Excerpt

The Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life was established in 2001 under the auspices of the Committee on Population of the National Research Council (NRC). The panel’s task was to inform the National Institute on Aging about recent research findings on racial and ethnic disparities in later life and to help in developing a future research agenda for reducing them. This project was a follow-up to a 1994 Committee on Population workshop, which resulted in a volume of papers published by the National Academy Press, Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Health of Older Americans.

The panel was asked, first to organize a 2-day workshop bringing together leading researchers from a variety of disciplines and professional orientations to summarize current research and to identify research priorities. That workshop was held in March 2002 in Washington, DC. The panel was also asked to produce a summary of the state of knowledge, based on the workshop, and to provide recommendations for further work. The initial plan called for the papers and the panel report to be published in a single volume, but ultimately it was decided to publish the papers and the panel report separately. This volume is the panel’s final report. The workshop papers are available in a companion volume, Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life.

Contents

• The National Academies
• Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life
• Committee on Population
• Preface
• Executive Summary
  • FINDINGS
  • RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND NEEDS
• 1. The Nature of Racial and Ethnic Differences
  • RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS
  • DIFFERENCES IN MORTALITY AND HEALTH IN LATE LIFE
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
  • WHY HEALTH DIFFERENCES MATTER
• 2. Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences
  • MAJOR FACTORS
  • NATURE OF THE EVIDENCE
  • SELECTION PROCESSES
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 3. Genetic Influences
  • RACE IN GENETIC PERSPECTIVE
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 4. Socioeconomic Status
  • THE HEALTH GRADIENT AND RECIPROCAL CAUSATION
  • STATUS, RACE, AND ETHNICITY
  • MECHANISMS
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 5. Behavior Risk Factors
  • BEHAVIORAL VARIATION
  • REASONS FOR VARIATION
  • EFFECTS OF VARIATION AND TRENDS
  • OTHER BEHAVIORS
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 6. Social and Personal Resources
  • SOCIAL RESOURCES
  • PERSONAL RESOURCES
  • RACIAL AND ETHNIC VARIATION
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 7. Prejudice and Discrimination
  • CORRELATIONAL STUDIES
  • EXPERIMENTAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 8. Stress
  • STRESS AND HEALTH
  • RACE, ETHNICITY, AND STRESS
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 9. Biopsychosocial Interactions
  • PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIVITY
  • ALLOSTATIC LOAD
  • PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY
  • THE METABOLIC SYNDROME AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS
  • NEUROVISCERAL INTEGRATION
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 10. Health Care
  • INSURANCE COVERAGE
  • QUALITY OF CARE
  • GEOGRAPHIC AND INSTITUTIONAL VARIATION
  • STEREOTYPING BY PROVIDERS
  • PATIENT BEHAVIOR
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 11. The Life Course
  • EARLY HEALTH DISADVANTAGE
  • PATHWAYS TO DISADVANTAGE
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• 12. Interventions
  • CHANGING INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
  • SOCIAL POLICY
  • NEEDED RESEARCH
• References
• Appendix Contents, Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life
• Biographical Sketches

This study was supported by Contract No. N01-OD-4-2139, TO #71 between the National Academies and the National Institute of Aging and by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Suggested citation:

National Research Council. (2004). Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life: A Research Agenda. Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life. Roldolfo A. Bulatao and Norman B. Anderson, editors. Committee on Population, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.