IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v7y2018i8p119-d159698.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Racial/Ethnic Residential Segregation, the Distribution of Physician’s Offices and Access to Health Care: The Case of Houston, Texas

Author

Listed:
  • Kathryn Freeman Anderson

    (Department of Sociology, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-3012, USA)

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated the impacts of racial/ethnic residential segregation on access to health care, but little work has been conducted to tease out the mechanisms at play. I posit that the distribution of health care facilities may contribute to poor access to health care. In a study of the Houston area, I examine the association between residential segregation, the distribution of physician’s offices, and two health care access outcomes of having a personal physician, as well as the travel time to their office location. Using the 2010 Health of Houston Survey combined with several census products, I test these relationships in a series of spatial and multilevel models. I find that Black segregation is related to a lower density of physician’s offices. However, I find that this distribution is not related to having a personal physician, but is related to travel times, with a greater number of facilities leading to shorter travel times to the doctor. I also find that Black segregation is positively associated with travel times, and that the distribution of physician’s offices partially mediates this relationship. In sum, these findings suggest that a more equitable provision of health care resources across urban neighborhoods would mitigate some of the negative effects of segregation.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathryn Freeman Anderson, 2018. "Racial/Ethnic Residential Segregation, the Distribution of Physician’s Offices and Access to Health Care: The Case of Houston, Texas," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:7:y:2018:i:8:p:119-:d:159698
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/7/8/119/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/7/8/119/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moore, L.V. & Diez Roux, A.V., 2006. "Associations of neighborhood characteristics with the location and type of food stores," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(2), pages 325-331.
    2. Hart, K.D. & Kunitz, S.J. & Sell, R.R. & Mukamel, D.B., 1998. "Metropolitan governance, residential segregation, and mortality among African Americans," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 88(3), pages 434-438.
    3. Dinwiddie, Gniesha Y. & Gaskin, Darrell J. & Chan, Kitty S. & Norrington, Janette & McCleary, Rachel, 2013. "Residential segregation, geographic proximity and type of services used: Evidence for racial/ethnic disparities in mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 67-75.
    4. Grady, Sue C., 2006. "Racial disparities in low birthweight and the contribution of residential segregation: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(12), pages 3013-3029, December.
    5. Mario Luis Small & Laura Stark, 2005. "Are Poor Neighborhoods Resource Deprived? A Case Study of Childcare Centers in New York," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(s1), pages 1013-1036, December.
    6. Horowitz, C.R. & Colson, K.A. & Hebert, P.L. & Lancaster, K., 2004. "Barriers to buying healthy foods for people with diabetes: Evidence of environmental disparities," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(9), pages 1549-1554.
    7. Lee, Min-Ah, 2009. "Neighborhood residential segregation and mental health: A multilevel analysis on Hispanic Americans in Chicago," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 1975-1984, June.
    8. Zick, Cathleen D. & Smith, Ken R. & Fan, Jessie X. & Brown, Barbara B. & Yamada, Ikuho & Kowaleski-Jones, Lori, 2009. "Running to the Store? The relationship between neighborhood environments and the risk of obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1493-1500, November.
    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. Alea Jones & Ijeoma Nnadi & Kelly Centeno & Giselle Molina & Rida Nasir & Gina G. Granger & Nicholas R. Mercado & Andrea A. Ault-Brutus & Martine Hackett & Ibraheem M. Karaye, 2023. "Investigating the Spatial Relationship between Social Vulnerability and Healthcare Facility Distribution in Nassau County, New York," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-10, February.

    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. Wong, David W.S. & Das Gupta, Debasree, 2023. "Empirical evidence supporting the inclusion of multi-axes segregation in assessing US county health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 339(C).
    2. Lee, Helen, 2012. "The role of local food availability in explaining obesity risk among young school-aged children," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(8), pages 1193-1203.
    3. Chen, Duan-Rung & Wen, Tzai-Hung, 2010. "Socio-spatial patterns of neighborhood effects on adult obesity in Taiwan: A multi-level model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 823-833, March.
    4. Badruddoza, Syed & Amin, Modhurima D. & McCluskey, Jill J. & Sinclair, Wilson J., 2023. "Regional predictors of the establishment, closure, and relocation of food retailers in the long run," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335946, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Forsyth, Ann & Lytle, Leslie & Van Riper, David, 2010. "Finding food: Issues and challenges in using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to measure food access," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 3(1), pages 43-65.
    6. Rahkovsky, Ilya & Snyder, Samantha, 2015. "Food Choices and Store Proximity," Economic Research Report 210316, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Jarrett Thibodeaux, 2016. "City racial composition as a predictor of African American food deserts," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(11), pages 2238-2252, August.
    8. Sharon Merkin & Hadar Arditi-Babchuk & Tamy Shohat, 2015. "Neighborhood socioeconomic status and self-rated health in Israel: the Israel National Health Interview Survey," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(6), pages 651-658, September.
    9. Cauchi, Daniel & Pliakas, Triantafyllos & Knai, Cécile, 2017. "Food environments in Malta: Associations with store size and area-level deprivation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 39-47.
    10. Madeleine I. G. Daepp, 2015. "Prices and Availability of Healthy Foods across St. Louis," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 60(2), pages 209-224, September.
    11. Wendt, Minh & Kinsey, Jean D. & Kaufman, Phillip R., 2008. "Food Accessibility in the Inner City: What Have We Learned, A Literature Review 1963-2006," Working Papers 37625, University of Minnesota, The Food Industry Center.
    12. Ehmke, Mariah D. & Willson, Tina M. & Schroeter, Christiane & Hart, Ann Marie & Coupal, Roger H., 2009. "Obesity Economics for the Western United States," Western Economics Forum, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-13.
    13. Merkin, Sharon Stein & Diez Roux, Ana V. & Coresh, Josef & Fried, Linda F. & Jackson, Sharon A. & Powe, Neil R., 2007. "Individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status and progressive chronic kidney disease in an elderly population: The Cardiovascular Health Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 809-821, August.
    14. Adriana Dornelles, 2019. "Impact of multiple food environments on body mass index," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-14, August.
    15. Plascak, Jesse J. & Molina, Yamile & Wu-Georges, Samantha & Idris, Ayah & Thompson, Beti, 2016. "Latino residential segregation and self-rated health among Latinos: Washington State Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2012–2014," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 38-47.
    16. Amin, Modhurima Dey & Badruddoza, Syed & McCluskey, Jill J., 2021. "Predicting access to healthful food retailers with machine learning," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    17. Piccolo, Rebecca S. & Duncan, Dustin T. & Pearce, Neil & McKinlay, John B., 2015. "The role of neighborhood characteristics in racial/ethnic disparities in type 2 diabetes: Results from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 79-90.
    18. Michael D. M. Bader & Marnie Purciel & Paulette Yousefzadeh & Kathryn M. Neckerman, 2010. "Disparities in Neighborhood Food Environments: Implications of Measurement Strategies," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 86(4), pages 409-430, October.
    19. Walton, Emily, 2014. "Vital places: Facilitators of behavioral and social health mechanisms in low-income neighborhoods," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 1-12.
    20. David H Chae & Sean Clouston & Mark L Hatzenbuehler & Michael R Kramer & Hannah L F Cooper & Sacoby M Wilson & Seth I Stephens-Davidowitz & Robert S Gold & Bruce G Link, 2015. "Association between an Internet-Based Measure of Area Racism and Black Mortality," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-12, April.

    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:gam:jscscx:v:7:y:2018:i:8:p:119-:d:159698. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.