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Neighborhood Influences on Health

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Essay
Environmental Racism: How Historic Redlining Continues to Affect Communities
Starting in the 1930s, neighborhoods across America were redlined—marked on government maps as too hazardous, as in, too Black or too immigrant, for federal home loans. When zoning officials needed somewhere to put a new factory or freeway, those redlined neighborhoods were like a bullseye that they hit again and again.
Jun 27, 2022
Commentary
Navigating Heart Health Through Place-Based Policy
Unequal allocation of neighborhood resources has been linked to cardiovascular outcomes. Consequently, neighborhood influences on cardiovascular health are multilevel and nuanced. This makes it hard for researchers and practitioners to find ways to modify neighborhoods to support health.
Dec 14, 2023

Explore Neighborhood Influences on Health

Project
How Does Neighborhood Environment Impact Health Outcomes?
The PHRESH project examines how neighborhood characteristics—like access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats—could make residents more or less healthy.
Jan 30, 2024
Journal Article
Does Investing in Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods Improve Sleep?
Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with poor sleep, which may contribute to and exacerbate racial and socioeconomic health disparities. A comparison of households in two low-income, mostly African American neighborhoods found that living closer to a neighborhood investment was associated with better sleep outcomes.
Nov 8, 2023
Journal Article
Police Bias and Low Relatability and Diet Quality: Examining the Importance of Psychosocial Factors in Predominantly Black Communities
Police bias and low relatability may play a role in community connection, social status, and ultimately dietary disparities for Black Americans. Addressing police bias and low relatability is a continuing and pressing public health issue.
Nov 6, 2023
Journal Article
What's Keeping Kids Up at Night? How Psychosocial Stressors Exacerbate the Relationship Between Sleep and Mental Health
This study examined the association between sleep duration and serious mental illness (SMI) and how this pathway is moderated by psychosocial stressors (discrimination, bullying, and perceived school and neighborhood safety).
Sep 13, 2023
Journal Article
Neighborhood Walkability, Neighborhood Social Health, and Self-Selection Among U.S. Adults
Neighborhood walkability may promote specific aspects of neighborhood social health, which together are beneficial for physical and mental health. These findings provide additional impetus for enhancing walkability of US communities.
Jun 22, 2023
Journal Article
Do Social Isolation and Neighborhood Walkability Influence Relationships Between COVID-19 Experiences and Wellbeing in Predominantly Black Urban Areas?
Black Americans have been disproportionately affected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) pandemic.
Jan 31, 2023
Journal Article
Examining the Cross-sectional Association Between Neighborhood Conditions, Discrimination, and Telomere Length in a Predominantly African American Sample
Disproportionate exposure to adverse neighborhood conditions and greater discrimination may contribute to health disparities among African Americans.
Jan 10, 2023
Journal Article
City-Heat Equity Adaptation Tool (City-HEAT): Multi-objective Optimization of Environmental Modifications and Human Heat Exposure Reductions for Urban Heat Adaptation Under Uncertainty
Rising global temperatures and the urban heat island effect can amplify heat-related health risks to residents. Cities are considering various heat adaptation actions to improve public health, enhance social equity, and cope with future conditions.
Jan 4, 2023
Journal Article
Sleep Disturbances, Changes in Sleep, and Cognitive Function in Low-Income African Americans
In a predominantly African-American sample of older adults, worsening of sleep efficiency was associated with poorer cognitive function. Improving sleep health may support Alzheimer's prevention and reduce health disparities.
Jun 23, 2022
Tool
Environmental Racism: A Tool for Exploring the Enduring Legacy of Redlining on Urban Environments
Researchers developed an online tool for visualizing the spatial relationships between the discriminatory practice of redlining and exposure to environmental hazards (e.g., pollution, waste sites).
Mar 31, 2022
Multimedia
RAND Video Highlights of 2021
The best RAND videos from the past year brought our research to life in new ways. From the sidewalks of Pittsburgh to preschools in the Middle East, see how people around the world are using RAND research to make their communities safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous.
Dec 20, 2021
Project
What Does a Portrait of Community Stress Look Like?
Just as it does in the human body, stress can build in a community over time, making it harder to respond to future traumas and crises. Design studio Morcos Key created a powerful animation that depicts community stress—and what can be done to overcome it.
Nov 22, 2021
Research Brief
Removing Barriers to Vaccination for Black Americans
To improve Black Americans' confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, health care organizations and the public health system need to become more trustworthy. Honesty about historical and ongoing discrimination and working with communities to provide equitable, accessible care could help.
Aug 6, 2021
Journal Article
Data-driven Decision Support Tools for Assessing the Vulnerability of Community Water Systems to Groundwater Contamination in Los Angeles County
This research aims to develop an easy to deploy, data-driven method to identify community water systems that are vulnerable to drinking water quality degradation from groundwater contamination.
Jul 28, 2021
Essay
How RAND Applies an Equity Lens to Research and Analysis
RAND recognizes that serving the public good requires tackling the factors that contribute to inequities head-on. Current projects focus on such issues as environmental racism, mass incarceration, and anti-Asian violence.
Jul 7, 2021
Blog
China's Ambitions, Origins of the Coronavirus, Income Inequality: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on China’s quest for global primacy, understanding the coronavirus origin story, how parents feel about sending their children back to school, and more.
Jun 11, 2021
Journal Article
Do Investments in Low-Income Neighborhoods Produce Objective Change in Health-Related Neighborhood Conditions?
This study examined the effect of neighborhood investments on neighborhood walkability, presence of incivilities, and crime in two low-income, primarily African American neighborhoods in Pittsburgh.
Mar 16, 2021
Journal Article
A Preliminary Study of a Composite Sleep Health Score: Associations with Psychological Distress, Body Mass Index, and Physical Functioning in a Low-Income African American Community
The current study investigates associations of five sleep dimensions, analyzed separately and simultaneously, with psychological distress, body mass index, and physical functioning among a low-income, predominantly African American population.
Mar 16, 2021

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Rachel M. Burns

Senior Quantitative Analyst

Rachel M. Burns is a senior quantitative analyst at the RAND Corporation. During her tenure at RAND, she has worked on projects focused on disaster response and recovery operations, neighborhood influences on health, substance abuse and drug policy, unmanned aerial vehicles, the mental health…
Linnea Warren May

Associate Policy Researcher

Linnea Warren May (she/her) is an associate policy researcher at RAND with expertise at the nexus of health, social equity, environment, and infrastructure. She has over ten years of experience applying qualitative, mixed-methods, and community-engaged approaches to policy analysis and…

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