[in English only]
Successful ageing and socioeconomic adversity – Results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA)
Dr. Martijn Huisman, Dept of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, VUmc & Dept of Sociology, VU
19th November 2015, 16:30-17:30 (Gadourek lecture room (126-Bouwman), Grote Rozenstraat 31, Groningen)
There is tremendous diversity in physical, emotional, cognitive and social aspects of functioning in old age. Most people are able to envisage ways of becoming old that they would believe to be ‘preferable’ as well as ways of becoming old that may be less preferable. Capturing this intuitive understanding of diversity in old age has been the goal of theories of successful ageing (or healthy ageing). However, measuring successful ageing is not straightforward and the concept remains a constant source of unresolved questions and conceptual debate. In this presentation I will highlight the approach that we took to measuring it in data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). Besides this, I will show to what extent successful ageing is associated with socioeconomic adversity and related factors such as exposure to stressful life events.