Social capital, health and wellbeing in ageing populations in the UK and Brazil

我的博士学位是关于社会关系和活动对生活在英格兰的老年人的健康和福祉的重要性。我使用口腔健康作为老年人健康的标志，因为它是老年人健康的一个被忽视但重要的方面。博士研究了更多参与社会组织或从家人和朋友那里获得更多支持的老年人是否比参与较少或社会支持较少的老年人拥有更好的口腔健康。参与社会和社会或家庭支持被称为社会资本。调查这一问题之所以重要，是因为积极老龄化的理念-如果老年人能够更充分地参与社会，拥有更大的社会资本，他们可能会更健康地变老，随着年龄的增长，他们的健康问题也会减少。我发现，社会支持较低的老年人报告口腔健康较差。我还发现，随着人们年龄的增长，那些增加社会支持的人的幸福水平也有所提高。获得博士学位后，我现在希望将这项研究扩展到其他国家。在像巴西这样的发展中国家，老年人的社会关系往往局限于家庭内部。在英国，老年人与家庭以外的人和组织有更广泛的关系，一些研究表明，这比仅仅拥有家庭关系更有利于他们的福祉。除了比较巴西和英国老年人的社会资本和幸福感之外，我还希望研究整个成年人的社会关系，而不仅仅是老年人。我们知道社会关系会随着人们年龄的增长而变化，但我们不知道这种变化是由他们的健康和幸福状况恶化引起的，还是他们的社会关系影响了他们的幸福水平。此外，我们也知道贫穷和经济困难会影响人际关系和幸福，但我们不知道拥有良好的社会关系是否可以减少贫穷对幸福的负面影响。考虑到巴西贫富之间的巨大差距，这一点尤其重要。该奖学金的目的是建立自己作为社会资本，健康和福祉在英国和巴西的老龄化和社会经济不平等的背景下的研究领导者。我将通过在巴西老年人的一项新研究中检查这种关联来扩展我在老年人社会资本，健康和福祉方面的博士学位，并使用来自英国的新数据来研究这种关联，这些数据包括社会资本，健康和福祉的措施。我计划通过博客、当地期刊和媒体组织，与巴西领先的公共卫生组织（Fiocruz）以及巴西领先的老龄问题智库（ILC-巴西）合作，在巴西宣传主要研究成果。我将为这个智囊团撰写一份关于巴西在老龄化人口的社会资本方面面临的独特挑战的报告，并组织一个研讨会来宣传这份报告。我还将参加有关老龄问题的主要会议，向国际研究人员介绍我的研究，并与主要研究人员和老龄问题政策组织，特别是拉丁美洲中等收入国家的研究人员和政策组织开展国际合作。我将获得进一步的研究技能，特别是在巴西和英国的人口比较相关。这将成为未来高质量研究和资助申请的支柱，为英国和巴西在整个生命过程中对社会资本和老龄化的原创研究奠定基础。

My PhD was on the importance of social relationships and activities for the health and wellbeing of older adults living in England. I used oral health as a marker of the health of older adults as it is a neglected but important aspect of the wellbeing among older adults. The PhD investigated whether older people who participate more in social organisations or who get more support from family and friends have better oral health than older people who participate less or have less social support. Participation in society and social or family support is known as social capital. The reason why this is important to investigate is because of the idea of active ageing- if older people are able to participate more fully in society and have greater social capital, they may be able to age more healthily and have less problems with their health as they get older. I found that older adults with lower social support reported poorer oral health. I also found that as people got older, those who increased their social support had improved levels of wellbeing. Following the PhD, I now wish to extend this research into other countries. In developing countries like Brazil, the social relationships of older adults tend to be constrained within households and families. In the UK, older adults have more extended relationships with people and organisations outside their household, and some studies show that this is better for their wellbeing than just having family based relationships. Apart from comparing the social capital and wellbeing of older people in Brazil and the UK, I also wish to examine social relationships across the adult lifespan, not just among older adults. We know that social relationships change as people get older, but we don't know if this change is caused by a deterioration in their health and wellbeing, or if their social relationships affects their level of wellbeing. Furthermore, we also know that poverty and financial hardship affects relationships and wellbeing, but we don't know if having good social relationships can reduce some of the negative effects of being poor on wellbeing. This is especially important to investigate given the wide disparities between the rich and poor in Brazil. The aim of the fellowship is to establish myself as a research leader on social capital, health and wellbeing in the context of ageing and socio-economic inequalities in the UK and Brazil. I will extend my PhD on social capital, health and wellbeing among older adults by examining this association in a new study of older adults in Brazil, and also by looking at this association using new data from the UK with measures of social capital, health and wellbeing across the whole adult lifespan. I plan on publicising the main research findings in Brazil through blogs, local journals and media organisations, working with the leading public health organization in Brazil (Fiocruz), as well as the leading think tank on ageing in Brazil (ILC-Brazil). I will write a report for this think tank on the unique challenges Brazil faces in relation to the social capital of its ageing population and organize a workshop to publicise this report. I will also go to leading conferences on ageing, present my research to international researchers and develop international collaborations with leading researchers and policy organisations on ageing, particularly from middle-income countries in Latin America. I will gain further research skills especially relevant to comparing populations in Brazil and the UK. This will form the backbone for future high quality research and grant applications by laying the foundations for original research on social capital and ageing across the life course in the UK and Brazil.