IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v91y2013icp238-245.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Deprived yet healthy: Neighbourhood-level resilience in New Zealand

Author

Listed:
  • Pearson, Amber L.
  • Pearce, Jamie
  • Kingham, Simon

Abstract

Geographical inequalities in health are omnipresent with health and related behaviours typically worse in socioeconomically deprived places. However, this is not always true. Deprived places with unexpectedly good health outcomes, or what might be considered ‘resilient’ places, have been noted. Few studies have quantitatively examined resilience in neighbourhoods or investigated potential explanations for this resilience. This paper examines the paradox of low mortality despite high social deprivation in New Zealand neighbourhoods and considers possible neighbourhood characteristics that contribute to unanticipated positive health outcomes. Using area-level mortality (2005–2007) and socioeconomic data, we developed the Resilience Index New Zealand to quantify neighbourhood levels of resilience across the country. We then examined relationships between this measure and a suite of built, physical and social characteristics. We found that resilient places tended to be densely populated, urban areas. We observed gradients and increases/decreases in the most resilient groups in access to or levels of physical environment factors (environmental deprivation, safe drinking water, air quality) and unhealthy living infrastructure (alcohol and gambling outlets). Since these factors are amenable to change, these findings are the strongest evidence that such improvements may lower mortality in similarly deprived places. The social environment of resilient areas was characterised by high levels of incoming residents. We also found some surprising associations and observed U-shaped relationships for a number of the neighbourhood factors. Such findings suggest the need to develop a better proxy of community cohesion and a better understanding of the interactions between people and their neighbourhoods, rather than simply the presence of certain factors. We argue that this study has identified amenable neighbourhood characteristics and highlighted the importance of ‘place-specific’ resilience factors that may be effective in reducing mortality in some neighbourhoods, but be less effective in others.

Suggested Citation

  • Pearson, Amber L. & Pearce, Jamie & Kingham, Simon, 2013. "Deprived yet healthy: Neighbourhood-level resilience in New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 238-245.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:91:y:2013:i:c:p:238-245
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.09.046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953612007885
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.09.046?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. van Hooijdonk, Carolien & Droomers, Mariël & van Loon, Jeanne A.M. & van der Lucht, Fons & Kunst, Anton E., 2007. "Exceptions to the rule: Healthy deprived areas and unhealthy wealthy areas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(6), pages 1326-1342, March.
    2. Barnett, Ross & Pearce, Jamie & Moon, Graham, 2005. "Does social inequality matter? Changing ethnic socio-economic disparities and Maori smoking in New Zealand, 1981-1996," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(7), pages 1515-1526, April.
    3. Wiles, Janine L. & Wild, Kirsty & Kerse, Ngaire & Allen, Ruth E.S., 2012. "Resilience from the point of view of older people: ‘There's still life beyond a funny knee’," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(3), pages 416-424.
    4. Duncan, Craig & Jones, Kelvyn & Moon, Graham, 1993. "Do places matter? A multi-level analysis of regional variations in health-related behaviour in Britain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 725-733, September.
    5. Canvin, Krysia & Marttila, Anneli & Burstrom, Bo & Whitehead, Margaret, 2009. "Tales of the unexpected? Hidden resilience in poor households in Britain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 238-245, July.
    6. Pearce, Jamie R. & Richardson, Elizabeth A. & Mitchell, Richard J. & Shortt, Niamh K., 2011. "Environmental justice and health: A study of multiple environmental deprivation and geographical inequalities in health in New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 410-420, August.
    7. Ivory, Vivienne C. & Collings, Sunny C. & Blakely, Tony & Dew, Kevin, 2011. "When does neighbourhood matter? Multilevel relationships between neighbourhood social fragmentation and mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 1993-2002, June.
    8. Haynes, Robin & Pearce, Jamie & Barnett, Ross, 2008. "Cancer survival in New Zealand: Ethnic, social and geographical inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 928-937, September.
    9. Richardson, Ken & Blakely, Tony & Young, Jim & Graham, Patrick & Tobias, Martin, 2009. "Do ethnic and socio-economic inequalities in mortality vary by region in New Zealand? An application of hierarchical Bayesian modelling," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 1252-1260, October.
    10. Simoes, E.J. & Hallal, P. & Pratt, M. & Ramos, L. & Munk, M. & Damascena, W. & Perez, D.P. & Hoehner, C.M. & Gilbertz, D. & Malta, D.C. & Brownson, R.C., 2009. "Effects of a community-based, professionally supervised intervention on physical activity levels among residents of Recife, Brazil," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(1), pages 68-75.
    11. Sweet, E., 2011. "Symbolic capital, consumption, and health inequality," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(2), pages 260-264.
    12. Jamie Pearce & Danny Dorling, 2009. "Tackling Global Health Inequalities: Closing the Health Gap in a Generation," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(1), pages 1-6, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. M, Hobbs & N, Bowden & L, Marek & J, Wiki & J, Kokaua & R, Theodore & T, Ruhe & J, Boden & H, Thabrew & S, Hetrick & B, Milne, 2023. "The environment a young person grows up in is associated with their mental health: A nationwide geospatial study using the integrated data infrastructure, New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    2. Georgia Rudd & Kane Meissel & Frauke Meyer, 2023. "Measuring Childhood Exposure to Neighbourhood Deprivation at the Macro- and Micro-level in Aotearoa New Zealand," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(4), pages 1581-1606, August.
    3. Sadler, Richard C. & Wojciechowski, Thomas W. & Buchalski, Zachary & Smart, Mieka & Mulheron, Megan & Todem, David, 2022. "Validating a geospatial healthfulness index with self-reported chronic disease and health outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    4. Jamie Pearce, 2013. "Commentary," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(9), pages 2030-2045, September.
    5. Sara Meerow & Melissa Stults, 2016. "Comparing Conceptualizations of Urban Climate Resilience in Theory and Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-16, July.
    6. Breetzke, G.D. & Pearson, A.L., 2015. "Socially disorganized yet safe: Understanding resilience to crime in neighborhoods in New Zealand," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 444-452.

    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. Bécares, Laia & Cormack, Donna & Harris, Ricci, 2013. "Ethnic density and area deprivation: Neighbourhood effects on Māori health and racial discrimination in Aotearoa/New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 76-82.
    2. Christophe Béné & Timothy Frankenberger & Tiffany Griffin & Mark Langworthy & Monica Mueller & Stephanie Martin, 2019. "‘Perception matters’: New insights into the subjective dimension of resilience in the context of humanitarian and food security crises," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 19(3), pages 186-210, July.
    3. Butler, Danielle C. & Thurecht, Linc & Brown, Laurie & Konings, Paul, 2013. "Social exclusion, deprivation and child health: a spatial analysis of ambulatory care sensitive conditions in children aged 0–4 years in Victoria, Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 9-16.
    4. Badland, Hannah & Pearce, Jamie, 2019. "Liveable for whom? Prospects of urban liveability to address health inequities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 94-105.
    5. Esposito, Lucio & Villaseñor, Adrián, 2017. "Relative deprivation: Measurement issues and predictive role for body image dissatisfaction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 49-57.
    6. Stephen Birch, 1999. "The 39 steps: the mystery of health inequalities in the UK," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(4), pages 301-308, June.
    7. Wiles, Janine & Miskelly, Philippa & Stewart, Oneroa & Kerse, Ngaire & Rolleston, Anna & Gott, Merryn, 2019. "Challenged but not threatened: Managing health in advanced age," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 104-110.
    8. Olga L. Sarmiento & Ana Paola Rios & Diana C. Paez & Karoll Quijano & Rogério César Fermino, 2017. "The Recreovía of Bogotá, a Community-Based Physical Activity Program to Promote Physical Activity among Women: Baseline Results of the Natural Experiment Al Ritmo de las Comunidades," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, June.
    9. Eggerman, Mark & Panter-Brick, Catherine, 2010. "Suffering, hope, and entrapment: Resilience and cultural values in Afghanistan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 71-83, July.
    10. Gindo Tampubolon & S. V. Subramanian & Ichiro Kawachi, 2013. "Neighbourhood Social Capital And Individual Self‐Rated Health In Wales," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(1), pages 14-21, January.
    11. Pearce, Jamie & Barnett, Ross & Jones, Irfon, 2007. "Have urban/rural inequalities in suicide in New Zealand grown during the period 1980-2001?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(8), pages 1807-1819, October.
    12. Wang, Zihan & Huang, Fubin & Liu, Jing & Shuai, Jing & Shuai, Chuanmin, 2020. "Does solar PV bring a sustainable future to the poor? -- an empirical study of anti-poverty policy effects on environmental sustainability in rural China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    13. Anaïs Falk & Catherine Macombe & Denis Loeillet & Jean-Marc Deboin, 2022. "How Can a Company Assess Social Needs to Reduce Poverty among Its Workers? The Case of the Export Banana Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-21, August.
    14. Jamie Pearce, 2013. "Commentary," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(9), pages 2030-2045, September.
    15. Barnett, Ross & Pearce, Jamie & Moon, Graham, 2009. "Community inequality and smoking cessation in New Zealand, 1981-2006," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 876-884, March.
    16. Low, Chien Tat & Lai, Poh Chin & Li, Han Dong & Ho, Wai Kit & Wong, Paulina & Chen, Si & Wong, Wing Cheung, 2016. "Neighbourhood effects on body constitution–A case study of Hong Kong," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 61-74.
    17. Rishworth, Andrea & Elliott, Susan J., 2019. "Global environmental change in an aging world: The role of space, place and scale," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 128-136.
    18. Tommy Haugan & Sally Muggleton & Arnhild Myhr, 2021. "Psychological distress in late adolescence: The role of inequalities in family affluence and municipal socioeconomic characteristics in Norway," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-25, July.
    19. Sweet, Elizabeth & Nandi, Arijit & Adam, Emma K. & McDade, Thomas W., 2013. "The high price of debt: Household financial debt and its impact on mental and physical health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 94-100.
    20. Mikko Laaksonen & Eero Lahelma & Ritva Prättälä, 2002. "Associations among health-related behaviours: Sociodemographic variation in Finland," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 47(4), pages 225-232, July.

    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:91:y:2013:i:c:p:238-245. 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.