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What were the longer-term impacts for older workers who experienced a work disruption at the start of the pandemic?

Head shots of Leah Abrams and Lindsay Kobayashi

Our recent Sloan Fellow on Aging and Work Leah Abrams, along with our former Bell Fellow Lindsay Kobayashi, and their colleague Jessica Finlay, have published their findings in Innovation in Aging, reporting on the economic and mental ramifications six months after the layoffs, furloughs, and reduced hours many workers experienced in early spring 2020. Here’s a findings snapshot: of those who lost their job, 1/3 were still out of work…

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Antiretroviral therapy (and resulting increased viral suppression) linked to longer AND healthier lives for older adults in South Africa

HAALSI men and women

Researchers affiliated with the HAALSI study, including former Harvard Bell Fellows Collin Payne, PhD, and Lindsay Kobayashi, PhD, and faculty member Jennifer Manne-Goehler, PhD, are among the authors of a study published in The Lancet HIV that links increased viral suppression at the population level with not only increased life expectancy, but also with less disability, pointing to the value of ART to foster healthy aging. Learn more in this…

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How are changes in working status due to COVID-19 impacting the mental health of those Americans close to retirement age?

Head shot of Leah Abrams

Harvard Pop Center’s Sloan Fellow on Aging and Work Leah Abrams, PhD, and recent Harvard Bell Fellow Lindsay Kobayashi, PhD, along with a colleague, have published their findings which reveal that workers who lost their jobs (more commonly associated with those who were under age 65 and those with less than a college degree), were furloughed, or experienced a reduction in hours suffered from increased loneliness and depressive symptoms, whereas…

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Older adults in rural South Africa who care for their grandchildren may also be safeguarding their cognitive function

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

Three researchers (Harvard Pop Center Research Scientist Elyse Jennings, Research Associate Director Meagan Farrell, and former Bell Fellow Lindsay Kobayashi) affiliated with one of the flagship projects at the Harvard Pop Center — Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) — have published their findings in the Journal of Aging and Health.

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Latest study on aging in South Africa presents some of the first incidence rates of aging-related cognitive impairment in this population

An older South African man and a healthcare worker do an intake sitting outside in rural South Africa

HAALSI researchers — including former Harvard Bell Fellow Lindsay Kobayashi, and Harvard Pop Center Research Associate Meagan Farrell, and Director Lisa Berkman — have published a study that finds similar patterning between social disparities (such as differences in formal education, literacy and marital status) and cognitive impairment rates in rural South Africa as observed in many high-income countries.

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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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A population-level look at subjective well-being after the 2014 Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion

Headshots of Lindsay, Onur, Yulya, and Lisa

Researchers affiliated with the Harvard Pop Center, including Director Lisa Berkman, have published a study that looks at the impact of the Medicaid expansion on subjective well-being among low-income and general adult U.S. populations. Self-perceived measures of happiness, sadness, worry, stress, and life satisfaction did not appear to be impacted by the increased access to healthcare among the low-income sector or by a spill-over effect in the general population. The…

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Adult cancer survivors found to have better memory function both before and after cancer diagnosis

two elderly people standing together in a park

The findings of this new study published in JAMA Network Open could make a valuable contribution in the quest to prevent Alzheimer’s as it could lead to insight into a common pathological process in the illnesses. Authors include Harvard Pop Center faculty member M. Maria Glymour and recent Bell Fellow Lindsay Kobayashi. Other authors of the study are: Monica Ospina-Romer, Ekland Abdiwahab, Teresa Filshtein, Willa D. Brenowitz, and Elizabeth R.…

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New HAALSI study findings: Education negates height disparity in cognitive function for older adults living in South Africa

A study published by HAALSI researchers, including recent Harvard Bell Fellow Lindsay Kobayashi, Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, and faculty members S V Subramanian (Subu), Kathleen Kahn, and Stephen Tollman, finds that while short stature may be a risk factor for cognitive function among older adults living in South Africa, education was found to negate the relationship between height disparity and cognitive function.