This news piece by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health features a Q&A with our faculty member Rita Hamad on why child poverty is such a pressing public health issue and how certain government policies, such as the expansion of the Child Tax Credit to include poorer families during the pandemic, helped to make significant progress on this issue.
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 accelerated epigenetic aging (biological age that does not necessarily align with chronological age) among Black study participants who were born in a state under Jim Crow…
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Racial inequalities in exposure to household member deaths: A “hidden” social determinant of health?
Losing a family member is stressful, especially if that person is a household member. Since Black people are both more likely to live in a home that includes extended family members and also face lower life expectancy than White people, former Bell Fellow and current visiting scientist Angela Dixon set out to explore the impacts of this increased likelihood of exposure to the death of a household member among Black…
Psychosocial status of older adults in Europe during pandemic is linked with educational level of their adult children
Harvard Bell Fellow Erika Meza, PhD, is an author on a novel paper that reports finding an association between higher levels of adult children’s educational attainment (a core marker of socio-economic status) with their older parents experiencing a lower prevalence of nervous, sad or depressed feelings, or sleep problems in areas in Europe hardest hit by the pandemic.
Automation of scheduling and reminders associated with improved transition to postpartum healthcare
With the aim of helping to improve maternal health outcomes, Harvard Pop Center faculty member Jessica Cohen, PhD, and her colleagues designed a behavioral economic intervention utilizing default scheduling of appointments with primary care providers and text message appointment reminders to support new mothers in getting important follow-up care. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, is featured in this Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health news post, in…
The New York Times delves into why some workers retire sooner than planned while others stay longer than they anticipated
A timely piece in The New York Times (including insights from our director Lisa Berkman) that explores what drives some people to retire sooner than planned and what keeps some in their posts longer than they thought (and perhaps, ought).
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 rural South Africa, researchers affiliated with the flagship project Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Studies in South Africa (HAALSA) have published their findings in the journal JAIDS…
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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 components of psychological well-being and an increase in certain T cells in the context of “immunosenescence” (the gradual deterioration of the immune system that is brought on by…
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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 cohort study of nearly 50,000 older female registered nurses that used self-reported questionnaires and medical records. According to this news post by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: “The…
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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 Student Affiliate Yenee Soh, along with Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, faculty members Ichiro Kawachi, Laura Kubzansky, and their colleague Henning Tiemeier, have published a study in eClinical…
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