tailieunhanh - The Elderly and Social Isolation

A growing literature has demonstrated that neighborhoods of residence affect health and may contribute to socioeconomic disparities in health. Contextual effects have been documented across a wide spectrum of populations, including both children and adults. However, neighborhood effects on the health of the elderly are currently understudied. Neighborhoods of residence across the lifecourse are likely to affect health status in late life and to contribute to observed disparities for several reasons. Neighborhoods have been demonstrated to have effects on health throughout early and mid life. Further, for most people, their most salient health events occur later in life. Thus, one. | The Elderly and Social Isolation Testimony to Committee on Aging NYC Council February 13 2006 Michael K. Gusmano Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management and Lauterstein Scholar Mailman School Columbia University E-Mail mkg2104@ Phone 212 342-3654 and Victor G. Rodwin Professor of Health Policy and Management Wagner School of Public Service New York University E-Mail Phone 212 998-7459 Michael Gusmano and Victor Rodwin Co-Direct the World Cities Project at the International Longevity Center -USA 60 East 86th St. NYC NY 10028 2 The Elderly and Social Isolation Michael K. Gusmano and Victor G. Rodwin Growing Older Vulnerability and Social Isolation Socially isolated older persons are difficult to find. Like other vulnerable older persons they tend to be invisible. Unfortunately it takes a crisis to bring the issues of social isolation and more generally vulnerability among older person to the policy agenda. For example thousands of older New Yorkers were left dangerously isolated during the days immediately after 9 Similarly during the 2003 summer heat wave there were 2000 excess deaths in Paris mostly among persons 75 .2 Chicago as well suffered a heat wave in 1995. Klinenberg s autopsy of this disaster highlighted the importance of neighborhood characteristics since he found that socially isolated older persons had higher mortality rates in poor neighborhoods with abandoned lots than in equally poor but more socially-connected Once again Hurricane Katrina reminded us of how visible otherwise invisible problems can become. In light of such recent crises there appears to be growing awareness about the plight of many older New Yorkers. In contrast to the nation as a whole analyses of 2000 census data revealed that poverty rates among older New Yorkers increased during the decade of the To assist the most vulnerable older New Yorkers - the disproportionate number of older women living alone often