The mission of the Global Aging and Community Initiative is to create new knowledge focused on the health and well-being of older persons worldwide through collaborative research across a broad global scientific community. The Initiative is supported by the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair and housed at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Funded Projects
Co-PI. Health and Aging Post Conflict: War’s Enduring Effects Among Survivors in Vietnam (R01AG052537), supported by the National Institute on Aging
Latest News and Announcements
PAA 2019 Poster Winner!
In April 2019, Dr. Zimmer traveled to Austin, TX for the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (PAA). He was a poster winner in Poster Session 9: Marriage, Family, Households, & Unions; Gender, Race, & Ethnicity for the poster, “The Rise and Prominence of Skip-Generation Households in Low- and Middle-Income Countries“!
Upcoming conference presentations – REVES 2019
In May 2019, Dr. Zimmer will present the paper entitled, “Socio-Demographic Correlates of Life Expected in Degrees of Frailty” at the REVES conference in Barcelona, Spain.
February 2019 – New article using data from Taiwan on religious activity and mortality
The Linking Spirituality and Religiosity to Life and Health Expectancy team published an article that examines the extent to which religious activity distinguishes the mortality experiences of older adults living in Taiwan. Check out the article here: Does Religious Activity Distinguish the Mortality Experiences of Older Taiwanese? An Analysis Using Eighteen Years of Follow-Up Data
January 2019 – New article using data from World Values Survey
The Linking Spirituality and Religiosity to Life and Health Expectancy team published an article using the World Values Survey to understand global connections between indicators of religiosity and health and how these links differ cross-nationally. Check out the article here: Religiosity and health: A global comparative study.
Presentation at the Aging Studies Institute, Syracuse University
On Monday, November 12th, Dr. Zimmer will present at the “Aging Families in China: Social, Demographic, and Policy Considerations” conference hosted by the Aging Studies Institute at Syracuse University. He will present on “A Dynamic Study of Disability and Life Expected in Living Arrangement States among Older Chinese Using Sixteen Years of Longitudinal Data.”
Talk at University at Buffalo
On October 24, Dr. Zimmer and Dr. Zajacova presented, “Pain in the United States and Abroad: A Demographic Perspective” at the Sociology Colloquium Series at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
New article published in Asian Population Studies
In September, Dr. Zimmer’s paper entitled, “Migration and left-behind parents and children of migrants in Cambodia: a look at household composition and the economic situation,” was published in Asian Population Studies. The paper was co-authored by M. Van Natta, a doctoral candidate at UCSF.
Linking Spirituality and Religiosity to Life and Health Expectancy team publishes new work
The project team‘s paper on religion, life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy among older women and men in the Unites States was recently accepted for publication in The Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences. Follow the link to read the accepted manuscript: https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gby098.
CARExpert Programme talk and workshop at Duke-NUS Medical School
In August 2018, Dr. Zimmer presented a talk entitled, “A Global Comparative Study of Religiosity and Health” at Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore. He also led a multilevel model workshop entitled “Introduction to Using Multilevel Models for Contextual Cross-Sectional Research” at the Centre for Ageing Research and Education (CARE).
Disability-Free Life Expectancy Calculator now live!
After much anticipation, the research team of the Linking Spirituality and Religiosity to Life and Health Expectancy: A Global Comparative Study has launched the Disability-Free Life Expectancy Calculator. The DFLE Calculator is based on results obtained from an analysis of data from the Health and Retirement Study conducted in the United States. Try it out now by clicking here.
Data Collection begins in Vietnam
The study of the long-term impact of war on aging in Vietnam is now underway and began collecting preliminary data in February. The team returned to Vietnam in early May to collect biomarker data and conduct interviews. We look forward to what the results of this data collection will bring.
Thank you to Kim Korinek for the photos.
