Housing, Health, and Disability: The Role of Housing Assistance and Housing Insecurity among Older Adults of Low-Income

About This Grant

Project Summary: Housing insecurity is a pressing public health problem: U.S. rates are the fastest-growing among older adults, one-third of whom spend more than 30% or 50% of their income on housing. Housing insecurity―defined as limited access to and availability of affordable, stable, safe, and adequate housing and neighborhoods― is a risk factor for numerous adverse health outcomes including chronic conditions, disability, and mortality. Although federal housing assistance is associated with improved health outcomes, current programs support only about one-third of income-eligible, cost-burdened adults aged 50+ who need assistance. Moreover, the relationship between housing assistance, housing insecurity, and adults' health and disability trajectories remains poorly understood. One unexplored area is how housing assistance and multiple dimensions of housing insecurity experienced during emerging adulthood, a critical life course period, relate to midlife and older adult health and disability trajectories. While previous research has examined effects of housing assistance and housing insecurity on health, studies often use cross-sectional or convenience samples, focus on a single rather than combined effects of multiple housing insecurity dimensions, and rarely include income-eligible older adults who do and do not receive housing assistance. Examining how previous housing histories relate to health and disability later in life will enhance our understanding of when housing assistance and housing insecurity matter most, and inform future housing interventions. The proposed K01 study leverages more than 50 years of nationally representative, prospectively-collected longitudinal life course data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine how midlife and older adult health and disability trajectories relate to housing assistance and housing insecurity experienced during emerging adulthood, a critical life course period. This project seeks to: (1) develop typologies of housing assistance and housing insecurity life course histories for midlife and older adults; (2) examine how trajectories of health and disability during midlife and older adulthood relate to previous histories of housing assistance and housing insecurity; and (3) assess the extent to which relationships between midlife and older adult health and disability trajectories and housing history typologies vary by neighborhood context. Complementing this research, a detailed training plan will build on the applicant's prior training in environmental psychology and architecture to include (1) aging, gerontology, and life course theory; (2) age-related disability, mobility, and physical function; (3) longitudinal survey data analysis skills, including latent variable modeling; and (4) external grant-writing skills. This integrated training will prepare the applicant for a successful independent research career focused on aging, housing, and neighborhoods. Findings from this proposal will generate critical insights concerning for whom, how, and when housing assistance and housing insecurity matter most for midlife and older adults' health and disability, inform future housing interventions, and elevate older adults' need for housing assistance.