2024-2025 Pilot Projects
Climate and Healthy Aging: Spatial Distributions of Environmental Hazards
PI: Katherine Curtis (Professor, Community & Environmental Sociology)
Graduate Student: Sara Ronnkvist (Graduate Student, Sociology)
Description: Environmental hazards have increased in recent decades with differential impacts on sub-populations, including older populations and marginalized racial groups 1-3. While scholars have given increased attention to the relationship between climate and aging 4-5, fundamental questions about observed population-level patterns remain unanswered including questions about the role of migration in shaping exposure to environmental hazardous contexts. We leverage novel population data on migration by demographic attributes to investigate annual migration patterns between distinct environmental hazard hotspots in the United States from 2000 to 2019. In our study, we estimate age- and age-by-race-specific migration probabilities to generate migration signatures characterizing moves between places with pronounced exposures to extreme heat, extreme cold, humidity, air pollution, wildfire smoke, hurricanes, and drought. In contrast to most previous studies and given the different pathways through which environmental hazards affect healthy aging, we consider multiple environmental hazards conjointly as opposed to a single hazard (e.g., heat only) or combining a set of hazards (e.g., risk index). Our approach permits us to generate new knowledge about age-by-race-specific exposures to distinct yet potentially multiple environmental hazards via migration between hotspots (e.g., from areas with extreme cold to areas with wildfire smoke). In addition, study findings will generate new knowledge about population aging patterns in place by assessing whether age-by-race-specific migration patterns have altered the population composition of origins and destinations for specific environmental hazard hotspots. Throughout our study, we will nest results in the nine National Climate Assessment (NCA) regions of the contiguous US to enhance the policy utility of our findings. Study results will also provide an empirical foundation necessary to develop an R01 proposal to NIA to study temporally dynamic environmental hazard typologies and their implications for healthy aging in place. The proposed pilot study contributes to CDHA’s research theme addressing the impacts of place on aging processes.
Prenatal Exposure to Racial Riots and Longevity
PI: Tiffany Green (Gloria E. Sarto, MD, PhD, Chair in Women’s Health and Health Equity Research)
Co-PI: Hoa Vu (Lead Economist, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University)
Description:This proposal aims to investigate the causal impacts of in utero exposure to 20th-century racial riots on racial disparities in life expectancy, particularly among Black individuals. By leveraging individual-level data on birth month-year and location from the CenSoc Project, alongside meticulously digitized racial riot data, this study seeks to address critical gaps in understanding the long-term health effects of early-life exposure to violence. Building on established evidence linking in utero stressors to both immediate and latent health outcomes, this research endeavors to explore how such exposure contributes to disparities in old-age longevity, particularly among Black Americans who have historically borne a disproportionate burden of violence exposure. By examining the enduring physiological and psychological impacts of traumatic events experienced during early development, this study aims to shed light on the mechanisms underlying racial disparities in health outcomes across the life course. This proposal aligns closely with two signature themes of the Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA). Firstly, it contributes to the theme of “Aging trajectories and disparities across the life course” by investigating how early-life exposures to violence shape health trajectories into old age, thereby elucidating the mechanisms driving racial disparities in longevity. Secondly, it intersects with the theme of “Health economics and health services research” by providing insights into the long-term health consequences of environmental stressors, informing policies and interventions aimed at reducing racial health inequities and promoting equitable access to health services. Overall, this research holds significant promise for advancing our understanding of the complex interplay between early-life experiences, racial disparities in health outcomes, and the broader socio-economic determinants of health.
Neighborhood Characteristics and Trajectories of Functional Disability Among Older Black Adults
PI: Weidi Qin (Assistant Professor, Social Work)
Description: The proposed project aims to utilize a within-group approach to examine the neighborhood-disability associations among older Black adults. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this project will: 1) Characterize functional disability by neighborhood characteristics among older Black adults; and 2) Estimate the association between neighborhood characteristics and the trajectories of functional disability risk among older Black adults. This project will fill an important research gap of lacking within-group evidence on neighborhood and functional disability specifically among older Black adults. The project will also consider both structural (i.e., objectively measured neighborhood socioeconomic status) and social (subjective perceptions of social cohesion and physical disorder) aspects of neighborhood environment to obtain more accurate understanding of how neighborhood environment shapes late-life disability among older Black adults. The proposed research is in alignment with two signature themes of CDHA: 1) Aging trajectories and disparities across the life course; and 2) Impacts of place on aging processes.