How does living among more peers as an older adult impact cognitive function?

Esther Friedman, PhD, a former Harvard RWJF Health & Society Scholar, is lead author on a study in which she and her colleagues explore the impact of living in a neighborhood with a higher percentage of older adults on cognitive function. The researchers found that those who live with a higher percentage of older adults had better cognitive function, although the neighborhood age structure did not seem to impact cognitive decline.…

Harvard RWJF HSS program alumni edit special edition of Social Science & Medicine journal

Harvard RWJF Health & Society Scholar alumni Jennifer Karas Montez, PhD, and Esther Friedman, PhD, are editors of a special issue of Social Science & Medicine entitled “Educational Attainment and Adult Health: Contextualizing Causality.” Montez and Friedman wrote the introduction to the special issue, Pop Center faculty member David Cutler, PhD, is lead author on a study on the protective effect of education for cohorts graduating in bad times, and…

Can education help reduce adulthood health risks for those who were socioeconomically disadvantaged as children?

Harvard Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar alum Esther Friedman, PhD, is lead author on a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine that found that while adults who experienced childhood socioeconomic adversity had markers associated with increased health risks, their health risks were greatly reduced by adult education. The study also included those who experienced childhood physical abuse; the physiological consequences of this type of early-life adversity did…

Having Better-Educated Offspring May Add Years to Parents’ Lives

Harvard RWJF HSS Alum Esther Friedman, PhD, has co-authored a study that suggests that making an investment in children’s higher education may have a big payoff for parents’ lifespan. The study has received media coverage, including this article in the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, and this piece in Yahoo News.