Community voices and healthography: Where you live affects your priorities for health and well-being

This study examines interviews with  random samples of two NYC communities: Manhattan’s West Harlem (n=1117) and Flatbush Brooklyn (n=570). Respondents voiced their priorities, in English or Spanish, for their neighborhoods; response rates varied from 70%-90%; data are mapped by census tract.   

In most communities, jobs and affordable housing top the list of priorities. However, these respondents also rank health, substance use and mental health problems among their serious concerns.  In West Harlem, for example, mental illness was a serious neighborhood issue for 68% of respondents, yet very few rank this as their top priority.  In only two census tracts, a significant minority said it was their single top priority, suggesting neighborhood factors account for at least a part of the disparity in the importance respondents place on health and mental health concerns.

In one West Harlem census tract, for instance, 5.9% (+/- 3%) say health or mental illness is their top priority. Their census tract, with vast public housing, is losing its small businesses and tenements as Columbia University expands, pushing health/mental health services “across the [subway] tracks.”  By comparison, 17.6% placed afterschool care as the top priority; changing police (mis)behavior ranked #1 for 11.8%. 

 Planning-ready maps illustrate respondents’ priorities on teen pregnancy, longterm care, children’s behavioral problems, crime and safety, eldercare, etc., and their health/social service resources. The studies are being used by the Manhattan Community Board 9 and Brooklyn Community Board 14, our partners in the survey design and service-learning work by City College of New York.