Supportive Communities: How Practical and Emotional Neighbor Relationships Vary by Individual Health Status in 29 Countries with Different Healthcare Resources

Flora Zhou , Erasmus University Rotterdam
Jaap Nieuwenhuis, University of Groningen

In this study, we investigate how personal health status is associated with neighbor relationships in different social contexts. Moreover, we examine the extent to which such an association is influenced by public healthcare resources in 29 different countries. Drawing on theories about the strength of relationships, we distinguish between neighbor relationships as practical relationships and emotional relationships. This study thus aims to answer whether health status differentially predicts practical neighbor relationships and emotional neighbor relationships. Using data from the International Social Survey Program and the Global Health Observatory, we find that people with worse health status are more likely to have emotional relationships with neighbors. The results of multilevel logistic regression analysis also show that the tendency to establish practical neighbor relationships becomes stronger for people in poor health if they live in countries with adequate public healthcare resources. We further explore whether facing multiple disadvantages influences individuals’ neighbor relationships by adding the three-way interaction term of health status, public healthcare resources, and financial difficulties to the models. We find that, compared with the most advantaged group, which has lower levels of financial difficulties and lives in countries with adequate public healthcare resources, the association between poor health and practical neighbor relationships is stronger if people are faced with a higher level of financial difficulties or living in countries with inadequate public healthcare resources. Our results emphasize the importance of support from both neighbors and the social welfare system for people with disadvantages.

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 Presented in Session 67. Flash session Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health, Wellbeing and Morbidity