eAlert Thu, 09/27/2018 - 12:00

Research continues to demonstrate that efforts to improve the health of people with low incomes is unlikely to succeed unless social and environmental conditions that affect health are also addressed. Using data from the 2014–16 National Health Interview Survey, Peter Cunningham of Virginia Commonwealth University reports in a new To the Point post that even relatively healthy lower-income people — those who earn about $24,000 a year or less and have few chronic conditions and no functional limitations — have higher health risks, greater social needs, and worse access to care than relatively healthy people who earn more.

Initiatives that screen patients for social needs, such as food and housing security, and refer them as needed to social service organizations may help improve health outcomes, Cunningham writes.

low income neighborhood_1x1 Read the post Even Among the Healthy, Those with Low Income Still Face Greater Health Risks