Poverty and food insecurity of older adults living in social housing in Ontario: a cross-sectional study

Pirrie, Melissa; Harrison, Leila; Angeles, Ricardo; Marzanek, Francine; Ziesmann, Andrea; Agarwal, Gina

doi:10.1186/s12889-020-09437-3

Cited by 31 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Even prior to COVID-19, higher unmet social and economic needs disproportionately impacted patients with mental health conditions. 5 , 6 , 22 Our study’s findings of both inability to access care and higher unmet social and economic needs in those with a self-reported history of depression are concerning for potential barriers to care and health that may influence morbidity and mortality. This is especially salient given the current higher rates of mortality seen in COVID-19 patients with mental health conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

The Association Between History of Depression and Access to Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Balasuriya

Quinton²,

Canavan³

et al. 2021

J GEN INTERN MED

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Background Depression is associated with a higher risk for experiencing barriers to care, unmet social needs, and poorer economic and mental health outcomes. Objective To determine the impact of COVID-19 on ability to access care, social and economic needs, and mental health among Medicare beneficiaries with and without depression. Design and Participants Cross-sectional study using data from the 2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey COVID-19 Summer Supplement Public Use File. Main Measures Access to medical care, inability to access food, medications, household supplies, pay rent or mortgage, feelings of economic security, and mental health effects since COVID-19, risk-adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Key Results Participants were 11,080 Medicare beneficiaries (nationally representative of 55,960,783 beneficiaries), 27.0% with and 73.0% without a self-reported history of depression. As compared to those without a history of depression, Medicare beneficiaries with a self-reported history of depression were more likely to report inability to get care because of COVID-19 (aOR = 1.28, 95% CI, 1.09, 1.51; P = 0.003), to get household supplies such as toilet paper (aOR = 1.32, 95% CI, 1.10, 1.58; P = 0.003), and to pay rent or mortgage (aOR = 1.64, 95% CI, 1.07, 2.52; P = 0.02). Medicare beneficiaries with a self-reported history of depression were more likely to report feeling less financially secure (aOR = 1.43, 95% CI, 1.22, 1.68; P < 0.001), more stressed or anxious (aOR = 1.68, 95% CI, 1.49, 1.90; P < 0.001), more lonely or sad (aOR = 1.97, 95% CI, 1.68, 2.31; P < 0.001), and less socially connected (aOR = 1.27, 95% CI, 1.10, 1.47; P = 0.001). Conclusion A self-reported history of depression was associated with greater inability to access care, more unmet social needs, and poorer economic and mental health outcomes, suggesting greater risk for adverse health outcomes during COVID-19. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11606-021-06990-4.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

The Association Between History of Depression and Access to Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Balasuriya

Quinton²,

Canavan³

et al. 2021

J GEN INTERN MED

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Program benefits, however, vary between jurisdiction (Fafard St-Germain & Tarasuk, 2017). Pirrie et al (2020) note that approximately twice as many older adults living in subsidized housing in Ontario experienced food insecurity (5.1%) compared to the 2.6% prevalence of food insecurity among seniors in the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey. Poverty was the greatest risk factor for HFI, but "the rate of self-reported poverty was much lower than expected" (Pirrie et al, 2020, p.7), which the authors speculate may relate to living in Rent-Geared-To-Income social housing that can free up expenditure for food and other costs.…”

Section: Agementioning

confidence: 95%

“…Between 2005 and 2015, average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Ontario increased 24% (Quan et al, 2017) while employment and benefits incomes increased by only around 15% and waitlists for rentgeared-to-income housing grew by 39% to over 171,000 households. Demand for social housing has increasingly outstripped supply (Pirrie et al, 2020).…”

Section: Defining and Measuring Housing Insecuritymentioning

confidence: 99%

“Pay the rent or feed the kids”: A scoping review of the ‘housing-food insecurity nexus’ in Canada

Spring¹,

Rosol²

2022

Preprint

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Housing and food are both fundamental human rights and key social determinants of health. Yet despite their interrelations, housing and food are often treated separately by government bodies, policymakers and social movements. While both ‘food insecurity’ and ‘housing insecurity’ have been the targets of much research and activism in recent decades, we find less attention to their intersections, and to the potential for research and activism that centres these intersections in struggles to address their linked underlying causes. This scoping review aims to bring these two domains into closer conversation by further developing the notion of the ‘housing-food insecurity nexus’. We conceptualise this nexus as the co-occurrence of housing and food insecurity, often resulting from unaffordable housing costs (and the relative flexibility of food expenditure) in the context of neoliberal housing policy and market conditions where living costs outstrip incomes for many. The review highlights empirical and explanatory intersections and explores potentials for more coordinated action that can help to ensure people are able to realise both their right to housing, and to good food. The review is based on literature from Canada and pays particular attention to urban areas but bears relevance elsewhere. We first give empirical evidence for the housing-food insecurity nexus, and how this might differentially affect particular marginalised groups. Second, we suggest explanatory frameworks that broaden perspectives onto the nexus and particularly draw attention to underlying drivers of increasing food and housing unaffordability. Finally, we review proposed solutions, from short- to long-term. We conclude that necessary to the implementation of these solutions is a re-politicisation of the right to food and housing, uniting around the shared harms of many: renters, food producers, and movements for economic justice. We thus also examine the potential for cross-sector and multi-level partnerships that can leverage power in the pursuit of these twinned, essential goals.

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“…Therefore, it has been decided that public housing structures needed to be built near their original community to ensure communal homogeneity among residents. Various government programmes related to Nagaya were enacted to support independent living for older adults,15 16 such as low rent, manager supervision, free bus outings and free lunch distribution. Specifically, Nagaya residents are covered by a post-disaster rent reduction project, which costs between $30 and $100 per month.…”

Section: Global Health Problem Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting independent living and preventing lonely death in an older adult: Soma Idobata-Nagaya after the 2011 Fukushima disaster

2022

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Contrary to the assumption that older adults are only cared for by their families in rural Japan, this case illustrates that community formation can effectively provide older adult care after an emergency as well. We look at the life of a woman who lived in a housing facility for older adults, Idobata-Nagaya in Soma, Japan, exploring how social housing—which addresses the needs of older adults regarding community, familiarity and socialising—can provide a viable, effective and comfortable environment for older adults to live. In the case of Idobata-Nagaya, not only could older adults take care of one another but they could also share experiences of the Fukushima disaster with each other. This is a qualitative case study which provides a stable foundation for policymakers, healthcare workers and government officials to better understand the effectiveness of housing projects for communities and older adults in Japan and globally.

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Poverty and food insecurity of older adults living in social housing in Ontario: a cross-sectional study

Cited by 31 publications

References 14 publications

The Association Between History of Depression and Access to Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Association Between History of Depression and Access to Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“Pay the rent or feed the kids”: A scoping review of the ‘housing-food insecurity nexus’ in Canada

Promoting independent living and preventing lonely death in an older adult: Soma Idobata-Nagaya after the 2011 Fukushima disaster

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