Overview of the National Health and Aging Trends Study: Design, Data, and Dissemination

A new national study aimed at assembling a rich database that will allow researchers to study changes over time in independence and disability among older people, and key causes and consequences of these changes, is underway. The study is funded by NIA and will be led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health working in collaboration with investigators at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Brown University, Columbia University, the Medical College of Wisconsin, the Urban Institute, the University of Iowa, Syracuse University, and the survey research firm, Westat. This multidisciplinary research consortium is designing comprehensive state-of-the-art methods for measuring disability in older people and, in interviews with 12,000 Medicare beneficiaries, will obtain information on key economic and social consequences of disability including living and care arrangements, medical and long-term care expenditures, and other aspects of well-being and quality of life. This presentation will review the aims and guiding questions of the NSAH, the design, the study timeline and plans for dissemination to the research community.

(Submitted as part of a proposed symposium. See Abstract #202672)