Aging Societies
Understanding population aging and the dynamics of aging societies as been a consistent research area at HCPDS since 2008. Across the world, the vast majority of countries are experiencing a growth in their older populations for two reasons: an increase in life expectancy in most countries, and a decrease in fertility. These trends have converted the age structure of societies from the traditional pyramid to more of a rectangular shape, with almost equal numbers of men and women in each age group until the very oldest segment. This demographic transition challenges all societies to restructure major institutions to maintain resilience and human well-being.
Below are the Harvard Pop Center faculty that research issues related to Aging Societies.
13 results found.
Till Bärnighausen, MD, MSc, MSc, ScD
Alexander von Humboldt University Professor, Heidelberg Institute of Public Health, University of Heidelberg |Adjunct Professor, Department of Global Health and Population
Lisa Berkman, PhD
Thomas D. Cabot Research Professor of Public PolicyHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
David Canning, PhD
Richard Saltonstall Professor of Population ScienceDepartment of Global Health and Population
Thomas Gaziano, MD, MSc
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School |Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management
Nicole Maestas, MPP, PhD, AM
John D. MacArthur Professor of Economics and Health Care Policy Chair, Department of Health Care Policy
Stephen Tollman, MBBCh MMed, MA, MPH, PhD
Associate ProfessorHealth and Population Division, School of Public Health
Publications and media coverage of research by our affiliates related to Aging Societies
HAALSA researchers have been publishing their findings from the landmark longitudinal study for over a decade, and many of our faculty members, fellows and research staff generate research related to Aging Societies…Learn about their work and publications by scrolling through the list of news posts below.
Novel population study in South Africa ties national regulations on salt restriction in processed foods to lower blood pressure
A original investigation published in JAMA Cardiology—the first large study to analyze the impacts of national regulations on salt restriction in 13 categories of processed foods in South Africa—finds that not only was the sodium intake lowered (as…
Expanded version of “Work Design for Health” employer toolkit launched
An updated and expanded version of the “Work Design for Health” employer toolkit—developed by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the MIT Sloan School of Management—has been launched. The free online toolkit, originally…
Study explores link between epigenetic aging and racial, economic injustice
Nancy Krieger is an author on an original investigation published in JAMA Network Open that is the subject of a featured news story on the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health website. A key finding from the study is that there was significantly…
HIV care cascade for older adults in rural South Africa
Stable engagement in health care, referred to as the care cascade or care continuum, is considered to be essential for those living with HIV to experience healthy aging. Based on two waves of longitudinal data collected from older adults with HIV in…
Optimism, sense of purpose, and the condition of the immune system as we age
Harvard Pop Center Bell Fellow Hayami Koga, MD, PhD, is lead author on a study that aims to explore the relationship between optimism, a sense of purpose, and immune markers in aging. Findings point to there being an association between these two…
Could experiencing gratitude boost one’s longevity?
A study published in JAMA Psychiatry is one of the first to provide empirical evidence indicating an association between a grateful affect and longevity. Harvard Pop Center faculty member Laura Kubzansky is one of the authors on this population-based…
The Harvard Gazette reports: “Stroke risk higher for chronically lonely”
While other studies have found a link between loneliness and a higher risk of stroke, they have mostly examined a single point in time, as opposed to loneliness as a more chronic condition that extends over time. Former Harvard Pop Center Graduate…
Resiliency in rural South Africa; certain types of earlier adversity linked to better health outcomes for some
A study authored by Harvard Pop Center Research Scientist Elyse Jennings, PhD, and other researchers affiliated with the Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Studies in Africa (HAALSA), including Darina Bassil, Kathleen Kahn, and Sumaya Mall,…
How did household size & virtual contact impact anxiety levels associated with social distancing during COVID-19 in rural South Africa?
A study by researchers affiliated with the national study Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Studies in South Africa (HAALSA) based on data from a phone survey reveals that although declines in social interaction were associated with increased…
Exploring the link between an optimistic attitude and physical functioning as women age
Bell Fellow Hayami Koga, along with Harvard Pop Center faculty members David Williams and Laura Kubzansky and their colleagues, have published a study in JAMA Psychiatry on the association between optimism and physical functioning among older women…
Three “Conversations” that tell the story of health and aging in rural South Africa
Physicians, professors and research scientists affiliated with Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Studies in South Africa (HAALSA)—the ten-year (and counting) project that has been following a cohort that started as 5,000 men and women aged 40 and…
How can socioeconomic-based cardiovascular disease disparities in low- and middle-income countries be reduced?
A study published in Nature Medicine by HCPDS graduate student affiliate Dorit Stein, and other HCPDS affiliates including Till Bärnighausen, Maja Marcus, Jennifer Manne-Goehler, Nikkil Sudharsanan, and Stephane Verguet (along with their colleagues)…
Does the link between dementia and increased risk of COVID-19 that has been observed in wealthier countries exist in LMICs?
Researchers affiliated with HAALSI, a longitudinal study on health and aging in South Africa, have published a novel study that investigates the link between cohort-derived dementia (using a predictive model for dementia) and confirmed COVID-19 infection…
New York Times cites research by Koga & Kubzansky on why positive mind-set is one of the most powerful of their “7 Keys to Longevity”
The 7th “Key to Longevity” (“Cultivate a positive mind-set”) in this NYT piece is laced with links to research by our postdoc fellow, Hayami Koga, and faculty member Laura Kubzansky (& their colleagues) that supports the case…
What’s to blame for the lagging U.S life expectancy? A closer look at mid-life ‘deaths of despair’ and retirement-age chronic disease
Recent Sloan Fellow on Aging and Work Leah Abrams, PhD, is lead author on A Brief Report published in PNAS Demography that explores what could be driving the troubling status of U.S. life expectancy which has been stagnating since 2010. Abrams and her…
Lisa Berkman presents at PAA’s Capital Hill briefing on aging baby boomer generation’s prospects of working longer
Lisa Berkman, Harvard Pop Center Director and President of the Population Association of America (PAA), participated in a Capital Hill briefing titled “Happy Birthday, Baby—Boomers!” A panel of population scientists explored the social…
What does an older population mean for the economy and society at large?
HCPDS faculty member Nicole Maestas was interviewed on NPR on why it matters that the median age is rising in the United States.
Study evaluating telomeres finds aging- and health-related biomarkers in low-income country to be similar to those found in high-income countries
Scientists affiliated with Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study in South Africa (HAALSI) have found that telomere length is associated with health and aging biomarkers (e.g., age, mortality, blood pressure) in much the same way that they are…
Decade-long research project that explores aging in South Africa receives NIH/NIA funding for new waves & national expansion, with special focus on cognitive health
Researchers from The Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies (HCPDS), the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the University of the Witwatersrand, and the University of Cape Town have been awarded 27 million dollars from the National…
Analysis streamlines measurement of physiological ‘wear and tear’
The measurement of allostatic load (cumulative biological dysregulation related to life course stressors) varies widely across studies, making it difficult to rely on the measurement to help predict mortality. An analysis published in…
Photo on top of page by: Jan Truter on Flickr