Lay perceptions of neighbourhood health

While research has focused on objective indicators of community health, less attention has been paid to subjective indicators. Lay perceptions of neighbourhood health are explored in the present research through the analysis of survey data from 918 middle-aged individuals in Victoria, Canada. Socio-demographic variables, including neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES), were included in a binary logistic regression model, along with health status and perceptions of the neighbourhood context. Additional logistic regression analyses were also performed to assess predictors of neighbourhood perceptions. Overall, individuals had no difficulty rating neighbourhood health: 77% rated it as very/somewhat healthy; and 23% as very/somewhat unhealthy. Individual measures of SES were not associated with neighbourhood health ratings, but the odds of rating a neighbourhood as healthy were three times higher among those who lived in high-income areas compared with those who did not. Additional salient factors in perceived neighbourhood health are perceptions of personal safety, and to a lesser extent, sense of belonging and not identifying groups of 'undesirable' people in the area.