How does where you live affect your health? The answer is quite a bit. Access to essential services varies from location to location. Additionally, other factors, such as the economy and political environment, influence the availability of certain types of care in specific regions. Finally, environmental factors affect overall wellbeing. Remaining cognitive of these factors can help you safeguard your health. Here is everything you need to know about health geography and its impact on wellbeing.
City vs. Rural
Both city and rural living have pros and cons in regard to your overall health. One factor is green space access. Scientists continue to discover new ways that spending time in nature enhances human health, and a lack of it can have adverse effects, especially in sensitive individuals.
However, commuting by walking, biking or taking public transportation is easier in the city. Even walking to the bus stop increases your daily step count, and you may not need a car at all. Rural distances are often lengthy and the roadways are equipped only for cars, with nowhere for pedestrians to travel safely.
Health care services also abound in the city, whereas access to specialist treatments can take months in rural locations. Folks in rural areas may have to travel hundreds of miles and pay for hotels to get the care they need, meaning many go without.
Access to services makes a huge difference in an aging population. For example, 25% of New Yorkers will be aged 60 or older by 2030. Instead of having to travel to the “big city” to see a specialist, many would prefer to live somewhere they can receive treatment close to home.
North vs. South
You’re more likely to be slightly healthier if you live in the north. This rule applies to the United States and globally, although variations exist within regions. According to optimal health index scores compiled by the National Institutes of Health, older adults in the North live at 86% of their optimal health, compared to 82% for those in Southern states.
Additionally, women in the South are less likely to have access to reproductive health services after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which can severely impact their health.
Worldwide, climate change has impacted the global South most severely, with devastating effects on human health. It contributes to low crop yields, hunger, displaced communities, poverty and widespread unrest. This region experiences more natural disasters but lacks the infrastructure to prepare for worsening storms.
Across The Pond
Living in Europe or one of the many other nations with universal health care can, unsurprisingly, increase your life span. Life expectancy is significantly higher across the pond, while that of Americans has decreased in many regions, thanks to inequitable access to care. Unlike other countries, America’s for-profit health care system buries many in medical debt or prevents them from seeking care in the first place if they can’t afford coverage or copays.
It’s also easier to know your options across the pond. For example, in the United States, speaking with an independent Medicare agent is wise for older adults to learn their options for supplemental coverage. However, these companies can be predatory in their sales approach, reaching out to older adults who don’t understand the difference between a preferred provider organization and a health maintenance organization, locking them into plans that can limit their treatment options.
By Zip Code
Once you become familiar with your locality, you can often guess the relative health of area residents. The ease with which you can observe this speaks to the vast inequality in health care access in the United States.
Much of the disparity boils down to social determinants of health. For example, the following factors can impact your well-being as much, if not more than, having a hospital nearby:
- Socioeconomic status: Those living in poverty are more likely to live in dilapidated buildings with health risks such as mold. They’re also more likely to live in highly polluted areas and lack access to safe, outdoor green spaces for physical exercise.
- Food deserts: It’s hard to eat fresh, whole foods when the only items lining store shelves are ultra-processed convenience items. Food deserts directly impact health by preventing people from getting sound nutrition and encouraging chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
- Educational level: Those with better access to safe schools and a quality education are more likely to take proactive steps to protect their health. Access to sexual education also varies and is especially vital for young women. Knowing how to prevent unwanted pregnancy can vastly improve health outcomes, but some people never learn about the “birds and bees” from their parents or their school.
Although most Americans agree that the health care system needs a major overhaul, people disagree on how to decrease inequality and improve outcomes. Any shift would require reworking the current system and redistributing resources to ensure everyone has access to the care they need.
Health Geography And Its Impact On Wellbeing
Where you live can have a decided impact on your overall health. From access to necessary services to amenities for preserving your wellbeing, like green spaces and stores lined with healthy foods, how good you feel partially depends on where you are in the world.
