PARC

A growing body of research is interested in the roles of health literacy in affecting health outcomes. Improving health literacy among Americans is one of the health goals specified in Health People 2010 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. However, there are some important gaps in the existing literature. Most research has primarily focused on very specific groups of people within specific health care settings using measures of health literacy that are designed only for medical setting.

With individuals living longer and the aging of the Baby Boomer cohort, the US is experiencing a demographic revolution. Given that risk of dementia increases substantially with age, this aging revolution will drastically increase the prevalence of dementia unless interventions to prevent or delay it are found. Physical activity has been identified as a potential intervention to lower the risk of dementia and/or improve/maintain cognitive function.

Genetic sequencing allows reconstructing the specific HIV transmission chains through which the virus has diffused and evolved within a population. From the perspective of social science AIDS research, this represents a unique opportunity: such techniques (i) provide objective measurements of the (sexual) connections between members of a population, and (ii) allow new measurements of the HIV-1 diffusion process—the actual transmission of HIV and the diversification of the virus during transmission in sexual networks—whose determinants have largely been understudied.

The AIDS epidemic has significantly curtailed the lifespan in a number of developing countries, particularly on the African continent. The purpose of this pilot project is to study behavioral responses to the AIDS epidemic using recently collected data from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (MDICP).

The Toba represent one of the many indigenous groups inhabiting the Gran Chaco of South America. They currently live in communities with different degrees of acculturation.  We present here a preliminary data on fecundity and mortality estimates for a rural Toba population located in the province of Formosa, Argentina.  Reproductive histories (n = 435) were obtained from villagers 12 years old and older.

The main goal of this project is to evaluate the effect of Chile’s pension system rules and regulations on individuals’ contribution patterns. The few empirical studies on the Chilean Pension System have been limited to the use of aggregate and macro data. This project’s contribution is to analyze pension contribution patterns under the Chilean AFP system using micro data and state-of-the-art modeling methods.

In Malawi, researchers studying AIDS have difficulty locating papers and reports that describe previous research. As a result, most research projects begin anew. We thus propose to build on the wide range of contacts that we have developed over nearly a decade of research in Malawi to create the Malawi AIDS Research Database (MARD) to be housed at the College of Medicine (COM) at the University of Malawi.

Obesity is a major cause of premature aging and the second leading cause of preventable mortality in the United States, accounting for approximately 110,000 deaths per year. Financial incentives have been effective in modifying a number of health behaviors but they have not been applied to weight loss by low- SES obese veterans.

This population-based study in primary care settings will evaluate the effect of attitudinal, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control/structural factors on achieving sustained blood pressure (BP) control in hypertensive elderly patients aged >=70. We will also examine the impact of functional status/comorbidities as barriers to BP control.

This research investigates mortality differentials in Eastern Europe, a region known for its excessively high adult mortality. It employs a unique longitudinal data set covering the entire population of Bulgaria from the census of 1992 until 1998. It focuses on differences in mortality between Muslims, a large and disadvantaged minority group, and non-Muslims. Virtually nothing is known about the health conditions of Muslims in Europe.