I think the title of this blog is an interesting question and one worthy of research. A good research design could compare a range of health and social indicators for people living in cohousing with a matched group of people from similar social and economic backgrounds who do not live in cohousing. Would there be different levels of physical and mental health rates over time? Would people in cohousing be healthier?
The first real sociological study ever done, by Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, was on suicide and published in 1898. It looked at available suicide data from many European countries over nearly one hundred years. He concluded that the degree of social cohesiveness or social connection was directly correlated with suicide rates. The lower the degree of social connection and social cohesiveness in various groups and communities and environments, the greater the rate of suicide. Since cohousing is about community and efforts for people to be connected to each other in supportive and fun ways, one could hypothesize that residents of cohousing would have lower suicide rates than the general population or comparable poplulations.
Are there lower rates of smoking, and other behaviors that endanger health, in cohousing communities? What about rates of divorce? Fecundity/Child-bearing rates? Does being in community provide support that helps people feel comforted and championed when they face illness, and therefore affect disease outcomes? Some studies seem to show that attitude/outlook and support can make a difference in the effects of illness.
What do you think? How might we gather data to research such a question?