In this brief, we examine how housing hardship intersects with healthcare access among high-need New Yorkers. We assess multiple dimensions of access, including delayed and forgone care, difficulty getting to appointments, and usual places of care. As detailed in prior briefs, access to healthcare has five core dimensions, including affordability and accessibility, and where people receive care is a key indicator of care quality and continuity. 10 We also explore health-related challenges tied directly to living conditions. Findings Changes in housing hardship experience among high-need New Yorkers Across both the peak and waning periods, high-need New Yorkers were more likely to experience housing hardship than those without high healthcare needs (Figure 1). During the peak period, 36% of high-need New Yorkers experienced some or persistent housing hardship, compared to 23% of those without high need. A similar pattern appears in the waning period: 28% of high-need New Yorkers faced hardship, versus 18% of non-high-need New Yorkers. While housing hardship remains elevated among high-need individuals, the share experiencing hardship declined as the pandemic waned for both groups. This decline was driven largely by a reduction in the share of New Yorkers experiencing some housing hardship, that is, a spell of housing hardship in one year. On the other hand, rates of persistent hardship remained stable across periods and groups, with high-need New Yorkers reporting twice the levels of persistent housing hardship than those without high need (14% vs. 7%) across periods. These results extend our prior findings from 2020–2021, showing that high-need New Yorkers continued to face higher rates of housing hardship even as the pandemic waned, underscoring the persistent nature of this challenge. 11
10 The five dimensions are: availability, affordability, accessibility, accommodation, and acceptability. Penchansky and Thomas, “The concept of access: definition and relationship to consumer satisfaction.” Koutavas, A., Hussein, M., Bushman-Copp, L., and Wimer, C. "Patterns of Delayed Healthcare Among New Yorkers with High Healthcare Need Over the Course of the Pandemic." 11 Maury, M. et al. “Health and healthcare in New York City: second report.”
HOW HOUSING IS LINKED TO HEALTHCARE ACCESS AMONG NEW YORKERS SINCE THE PANDEMIC 6
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