Identifying key resilience factors inversely associated to the harms of social inequality amongst older adults

Project Summary

Social inequalities among older adults represent a high priority for intervention in Canada. According to future projections (1), by 2050 more than a half million adults over 65 will be living in poverty. As a result, they will die much earlier and have an inferior quality of life. Our research team will investigate the resilience traits and assets that protect older adults from the harms of social inequalities in the first place. To do this, we will first develop an innovative salutogenic health index to examine how resilience varies amongst older adults. Next, we will estimate the health trajectories of older adults over 9-years using physiological and physical/cognitive function measures and determine the resilience factors that are associated with stable health in the face of social inequality. Finally, we will examine the biological pathways that mediate the protective effects of resilience on the health trajectories of older adults who are experiencing social inequality.