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Background. Research on neighborhood effects increasingly includes the influences of
the built environment on health and social well-being.
Objectives. A population-based study in a low-socioeconomic status, Hispanic
neighborhood examined whether architectural features of the built environment theorized to
promote direct observations and interactions (e.g., porches; stoops) predicted Hispanic elders’
social support and psychological and physical functioning.
Methods. Built environment features were coded for all 3857 lots in the 403-block area
of an urban Miami (FL) community. Coding of the built environment was followed by three
annual assessments of social support, psychological distress, and physical functioning in a
population-based sample of 273 low socio-economic status Hispanic elders (ages 70-100).
Structural equation modeling analytic techniques were used to examine hypothesized
relationships of the built environment to elders’ social support, psychological distress, and
physical functioning over a three-year period.
Results. After controlling for age, gender, and income, architectural features of the
built environment theorized to facilitate visual and social contact had a significant direct
relationship to elders’ physical functioning as measured three years later, and an indirect
relationship through social support and psychological distress. Further binomial regression
analyses suggested that elders living on blocks marked by low levels of positive front entrance
features were at 2.7 times the risk of subsequent poor levels of physical functioning, compared to
elders living on blocks with a greater number of positive front entrance features (b=0.99, χ2
(1)=3.71, p=.05; 95% CI=1.0-7.3).
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