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It’s “Groundhog Day,” AGAIN! Nearly one-half of COVID-19 vaccination data is missing race/ethnicity info., reminiscent of earlier gaps in COVID-19 case and mortality data

Collage with COVID-19 vaccines, race and ethnicity form with a question mark

A Harvard Pop Center working paper points out that the Morbidity and Mortality report by the US Centers for Disease Control released on February 2 (which happened to be Groundhog Day) is missing race and ethnicity information for nearly half of the people who were vaccinated during the first month of the roll out. Age and gender information were missing from only .1% and 3% respectively. The paper calls for…

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Taking a closer look at the psychosocial stressors that are thought to affect health and mortality

Heavy set woman sitting on a bench

A study focused on middle-aged and older Americans by Harvard Pop Center postdoctoral fellow Justin Rodgers, faculty members David R. Williams, Ichiro Kawachi, and S V Subramanian, along with their colleague Adolfo G. Cuevas, sheds light on the eight behavioral, biological, and psychological pathways commonly thought to play a  role in the association between stress and health.

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Study aims to advance prevention of HIV/AIDS among young women in low- and middle-income countries

Head shot of Chunling Lu and Subu Subramanian

Two researchers affiliated with the Harvard Pop Center (Chungling Lu, PhD, and S V Subramanian, PhD) and their colleagues assessed levels of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and associated socioeconomic disparities among young women between the ages of 15-24 using Demographic Health Surveys from 51 low- and middle-income countries completed between 2002–2018.  Their findings, published in JAMA Network Open, point to there being a need to increase knowledge of HIV/AIDS across this…

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When discharging older adults from the hospital, considering mental health could help to reduce hospital readmissions

Head shot of Leah Abrams

A study by Harvard Sloan Fellow on Aging and Work Leah Abrams, PhD, and her colleague Geoff Hoffman, finds that among those adults who were discharged to a post-acute care setting, such as a skilled nursing facility, the positive association between depressive symptoms and 30-day readmissions to the hospital was reduced.

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When it comes to risk factors for COVID-19 mortality, simulation study finds social determinants of health on par with diabetes

African American man sits on a bench

To compensate for there being little data available on the relationship between COVID-19 deaths and social determinants of health, Harvard Pop Center faculty members Ben Seligman and David Bloom, along with their colleague Maddalena Ferranna, have published a simulation study in PLOS Medicine that finds that individual-level social determinants of health (e.g., nonwhite race/ethnicity, income below the median income level, less than a high school education, and being a veteran) are…

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Children with complicated births found to be at increased risk of eviction

Newborn baby sleeps on the forearm of a man

A study finds that babies who were low-birth weight, experienced a lengthy hospital stay, or were born prematurely were at increased risk of experiencing eviction later in childhood. Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa F. Berkman and Visiting Scientist Mariana Arcaya are authors, as well as Gabriel L Schwartz, Kathryn M Leifheit, and Jarvis T Chen. Image: Pixabay

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Does alcohol consumption play a role in the spread of HIV among older adults in South Africa?

Multiple glasses of red wine

A study by HAALSI researchers finds that increased and more frequent alcohol consumption among older adults in South Africa is linked with higher levels of sexual risk taking, patterns of behavior that could contribute to the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

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Synthesizing hope: How to mitigate health disparities after natural disaster strikes

Hurricane Katrina from satellite

Researchers affiliated with the RISK study have published a study in the journal Health Affairs that summarizes the findings of the 15-year study that followed low-income parents who survived Hurricane Katrina. The lessons learned inform these key priorities: Prevention (improve climate resilience and evacuation planning); uninterrupted health care; less administrative work for survivors; strong community ties; and long-term services for those highly affected. “Our findings can guide policy makers, service…

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Today.com reports: “Women who work for pay have slower memory loss as they age”

Woman over age 60, thanks to Pixabay

A study with former postdoctoral fellow Erika Sabbath, ScD, and Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, PhD (on sabbatical 2020-2021) among the authors reports that women who worked for pay during early adulthood and later in life (even if they left the workforce to raise children but later returned) have slower rates of memory decline after age 60. Read about the findings in this piece on Today.com.

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Is depression a barrier to receiving social support among aging adults in rural South Africa?

Head shot of Elyse Jennings

A study by researchers affiliated with the population-based study Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI), including Harvard Pop Center Research Scientist Elyse Jennings, PhD, finds that those study participants reporting symptoms of depression were less likely to receive some types of social support, and there were differences according to gender and marital status.