Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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Following release from prison, housing and health issues form a complex and mutually reinforcing dynamic, increasing reincarceration risk. Supported accommodation aims to mitigate these post-release challenges. We describe the impact of attending Rainbow Lodge (RL), a post-release supported accommodation service for men in Sydney, Australia, on criminal justice and emergency health outcomes. ⋯ Absolute rates indicate a weak protective effect of RL attendance on ED presentation and ambulance attendance; however, adjusted analyses indicated no evidence of an association between attending RL and rates of ED presentations (ARR = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.65-1.21), or ambulance attendance (ARR = 0.82; 95% CI = 0.57-1.18). There was no evidence of an association between attending RL and time to first reincarceration, charge, ED presentation or ambulance attendance. Greater detail about reasons for emergency health service contact and other self-report outcome measures may better inform how supported accommodation is meeting its intended aims.
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Social determinants have been increasingly implicated in accelerating HIV vulnerability, particularly for disenfranchised communities. Among these determinants, neighborhood factors play an important role in undermining HIV prevention. However, there has been little research comprehensively examining the impact of neighborhood factors on HIV care continuum participation in the US. ⋯ In particular, five key neighborhood factors (socioeconomic status, segregation, social disorder, stigma, and care access) were associated with challenged HIV care continuum participation. Race moderated relationships between neighborhood quality and HIV care continuum participation. Structural interventions addressing neighborhood social and economic challenges may have favorable downstream effects for improving HIV care continuum participation.
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With its subsidy retention fund, the city of Ghent targets homeowners, who live in a dwelling of bad quality and do not have the resources to renovate or move out. Being in this no-choice situation, they are locked-in homeowners. Through this innovative policy instrument, Ghent aims to improve the quality of its housing stock targeting households who may not take up other renovation-encouraging instruments. ⋯ This case offered a unique opportunity to collect information from the beneficiaries on a range of well-being domains both before the renovation of their dwelling and after the renovation. Even though the research was restricted to short-term effects, the results suggest that improvements in different domains of well-being can be linked to the improvement of housing quality. These improvements in well-being in Ghent show that (local) government spending in housing renovation of locked-in homeowners can be an instrument to achieve social progress.
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We aimed to explore perspectives of teenagers on their exposure to gun violence (GV), their knowledge and attitudes towards firearm injury prevention (FIP) efforts, and how to counsel them about FIP. Teens from two single-sex Bronx Catholic high schools participated in videoconferencing focus groups. Participants completed an online survey collecting demographic information and Likert-scale scoring of attitudes towards GV. ⋯ Bronx teens are exposed to and distressed by community GV. They desired more FIP education, including physician counseling during healthcare visits. Next steps are to create and test FIP guidance for adolescents.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted individuals' financial well-being and mental health. This study investigates the relationship between income loss and mental health outcomes during the pandemic, as well as the heterogeneity in this relationship by race/ethnicity and co-ethnic density in the metropolitan area. ⋯ Co-ethnic density in metropolitan areas worsens the effects of income loss on depression and anxiety for Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks while residing in a metropolitan area with more Whites cushions the impact of income loss on depression and anxiety for non-Hispanic Whites. Overall, the study underscores the importance of considering the intersection of race/ethnicity and metropolitan-level co-ethnic density in exploring the influence of economic stressors on mental health.