# Why Place Matters

> **NIH NIH U54** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $11,904

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Place matters for health. Residential segregation has been linked to higher mortality, poorer access and lower
quality of health care for racial/ethnic minorities. However, much remains unknown about the why place
matters. In particular, the role of place-based characteristics such as rurality and income segregation in health
care disparities is not well studied. A better understanding of how these place-based characteristics intersect
with residential segregation by race-ethnicity to influence health care access, quality and disparities could be
essential for developing interventions and policy solutions that are attentive to the local context.
Our studies under the Why Place Matters research program found residents of minority communities had lower
access to primary care and specialists and reduced use of physician, non-physician and mental health services
compared to residents of majority white communities. Leveraging the comprehensive data resources
developed through our research program, our team will conduct secondary analyses to explore the role of
several important, but understudied, place characteristics on health care disparities. Specifically, our study will
examine the associations of: 1) rurality, 2) income segregation, and 3) language segregation on minority health
care access and utilization. We will examine these relationships for different race-ethnic groups (e.g., Blacks,
Hispanics) and on care disparities between race-ethnic minority groups with Whites. We will also test whether
provider availability or quality mediates these relationships. Finally, we will explore the interaction of these
community characteristics with race-ethnic composition on health care access and utilization of Blacks.
Descriptive, bivariate, stratified analysis, and regression models, including multilevel models will be used to
examine the relationship of each place characteristic with area-level healthcare resource availability and quality
and with minority health care access and use.
This project will continue the research program Why Place Matters to understand the role of place on health
care disparities. A better understanding of the experiences of minorities living in complex environmental
contexts, with varying mix of privileges or disadvantages, could inform the development of accurately targeted
health communications or interventions. This project fits within sociocultural and healthcare system
domains at both individual and community levels of influence of the NIMHD Minority Health and Health
Disparities Research Framework.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10399495
- **Project number:** 3U54MD000214-20S1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** KITTY S. CHAN
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $11,904
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2002-09-22 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10399495

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10399495, Why Place Matters (3U54MD000214-20S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10399495. Licensed CC0.

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