PROJECT
Socioeconomic Status and Health of Older Adults Across Diverse Settings
This project analyzes the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health among older adults in a number of Asian societies and the United States. It employs surveys rich in health and socioeconomic data, including several surveys from Asia that were part of the Study of Rapid Demographic Change and the Welfare of the Elderly, a collaborative data collection effort between the University of Michigan and institutions throughout Asia.
This project is significant because it focuses on two issues that are not well understood. First, previous examinations of this sort have measured health in ways that may mask SES effects on the onset, severity, and progression of disorders. This project seeks to broaden these measures to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms through which SES affects health. Second, very little is known about SES and the health of older adults outside of the West. Testing for such associations across diverse settings, where cultural norms and values differ from those commonly found in Western societies, will be instrumental for affirming hypotheses and further developing theoretical perspectives.
Results from this project suggest notable differences in the ways SES factors affect health across environments. Some of these differences can be accounted for by the ways in which individuals in different settings interpret and report health problems, but others may be the result of diverse mechanisms acting upon the association. For instance, in Thailand SES is associated with self-assessed and functional health, but not with chronic health disorders. SES has stronger influences on the health of older adults in Taiwan than in the Philippines. The education of adult children may be more important for older adult health than older adults’ own level of education.
Location
East and Southeast Asia, United States
Duration
2002–2006
Population Council researcher
Zachary Zimmer
Non-Council collaborators
Albert I. Hermalin, James S. House (University of Michigan)
Donors
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Population Council
US National Institutes of Health
Publications/Resources on this project
See Also
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Publications/Resources |
"How indicators of socioeconomic status relate to physical functioning of older adults in three Asian countries" (2003) (PDF) (abstract) “The elderly and AIDS: Coping strategies and health consequences in rural Tanzania” (2002) (PDF) (abstract) “Whose education counts? The added impact of adult child education on physical functioning of older Taiwanese” (2001) (PDF) (abstract) |