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Is social capital valuable in protecting cognitive function in lower-resource settings such as rural South Africa?

Older man in South Africa sitting in a field

While theories about the connection between strong social supports and better cognitive health among an aging population are well established in higher resource settings (high income, high education levels), less is known about whether this same pattern exists in lower resource settings. Researchers affiliated with Health and Aging in Africa: a Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH community in South Africa (HAALSI) have published findings that suggest that a similar pattern…

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HAALSI study takes closer look at HIV incidence among older adults in South Africa

Two South African women wearing colorful clothes

While there is much data on the levels of prevalence of HIV among older South Africans, less is known about the risks of older people acquiring HIV. Research from the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) project published in JAIDS finds that there is some risk of acquiring HIV over the age of 50, especially for women.

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How can diabetes be more accurately diagnosed in an aging South African population?

South African women

Two of the most common tests for diagnosing diabetes (fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c) don’t always yield the same result, and researchers affiliated with the research study Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) took a closer look at the concordance of these test results within an aging population in South Africa. Their findings were published in the Journal of the…

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Education is not only factor in cognitive health disparities between older men and women in rural South Africa

two women walking away from camera on dirt road, text that reads "HAALSI, Health and Aging in Africa A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa"

Researchers affiliated with HAALSI, a longitudinal project focused on an aging population in South Africa, have published a study that emphasizes the need for additional research focused on strengthening the cognitive resilience of older women, given the predominately female composition of aging populations worldwide.

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Impact of traumatic events earlier in life still registers among older cohort in rural South Africa

Older man in South Africa sitting in a field

Researchers affiliated with a longitudinal study on aging in South Africa (HAALSI) have published a paper that examines the impact of traumatic events experienced earlier in the life course on cognition, and mental and physical health outcomes in an older South African population.

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Testing = Knowledge = Power: Factoring in cognitive function and literacy level in effort to increase HIV testing in South Africa

Older woman in South Africa

A team of researchers has found that those older adults in South Africa participating in the HAALSI study who demonstrated higher cognitive function and literacy levels were more likely to be knowledgeable about their own HIV status. The findings suggest that campaigns aimed at increasing HIV testing should factor in the cognitive function and literary level of the targeted audience.

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Longitudinal study of aging in South Africa offers rare glimpse of link between cognitive function and cardiometabolic disease risk factors

Two older women walk on a dirt road in rural South Africa

Researchers affiliated with Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) have published a study in BMC Public Health that shares some baseline evidence pointing to a link between cognitive function and cardiometabolic disease risk factors (e.g., diabetes, BMI, smoking) among those aging in South Africa.

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Public event in South Africa will showcase research on health and aging in Southern Africa

Older men and women in South Africa part of the HAALSI study

The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits) in South Africa, in partnership with the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, will host an event titled Health and Ageing in Southern Africa: Addressing Inequities over the Life Course in Johannesburg on October 15, 2019 from 13:30-17:00.  The program is open to the public and will showcase the latest research on health and aging emerging from the NIH-funded study Health and…

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A first look at the emergence of chronic multimorbidity, including HIV, among aging population in South Africa

Older man in South Africa sitting in a field

Partly due to the advancement of antiretroviral therapy (ART), South Africa is now among those countries whose population is living longer. Along with this blessing often goes the complex burden of managing multimorbidities such as cardiometabolic conditions, mental disorders, HIV and/or anaemia. A study by researchers affiliated with Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) is one of the first to…

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