Racial Residential Segregation and the Distribution of Auxiliary Health Care Practitioners Across Urban Space

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

“…This provides partial support for Hypothesis 1, and the first pathway in the conceptual model proposed above (Path A). This result is in keeping with some of the previous literature on segregation and health care facilities, which has broadly found that Black segregated communities are less likely to have a number of different kinds of health care facilities (Anderson 2017a(Anderson , 2017bGaskin et al 2012;Hayanga et al 2009). However, much of this previous work has also found this association for Latino segregation, at least in the gross effects, although the effect in some cases has been explained away by area-level socio-economic factors (Anderson 2017a(Anderson , 2017bDinwiddie et al 2013).…”

“…This work has found that Black and Latino segregated communities are less likely to have a number of different kinds of health care providers and services within their communities (Anderson 2017a(Anderson , 2017bDai 2010;Dinwiddie et al 2013;Gaskin et al 2012;Hayanga et al 2009;Ko et al 2014;Rodriguez et al 2007). More specifically, this research has linked segregation to a lower incidence of physician's offices, primary care providers, mental health practitioners, urgent care facilities, a number of auxiliary health care practitioners, surgical centers, and dialysis facilities, although some of this relationship was accounted for by community-level socio-economic status (Anderson 2017a(Anderson , 2017bDai 2010;Dinwiddie et al 2013;Gaskin et al 2012;Hayanga et al 2009;Ko et al 2014;Rodriguez et al 2007). In a longitudinal analysis, Ko et al (2014) tracked the closure of U.S. public hospitals over time and found that high levels of segregation coupled with high poverty led to a greater likelihood of public hospital closure.…”

“…Here, I propose one such mechanism-the distribution of health care facilities across urban neighborhoods. Previous work has found that poor and minority communities lack a wide variety of health care facilities and practitioners compared to their White counterparts, and this may help account for why these areas experience poorer access to health care when needed (Anderson 2017a(Anderson , 2017b.…”

There's No Place Like Home? Understanding the Relationship Between Racial Residential Segregation and Self-Reported Health

“…Ethnic density may buffer and even outweigh the harms of segregation to positively impact health (Bécares, Nazroo, and Jackson 2014;Roy, Hughes, and Yoshikawa 2012). Spatial assimilation theory further emphasizes that the development of health disparities may be attributed in part to neighborhood socioeconomic status, where perhaps only segregation in areas with high socioeconomic status benefits health (Anderson 2017a;Roy et al 2012). Overall, spatial assimilation theory and immigrant and ethnic enclave theories focus on the protective health effects of the resources found in residential enclaves.…”

“…serve as a temporary phase within a process of integration into mainstream society in which individuals can build their economic and social capital. Because the mechanisms producing residential segregation may differ between racial or ethnic groups, the consequences of segregation may differ as well.Spatial assimilation theory and immigrant and ethnic enclave theories emphasize the potential resources and "sociocultural advantages" of residential enclaves, including social integration, engagement, and support; financial capital; concentrated health-related resources, educational resources, and ethnic institutions; employment networks; immigrant support; shared health-related norms; decreased exposure to racial discrimination; and a sense of self-esteem and mutual respect(Anderson 2017a;Anderson and Fullerton 2014;Britton and Shin 2013;Nelson 2013;Walton 2009;Yang et al 2017). These advantages may result from an "ethnic density effect,"…”