China & India Conferences for Harmonization of Aging Surveys

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A great deal of harmonization efforts has occurred among the aging data sets that are centered on the Health and Retirement Study (HRS); however, cross-national comparative studies that examine the impacts of institutions and policies on health and retirement are still small in numbers. To foster international collaboration on aging and, in particular to take advantage on the harmonized HRS-type surveys around the world, we propose to organize two scientific meetings under the themes, "Aging, Health System, and Health Outcomes" and, "Aging, Pension System, and Retirement Outcomes," that build upon the successful first meeting on the, "Harmonization of Aging Surveys and Cross-National Studies on Aging." Core activities of the proposed meetings are: (1) PI/co-PIs of each aging survey will provide updates on recent progress of their respective surveys and discuss any scientific innovations that they have brought into their surveys to offer recommendations for other surveys; (2) Following discussion on harmonizing the core baseline surveys, we will continue discussions on designing the follow-up waves, including the survey for the deceased; (3) Scientific papers that analyze one or more of the harmonized aging surveys, with a particular emphasis on the new HRS-type surveys in Asia, will be presented under the conference theme; (4) PI/co-PIs of each aging survey will present key contextual knowledge about health care and pension systems and discuss how their survey captures such institutional characteristics; (5) Key research topics for cross-national studies will be identified, and research collaboration among the conference attendees will be encouraged. We propose to hold: (1) the aging, health system, and health outcomes meeting in Mumbai, India on Feb 11-13, 2009, in conjunction with the International Advisory Meeting for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI) on Feb 9-10, 2009 in the same location; and (2) the aging, pension system, and retirement meeting in Beijing, China on June 9-11, 2010. The location and timing of the meetings are chosen for both scientific and pragmatic reasons. India and China are two countries wherein HRS-type studies are currently being developed. Therefore, by choosing India and China as conference venues, scientific gains will be maximized. Pragmatically, by jointly planning the meeting with LASI, we create cost efficiencies for the meeting. The benefits of this meeting will extend beyond those that occur for the attendees of the meeting, reaching the entire research community. In particular, with the dissemination of the proceedings, the entire scientific community will be apprised of the comparability of follow-up interviews of the aging surveys, key contextual information about health and pension systems will be provided, exemplary scientific studies on health and retirement using harmonized aging surveys will be offered, and key research topics for cross- national studies will occur. This information will be also incorporated into the resource library that is currently under development (R01 AG030153-01). The National Institute on Aging (NIA) Behavioral and Social Research Program (BSR) has identified the development of international networks in population aging as one of the major areas of emphasis in extramural funding and solicits applications for such development activities. Cross-national, comparative studies enable investigation of the impacts of institutions and policies on health outcomes, which would otherwise be difficult to examine. However, empirical studies that exploit cross-national differences to understand policy effects are still small in numbers. The proposed meetings will facilitate cross-national, comparative studies on aging by bringing together international data producers and users of aging surveys and showcasing scientific papers under the themes of health and retirement, as well as communicating key contextual information on health and pension systems.