Abstract
ObjectivesAs gentrification continues in New York City as well as other urban areas, residents of lower socioeconomic status maybe at higher risk for residential displacement. Yet, there have been few quantitative assessments of the health impacts of displacement. The objective of this paper is to assess the association between displacement and healthcare access and mental health among the original residents of gentrifying neighborhoods in New York City.MethodsWe used 2 data sources: 1) 2005–2014 American Community Surveys to identify gentrifying neighborhoods in New York City, and 2) 2006–2014 Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System. Our cohort included 12,882 residents of gentrifying neighborhoods in 2006 who had records of emergency department visits or hospitalization at least once every 2 years in 2006–2014. Rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations post-baseline were compared between residents who were displaced and those who remained.ResultsDuring 2006–2014, 23% were displaced. Compared with those who remained, displaced residents were more likely to make emergency department visits and experience hospitalizations, mainly due to mental health (Rate Ratio = 1.8, 95% confidence interval = 1.5, 2.2), after controlling for baseline demographics, health status, healthcare utilization, residential movement, and the neighborhood of residence in 2006.ConclusionsThese findings suggest negative impacts of displacement on healthcare access and mental health, particularly among adults living in urban areas and with a history of frequent emergency department visits or hospitalizations.
Highlights
Residential displacement is a likely consequence of severe housing cost burden, which is defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as spending 50% or more of one’s income on housing costs [1]
These findings suggest negative impacts of displacement on healthcare access and mental health, among adults living in urban areas and with a history of frequent emergency department visits or hospitalizations
We examined diagnoses related to ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions because ACS condition-related visits are preventable admissions and may indicate insufficient primary care, which was one of the hypotheses tested in this study [15]
Summary
Previous studies have shown that residential displacement may disrupt existing social ties, increase stress, and reduce social and economic resource availability [2, 3]. These changes have been associated with adverse health outcomes. Gentrification is a process through which deprived neighborhoods are revitalized by economic development, typically resulting in an influx of new residents of higher socioeconomic status [5]. While gentrification has positive socioeconomic impacts, such as increased access to supermarkets and business opportunities [5], it may lead to increased housing and rent burden, which can in turn result in displacement of residents who originally resided in gentrifying neighborhoods [2, 6, 7]. A study in Philadelphia compared persons who moved from gentrifying neighborhoods with those who moved from non-gentrifying neighborhoods; the former were more likely to end up in more disadvantaged neighborhoods [8]
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