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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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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, examines the impacts of childhood (and adulthood) adversity on later-life cognitive, mental, and physical health in a rural Black South African population.

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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 anxiety levels among both men and women in rural South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic, women living in larger households seemed to be especially impacted. “For women, living in larger households may…

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Three “Conversations” that tell the story of health and aging in rural South Africa

HAALSA letters with South African images behind them

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 over—have penned three pieces in The Conversation that delve into unique aspects of this burgeoning population: Pioneering researchers Stephen Tollman and Kathleen Kahn from the University of the Witwatersrand reflect back on…

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