Activity Space, Social Interaction and Health Trajectories in Later Life

 描述（由申请人提供）：本研究计划的一个中心目标是描述老年人度过时间的社会和空间环境。我们专注于这种活动空间影响健康轨迹的程度。我们的理论认为，人与环境的关系，包括家庭，邻里和网络环境的组成部分，是相互关联和相互构成的。我们的目标是1）描述老年人居住的活动空间，2）探索活动空间以及与之相关的网络，家庭和社区暴露对短期和临床前健康变化的影响程度。我们将从600名65岁及以上的芝加哥人中收集主要的多波数据。我们将报告的网络连通性和活动跟踪整个物理空间使用GPS方法。通过为受访者配备智能手机，我们能够收集有关纬度、经度和旅行距离的实时数据。我们使用生态瞬时评估（EMA）方法来获得受访者的社会环境，健康状况，健康行为和幸福感的报告。面对面访谈将获得自我报告和客观的健康指数，包括体重指数和唾液测量，以评估慢性压力暴露。这项研究的一个特别创新的特点是能够捕捉到慢性疾病发作的潜在指标--慢性病症状的变化。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A central goal of this research program is to describe the social and spatial environments in which older adults spend their time. We focus on the extent to which this activity space influences health trajectories. We theorize that the components of the person-environment relationship, including household, neighborhood, and network contexts, are interrelated and mutually constituted. We aim to 1) describe the activity space that older adults inhabit, and 2) explore the extent to which activity space, and the network, household, and neighborhood exposures related to it, affect short-term and pre-clinical changes in health. We will collect primary, multi-wave data from 600 Chicagoans aged 65 and older. We incorporate reports of network connectedness and activity tracking across physical space using GPS methodology. By equipping respondents with smart phones, we are able to collect real-time data on latitude, longitude and distance traveled. We use ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methodology to obtain respondents' reports of their social settings, health status, health behaviors, and well- being. In-person interviews will obtain self-reported and objective indices of health, including body mass index and a salivary measure to assess chronic stress exposure. A particularly innovative feature of this study is the ability to capture changes n quotidian symptoms, potentially indicative of chronic disease onset.