Supportive communities: how health and welfare contexts shape neighbor relationships across 29 countries with unequal public healthcare resources

Abstract This study investigates how personal health status and multiple forms of disadvantages are associated with instrumental and emotional relationships with neighbors across 29 countries. Using data from the International Social Survey Program and the Global Health Observatory, the analysis shows that individuals in poor health are more likely to report emotional neighbor relationships, and the association is stronger in countries with more adequately resourced public healthcare systems. In contrast, poor health is more strongly associated with instrumental neighbor relationships among individuals facing high financial difficulties or living in countries with limited public healthcare resources, compared to the most advantaged individuals with low financial difficulties and living in well-resourced public healthcare systems. These findings emphasize the importance of neighbor relationships and social welfare support for disadvantaged populations.