The purpose of the proposed University of Chicago (UChicago) Center for Healthy Aging Behaviors and Longitudinal InvestigationS (CHABLIS) is to promote a sustained research and infrastructure development program that leverages longitudinal data, from both observational and interventional studies, to examine how demographic and economic factors facilitate or suppress individual healthy aging behaviors (HABs) and, in turn, influence outcomes among older adults over the life course. Spanning five divisions and schools, and partnering with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), CHABLIS will bring many areas of expertise and multiple methodologies to bear on the demography and economics of aging. The central thesis of this proposal is that CHABLIS connects schools, disciplines (e.g., economics, sociology, medicine), and people.
We aim to: 1) enhance and lead innovation in the demography and economics of aging; and 2) cultivate the next generation of leaders in social science approaches to aging research with attention to demographic methods and approaches. The Program Development Core focuses on providing research and career development support to early-career faculty and supporting pilot projects that span the demography and economics of aging in both medical and social science realms. Our External Innovative Network Core draws on the infrastructure of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), and our local Comprehensive Care Physician (CCP) Program, to create opportunities for exchange and research synergies between these two different forms of data collection and research. The External Research Resources Support and Dissemination Core is a joint effort with the Duke Center for Population Health and Aging (CPHA). Its goal is to identify, design, conduct and assess innovations in data collection and measurement for use in current and future data-focused studies of aging, and share those findings immediately. The emphasis in that Core, and throughout our proposal, is that longitudinal data collection efforts are central to research on aging, whether they be local (e.g., CCP) or national (e.g., NSHAP); data collection processes must be continually advanced to ensure that these data are relevant, and used. Our Administrative and Research Support Core lays out our move, both physically and administratively, to the Center for Health and the Social Sciences (CHeSS). This Core will manage all aspects of the enterprise and will conduct expanded evaluation activities. CHABLIS enjoys the strengths of a productive and influential set of senior scholars who will effectively mentor its twelve early-career faculty members.
The University of Chicago (UChicago) Center for Healthy Aging Behaviors and Longitudinal InvestigationS (CHABLIS) will promote research in the demography and economics of aging and assist junior scholars as they engage in this research domain. We draw on projects such as NSHAP and CCP to develop opportunities for scholars, both junior and senior, to collaborate on science and survey methods in a longitudinal context.
