Poverty causes much misery on people. Most people would rather leave it if they have the means. Older adults experience increased depression with poverty and its effects.
Depression can set in for people who live in poor areas. This would even be more so if those areas also have high crime rate. A mixture of both can especially be troubling for older adults, who would be affected more when both these conditions are around them. This has been found by a study made by researchers from the University of California Davis.
Symptoms of depression have been seen in older people who live in areas that have high murder rate and poverty. Spruha Joshi, first author of the study and a doctoral student of Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health has said there is a need to understand factors that contribute to depression in older adults. Senior author Magdalena Cerda, associate professor at the University of California Davis has added the study wants to know more about the relationship poverty has on older people.
One factor that could lead to more depression on older people is that they are less mobile. This would make them more dependent on services that should be around neighborhoods. Less mobility along with inadequate services provided could lead to being depressed more.
The study has also looked at other factors which could lead to depression, such as high homicide rate and a poor perception of safety by older people in the areas they are in. For the study, the researchers have used data from the New York City Neighborhood and Mental Health in the Elderly Study II (NYCNAMES II). The study has found that violence is the foremost factor that has come out for elderly people in poor areas, according to the UC Davis Health's site.
The researchers have said that the study could help in making policies that could aid in improving life for older people in such communities. The study has shown how violence can affect older people in poor areas, as Science Daily reports. Reducing the causes of poverty and violence could also improve older people's disposition in those areas.
More work is needed to improve conditions in poor areas in general. Older people experience increased depression with poverty. Older adults are also open to living apart together.
