(ART nurse, CHC4, rural) In the context of working with the poor, proximity of health services to social services emerged as important because social grants are central to poor people's livelihoods.
Several studies have now demonstrated links between socio-environmental problems such as poor-quality housing, crime, litter, poor air quality, proximity to pollution sources and deprivation in the United Kingdom under initiatives such as the environmental justice agenda (e.g. ESRC-GECP 2001; FoE 2001; Walker et al. 2003).
Explaining the reason why that was the case, King and Healy wrote: "A possible explanation for the general trend may be the link between lower house prices, and hence poorer households, and proximity to main roads such as the M4, inner ring roads and radial roads.
Reluctance to move was also attributed to small home size, poor ventilation, inadequate construction materials, close proximity to other homes, and a general poor design all aspects that "violate the customs of the people affected by disasters" (Macías and Aguirre 2006: 52006
In addition, urban poor populations are more disadvantaged in terms of exposure to air pollution because of poor housing structures, close proximity to air pollution sources and the types of fuel used for cooking.
Lots of migrants move north to escape drug cartels and violence, but America's proximity to poor, patchily governed countries to its south is a business opportunity for criminals, too.
Measures of poor access (such as proximity to and density of rheumatologists) were negatively associated with timely consultations.
The fact that 40% of the population felt their level of access to healthcare was fair or poor, despite the geographic proximity to extensive health and social services that the City of Hamilton provides, substantiates the idea that just because the services are geographically proximate does not mean that they are accessible to First Nations people.
