal, Sucharita
  • Helfrich, Christine A.

Abstract

Although a desired rehabilitation goal, research continues to document that community integration significantly lags behind housing stability success rates for people of a variety of ages who used to be homeless. While accessibility to resources is an environmental factor that may promote or impede integration activity, there has been little empirical investigation into the impact of proximity of community features on resource use and integration. Using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach, the current study examines how accessibility or proximity to community features in Boston, United States related to the types of locations used and the size of an individual's “activity space,” or spatial presence in the community. Significant findings include an inverse relationship between activity space size and proximity to the number and type of community features in one's immediate area. Specifically, larger activity spaces were associated with neighborhoods with less community features, and smaller activity spaces corresponded with greater availability of resources within one's immediate area. Activity space size also varied, however, based on proximity to different types of resources, namely transportation and health care. Greater community function, or the ability to navigate and use community resources, was associated with better accessibility and feeling part of the community. Finally, proximity to a greater number of individual identified preferred community features was associated with better social integration. The current study suggests the ongoing challenges of successful integration may vary not just based on accessibility to, but relative importance of, specific community features and affinity with one's surroundings. Community integration researchers and housing providers may need to attend to the meaning attached to resources, not just presence or use in the community.

Suggested Citation

  • Chan, Dara V. & Gopal, Sucharita & Helfrich, Christine A., 2014. "Accessibility patterns and community integration among previously homeless adults: A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 142-152.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:120:y:2014:i:c:p:142-152
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614005723
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thompson, Sanna J. & Pollio, David E. & Eyrich, Karin & Bradbury, Emily & North, Carol S., 2004. "Successfully exiting homelessness: experiences of formerly homeless mentally ill individuals," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 423-431, November.
    2. Curry, Aaron & Latkin, Carl & Davey-Rothwell, Melissa, 2008. "Pathways to depression: The impact of neighborhood violent crime on inner-city residents in Baltimore, Maryland, USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 23-30, July.
    3. Cohen, D.A. & Mason, K. & Bedimo, A. & Scribner, R. & Basolo, V. & Farley, T.A., 2003. "Neighborhood physical conditions and health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(3), pages 467-471.
    4. David Wong & Shih-Lung Shaw, 2011. "Measuring segregation: an activity space approach," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 127-145, June.
    5. Coombes, Emma & Jones, Andrew P. & Hillsdon, Melvyn, 2010. "The relationship of physical activity and overweight to objectively measured green space accessibility and use," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 816-822, March.
    6. Irene Wong, Yin-Ling & Stanhope, Victoria, 2009. "Conceptualizing community: A comparison of neighborhood characteristics of supportive housing for persons with psychiatric and developmental disabilities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(8), pages 1376-1387, April.
    7. Padgett, Deborah K., 2007. "There's no place like (a) home: Ontological security among persons with serious mental illness in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 1925-1936, May.
    8. Stafford, M. & Chandola, T. & Marmot, M., 2007. "Association between fear of crime and mental health and physical functioning," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(11), pages 2076-2081.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alloush, Mo & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2022. "Neighborhood violence, poverty, and psychological well-being," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    2. Pablo Gaitán-Rossi & Ce Shen, 2018. "Fear of Crime in Mexico: The Impacts of Municipality Characteristics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 373-399, January.
    3. Lisa Orii & Luis Alonso & Kent Larson, 2020. "Methodology for Establishing Well-Being Urban Indicators at the District Level to be Used on the CityScope Platform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-25, November.
    4. Swope, Carolyn B. & Hernández, Diana, 2019. "Housing as a determinant of health equity: A conceptual model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    5. Sandro Sousa & Vincenzo Nicosia, 2022. "Quantifying ethnic segregation in cities through random walks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Francesca Cornaglia & Naomi E. Feldman & Andrew Leigh, 2014. "Crime and Mental Well-Being," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(1), pages 110-140.
    7. Nabetse Baruc Blas-Miranda & Ana Lilia Lozada-Tequeanes & Juan Antonio Miranda-Zuñiga & Marcia P. Jimenez, 2022. "Green Space Exposure and Obesity in the Mexican Adult Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-13, November.
    8. Natalia Hanley & Leah Ruppanner, 2015. "Understanding the Effects of Crime on Women: Fear and Well-Being in the Context of Diverse Relationships," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Matthew Dennis & David Barlow & Gina Cavan & Penny A. Cook & Anna Gilchrist & John Handley & Philip James & Jessica Thompson & Konstantinos Tzoulas & C. Philip Wheater & Sarah Lindley, 2018. "Mapping Urban Green Infrastructure: A Novel Landscape-Based Approach to Incorporating Land Use and Land Cover in the Mapping of Human-Dominated Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, January.
    10. Jiang, Wenhao & Stickley, Andrew & Ueda, Michiko, 2021. "Green space and suicide mortality in Japan: An ecological study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    11. Meffert, Susan M. & McCulloch, Charles E. & Neylan, Thomas C. & Gandhi, Monica & Lund, Crick, 2015. "Increase of perceived frequency of neighborhood domestic violence is associated with increase of women's depression symptoms in a nationally representative longitudinal study in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 89-97.
    12. Hannah L F Cooper & Sabriya Linton & Mary E Kelley & Zev Ross & Mary E Wolfe & Yen-Tyng Chen & Maria Zlotorzynska & Josalin Hunter-Jones & Samuel R Friedman & Don C Des Jarlais & Barbara Tempalski & E, 2016. "Risk Environments, Race/Ethnicity, and HIV Status in a Large Sample of People Who Inject Drugs in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, March.
    13. Nijkamp, Peter & Poot, Jacques, 2015. "Cultural Diversity: A Matter of Measurement," IZA Discussion Papers 8782, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Su Jin Kang & Wonseok Seo, 2020. "The Effects of Multilayered Disorder Characteristics on Fear of Crime in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-22, December.
    15. Duan, Zhengyu & Zhao, Haoran & Li, Zhenming, 2023. "Non-linear effects of built environment and socio-demographics on activity space," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    16. Asifa Iqbal & Tahira Shaukat & Humaira Nazir, 2024. "Safety Perceptions and Micro-Segregation: Exploring Gated- and Non-Gated-Community Dynamics in Quetta, Pakistan," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-20, May.
    17. Yung Yau, 2011. "Willingness to Participate in Collective Action: The Case of Multi-owner Housing Management," ERES eres2011_155, European Real Estate Society (ERES).
    18. Yuemei Zhu & Junxiang Ding & Qing Zhu & Yang Cheng & Qiuchen Ma & Xuze Ji, 2017. "The Impact of Green Open Space on Community Attachment—A Case Study of Three Communities in Beijing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, April.
    19. Tyler P. Pittman & Candace I. J. Nykiforuk & Javier Mignone & Piush J. Mandhane & Allan B. Becker & Anita L. Kozyrskyj, 2012. "The Association Between Community Stressors and Asthma Prevalence of School Children in Winnipeg, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, February.
    20. Jing Shen & Jian Cui & Mengfei Li & Caitlin Vitosky Clarke & Yuanyuan Gao & Ruopeng An, 2021. "Green Space and Physical Activity in China: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-21, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:120:y:2014:i:c:p:142-152. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.