Title: Conducting research on the health and living conditions of the elderly populations in the emerging e
1Conducting research on the health and living
conditions of the elderly populations in the
emerging economies of Latin America and the
Caribbean
- Maria Victoria Zunzunegui
- Professeur titulaire, Université de Montréal
- Axe Santé Mondiale
- Centre de recherche de CHUM
2Outline
- Background on
- two research experiences funded by the
Interamerican Development Bank - one research project funded by the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research - Brief summary of research results
- Evaluation of impact of research on health and
social policy ? - Knowledge transfer ?
- Sustainable global health partnerships ?
3Background on Latin America and Caribbean aging
- Life expectancies are high (often over 70 or 75)
- Aging in poverty and social/economic crisis
- Little social protection, important family roles
- Lifecourse trajectories
- early infection and prevalent chronic
malnutrition in childhood, - little education and unstable manual informal
work in adulthood, - few and insufficient pensions in old age.
4Bahamas
Jamaica
Cuba
Mexico
Barbados
Trinidad Tobago,
Surinam and Guyana
Brasil
Uruguay
Chile
Argentina
The countries and cities where we have conducted
research projects
5ESTUDIO DEL ADULTO MAYOR EN ARGENTINA, CHILE Y
URUGUAY SITUACIÓN Y ESTRATEGIAS (2000-2002)
- Federación Internacional de la Vejez Oficina
Regional para América Latina y El Caribe - Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública
- Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los
Alimentos. Universidad de Chile - Centro de Estudios de Población. Argentina.
- Ministerio de Salud Pública del Uruguay
- Fundación ISALUD de Argentina
- Instituto Nacional de Geriatría de Chile
- Centro de Investigaciones Económicas de Uruguay
- Instituto Español de Comercio Exterior
- Organización Panamericana de la Salud/OPS/PAHO
6Caribbean Health Research Council University of
West Indies, Mona Campus Université de
Montréal Sponsored by the Interamerican
Development Bank Research team MV
Zunzunegui BE Alvarado-Llano P Cloos D
Eldemire-Shearer D Simeon
CARIBBEAN AGING STUDY 2006-2008
7CIHR Institute of Gender and Health 2004-2007
Health differences in later life A study of
gender and social exclusion as determinants of
health and functioning in the urban elderly
populations of Latin America and the Caribbean
8Research results
9Research productsESTUDIO DEL ADULTO MAYOR EN
ARGENTINA, CHILE Y URUGUAYSITUACIÓN Y
ESTRATEGIAS (2000-2002)
- Book Mas vale por viejo , Interamerican
Development Bank, 2002 - Country reports
- Three regional seminars in 2000 in Buenos Aires,
Santiago and Montevideo - Workshop in Washington on Aging in Latin America
and the Caribbean, 2002
10Research productsCaribbean Aging Study
- Country reports for
- Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, and
Trinidad and Tobago - Regional seminar in Port of Spain, Trinidad
- Final report to funding agency (IADB)
- Research paper in revision on Ageing and Society
11 Research products Health differences in
later life A study of gender and social
exclusion as determinants of health and
functioning in the urban elderly populations of
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Scientific articles
- Journal Aging and Health (2)
- Journals of Gerontology (2)
- Aging and Mental Health (1)
- Aging (1)
- Social Science and Medicine (1)
- Preventive Medicine (1)
- Presentation in Congress (10)
12Evaluation of impact of research on health and
social policy ?
- What is the impact of our research?
- No structured evaluation of research impact
- Need to carry out qualitative and quantitative
analyses of these efforts - EX Brazil has taken important steps to face
population aging- Impact of many kinds of
research or political opportunity? Effect Lula - Chile has the worst health outcomes in the
amidst of privatisation of health care and
pensions. - ECLAC/CELADE papers on the need for social
protection as a human right issue - Recognition by World Bank of errors in structural
adjustment policies
13Knowledge transfer ?
- Publications Enter Gender Health Aging (only
one article can be retrieved from PubMed) - Courses
- Example Course on social Gerontology, Manizales
(Colombia), May 2009 - Research Training
- Pilot project on stress biomarkers development
of measurement instruments (March 2009) - Research exchange
- Short stays Failure, lack of understanding,
research as a luxury, need to make a living among
practitioners - Sabbatical periods (one-to one basis)
14PUBMED Aging Latin America (2 out of 8
retrieved on May 4 2009)
- 1 Alvarado BE, Zunzunegui MV, Béland F, Bamvita
JM. Life course social and health conditions
linked to frailty in Latin American older men and
women. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2008
Dec63(12)1399-406. PubMed PMID 19126855. - 2 Zunzunegui MV, Alvarado BE, Béland F,
Vissandjee B. Explaining health differences
between men and women in later life a cross-city
comparison in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Soc Sci Med. 2009 Jan68(2)235-42. Epub 2008 Nov
25. PubMed PMID 19036488. - 3 Couture MC, Nguyen CT, Alvarado BE, Velasquez
LD, Zunzunegui MV. Inequalities in breast and
cervical cancer screening among urban Mexican
women. Prev Med. 2008 Nov47(5)471-6. Epub 2008
Jul 15. PubMed PMID 18675296. - 4 Sicotte M, Alvarado BE, León EM, Zunzunegui
MV. Social networks and depressive symptoms among
elderly women and men in Havana, Cuba. Aging Ment
Health. 2008 Mar12(2)193-201. PubMed PMID
18389399. - 5 Nguyen CT, Couture MC, Alvarado BE, Zunzunegui
MV. Life course socioeconomic disadvantage and
cognitive function among the elderly population
of seven capitals in Latin America and the
Caribbean. J Aging Health. 2008 - Apr20(3)347-62. PubMed PMID 18332188.
- 6 Guerra RO, Alvarado BE, Zunzunegui MV. Life
course, gender and ethnic inequalities in
functional disability in a Brazilian urban
elderly population. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2008
Feb20(1)53-61. PubMed PMID 18283229. - 7 Alvarado BE, Guerra RO, Zunzunegui MV. Gender
differences in lower extremity function in Latin
American elders seeking explanations from a
life-course perspective. J Aging Health. 2007
Dec19(6)1004-24. PubMed PMID 18165293. - 8 Alvarado BE, Zunzunegui MV, Béland F, Sicotte
M, Tellechea L. Social and gender inequalities in
depressive symptoms among urban older adults of
latin america and the Caribbean. J Gerontol B
Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2007 Jul62(4)S226-36.
PubMed PMID 17673536.
15Sustainable global health partnerships?
- Limited sucess in the above projects
- Change of leadership in International Development
Bank - Some contatcs remain, mainly personal contacts,
in most places Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico,
Uruguay, Trinidad and Jamaica. - How to go from individual exchange to long term
partnerships?- MONEY and INSTITUTIONAL AGREEMENTS
16Questions
- How to establish long term confidence
relationships? - Recognize the long term nature of enterprises
- Patience
- Seize opportunities when available
- Sincere collaboration among researchers of the
wealthy countries instead of fierce competition
for scarce resources - Are these suggestions possible?