PROVIDENCE, RI (Dec. 11, 2024) – The RI Life Index, an annual statewide survey created by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) and the Brown University School of Public Health, finds that a broad range of Rhode Islanders continue to be highly challenged by affordable housing, food security and cost-of-living. While the overall results announced at a public event today showed no marked improvement, a few scores did rebound to pre-pandemic levels, including measures related to health care access and perceptions of urban residents and Latino/a communities.

The 6^th annual survey captures how Rhode Islanders perceive their well-being in 2024 and adds to the trend data the RI Life Index has been collecting since before the COVID-19 pandemic. After tumbling in the wake of COVID-19 disruptions, scores have stabilized but continue to show significant challenges amid elevated housing and food costs.

For 2024, the Index’s overall score stood at 57 on a scale of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more positive perceptions. That’s essentially unchanged from the previous year, but down six points since 2021 and the lowest level since the Index began collecting data.

The score for access to nutritious food was 64, down two points since last year and nine points since 2021. To examine that troubling trend, today’s results announcement at Brown University featured a panel discussion on household food security led by Rhode Island Community Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff.

"For six years, the RI Life Index has been a critical resource for understanding the lived realities of Rhode Islanders," said Dr. Francesca Beaudoin, academic dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. "From housing and food security to the rising cost of living, this year’s findings highlight persistent struggles but also provide a foundation for targeted actions to improve the well-being of our communities. This data-driven approach ensures that solutions are timely, relevant, and rooted in evidence, enabling us to better address inequities and build healthier systems for everyone statewide."

BCBSRI President and CEO Martha L. Wofford added, “The RI Life Index continues to provide a detailed snapshot of how Rhode Islanders perceive social factors that impact their well-being and, unfortunately, it’s a picture that reveals that too many are struggling with unrelenting challenges. The annual release of the results enables us to collectively understand the issues and rally around a shared agenda to reduce health inequities, notably food insecurity, lack of affordable housing and other social drivers. We’re grateful to the RI Life Index Coalition members who are working hard to address these gaps and ensure that the voices of our diverse Rhode Island communities are heard."

The RI Life Index, launched in 2019, recognizes that health transcends what happens within the healthcare system and that factors such as housing, food security, employment, education, and quality of life — collectively known as social determinants of health — contribute to health inequities. The Index, which measures perceptions of these health-related factors, is updated every year through a statewide random digit dial survey of a representative sample of Rhode Islanders. It’s conducted in Spanish and English, with an oversample of Black and Latino/a Rhode Islanders.

The collected data are then shared publicly to assist efforts to build healthier communities and address health disparities. Survey results are reported by race, ethnicity, age, and geography (“non-core" communities versus the “core" cities of Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket, which have the highest percentage of children living below the federal poverty level). 

This year, 1,946 adults from across the state participated in the survey. Full results are available at RILifeIndex.org. Here are some of the key findings: 

• In addition to the continued decline in the overall score, there were drops overall in perceptions about affordable housing, quality of community, community life, cost of living, and job opportunities.
• The Index saw improved scores in 2024 in core cities related to perceptions about community life, programs and services for children, and healthcare access, with particular improvement in perceptions about healthcare access among Black and Latino/a residents.
• In fact, scores for Latino/a respondents rebounded in 2024 to 2020-2022 levels for all areas except perceptions about quality of community and cost of living, as well as experiences with food security.

At today’s public event, following welcoming remarks by Dr. Beaudoin and Wofford, an overview of the 2024 survey results was presented by RI Life Index Principal Investigator Melissa Clark, Ph.D., director of the Survey Research Center and professor of health services, policy and practice at the School of Public Health. Her presentation was followed by the panel discussion on food security that, in addition to Schiff and Dr. Clark, included the following: Kathleen Gorman, professor of psychology and director of the Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America, University of Rhode Island; Teddi Jallow, executive director of the Refugee Dream Center; and Alison Tovar, associate professor of behavioral and social sciences and interim director of the Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity at the Brown University School of Public Health. 

The meeting also highlighted the launch in 2024 of Rhode Island Voices, a project of the RI Life Index that is taking a deeper dive into learning about the lived experiences of Rhode Islanders and what they have to say about the health and well-being of their communities. Rhode Island Voices is enlisting a panel of up to 1,000 Rhode Islanders to participate in web-based questionnaires throughout the year on a range of topics related to social determinants of health. Panelists are still being recruited via RILifeIndex.org and results of the first panel surveys will be released soon. 

The RI Life Index Coalition, a group of community partners from across the state, assists in shaping the survey. Coalition members also offer thought leadership on solutions to the challenges identified in the Index. Coalition member organizations include BCBSRI; Brown University Health Community Health Institute, Brown University School of Public Health; Community Provider Network of Rhode Island; United Way of Rhode Island; Latino Policy Institute; the Rhode Island Department of Health; Rhode Island Community Food Bank;  HousingWorks RI; Rhode Island Kids Count; AARP Rhode Island; The Economic Progress Institute; Rhode Island Foundation;  and Medical Legal Partnership Boston.

For more information on the RI Life Index, please visit RILifeIndex.org.