In short: The Neighborhood Atlas hosts the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), a scientifically validated measure of the adverse social exposome (i.e., neighborhood disadvantage) that can be used to evaluate and address health disparities.
Health is the summation of genes + environment. To forward health and disease prevention, environmental factors must be considered alongside, and in combination with, traditional biological considerations. These environmental factors have been termed the "exposome" and include the physical, chemical and social influences that impact human biology. Exposome science holds promise for unlocking disease mechanisms, developing new interventions, and preventing disease. The Area Deprivation Index (ADI) is a validated, rigorous, widely used measure of the social exposome.
Research links living in an adverse social exposome (i.e., disadvantaged neighborhood), as measured by high ADI, to poorer health. Living in a high ADI area has been linked to a number of health disparities, including higher rates of cardiovascular disease, increased utilization of health services, premature aging and earlier death. Living in a high ADI neighborhood has also been linked to poorer brain health, including higher rates of dementia diagnoses and Alzheimer's Disease changes within the brain.
When health interventions and policies don't account for the impact of the adverse social exposome (i.e., neighborhood disadvantage), they may be less effective. The Neighborhood Atlas website shares the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) with the public, so that interested parties may use ADI data to inform health-promoting interventions and policy tailored to the unique needs of individuals and communities.
The ADI ranks neighborhoods by adverse social exposome in a region of interest (e.g., at the state or national level), taking into account factors related to income, education, employment, and housing quality. The ADI was refined, adapted, and validated to the census block group/neighborhood level by Amy Kind, MD, PhD and her research team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison over 15 years ago. Will Buckingham, PhD leads the continued curation and maintenance of The Neighborhood Atlas and ADI under the direction of Dr. Kind.
Educational institutions, health systems, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, researchers and any other interested parties are invited to utilize the interactive ADI maps on the Neighborhood Atlas and/or download the ADI data for use in research, program planning, policy development efforts, and more.
To date, the Neighborhood Atlas ADI has been leveraged in over 2000 peer reviewed scientific papers. It is leveraged in hundreds of health focused initiatives across the US, including within inner city, rural and tribal communities. On average, the Atlas is queried thousands of times per month.
In short: The ADI relies on American Community Survey (ACS) data. Results are subject to the limitations of ACS data. ADI values should only be measured by census block group, as linking ADI values to other geographic units is not a validated approach.
The ADI relies on American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Data, meaning that any limitations of the ACS data also apply to the ADI. Results are subject to the accuracy and errors of American Community Survey data releases.
Your choice of geographic unit will also influence ADI values. The ADI measures disadvantage by census block group, the most geographically precise unit available for the ACS. As such, we recommend only measuring ADI values by census block group. Linking the ADI to other geographic units (including 5-digit ZIP codes, ZCTA, census tracts and others) is not a validated approach and will introduce error into your analysis. Please see the FAQ for additional download and linkage guidance.
This site offers several different ways to use the Area Deprivation Index (ADI).
We recommend only measuring ADI values by census block group. Linking the ADI to other geographic units (including 5-digit ZIP codes, ZCTA, census tracts, and others) is not a validated approach.
For additional guidance, please see the FAQ.
Kind AJH, Buckingham W. Making Neighborhood Disadvantage Metrics Accessible: The Neighborhood Atlas. New England Journal of Medicine, 2018. 378: 2456-2458. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1802313. PMCID: PMC6051533.
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University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. {specify year} Area Deprivation Index {specify version}. Downloaded from https://www.neighborhoodatlas.medicine.wisc.edu/ {date}
Example: Kind AJH, Buckingham W. Making Neighborhood Disadvantage Metrics Accessible: The Neighborhood Atlas. New England Journal of Medicine, 2018. 378: 2456-2458. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1802313. PMCID: PMC6051533. AND University of Wisconsin School of Medicine Public Health. 2015 Area Deprivation Index v2.0. Downloaded from https://www.neighborhoodatlas.medicine.wisc.edu/ May 23, 2019.
This project is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AG070883 (PI: Kind), and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Center for Health Disparities Research. The content of this website is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or of the University of Wisconsin.
If you would like to explore the ADI through an interactive map, please see the mapping function.
For more abstracts and publications using the ADI, please see a list of additional citations.
Visit the FAQ page for questions about the Atlas and the ADI.
ADI rankings are free and available to the public. We ask that you create a login with our system to download them. If you do not have an account, please sign up below!