A socioeconomic disadvantage index for informing policy, systems, and environmental change interventions for senior...

Identifying socioeconomic disparities within a local area is critical for tailoring policy solutions to older adult populations. However, a comprehensive index for characterizing socioeconomic disadvantage for older adult households in the U.S. is yet to be developed. This study is the first of its kind and used secondary data from the U.S. Census to develop a new socioeconomic disadvantage index for adults older than 60 years, with a focus on food insecurity, for a large region in Central Texas. The Older Adult Socioeconomic Disadvantage Index (OASDI) includes 12 variables related to unmet needs for food, housing, healthcare access, and transportation, and others at the census tract level. For each variable, the values were ranked based on quintiles using ArcGIS Pro 3.2. An unweighted sum was used to create the OASDI, where a higher score indicated greater socioeconomic disadvantage. Choropleth maps were used to visualize the OASDI and persistent poverty for all census tracts within the study area. The OASDI was used to statistically compare two local policy regions for senior nutrition programs in the Austin and San Antonio, Texas metro areas. Results showed a greater socioeconomic disadvantage in the San Antonio region compared to the Austin region (Mann-Whitney-U = 198,303; p < 0.0001). The statistical analysis identified an area with extreme disadvantage relative to the local policy region and confirmed with member checking. Findings provided insights into local socioeconomic disparities at different levels and can be applied to advocate for policies, systems, and environmental changes for senior nutrition.