Woods, Professor RT
Bangor University
United Kingdom
Maintaining function and well-being in later life: A longitudinal cohort study
ESRC
4,215,060
01/07/2010
6.5
Neurodegenerative disease in general
The demography, experiences, expectations and perspectives of older people have changed greatly. Building on a previous survey undertaken in rural North Wales, this study will evaluate change in older people’s social networks over 15 years and examine whether cognitive decline at a given age has reduced alongside improvements in health, exercise and activity.
2500 people aged 65 and over will be interviewed twice, two years apart, so differences in rates of change over time can be compared between cohorts born 15 years apart. This will be augmented with a new cohort from urban South Wales, with the combined sample of 5000 being used to study the relationships of resilience, coping and well-being to changes in cognition. Potential preventative factors for the development of cognitive impairment, such as having a higher level of education, remaining active, physically and mentally, having a more active social life, nutritional status and being bilingual will be examined.
The core of the data will be shared with the on-going MRC funded CFAS II study, using similar procedures in 3 sites in England – giving a combined sample of 12,500 older people for providing estimates of health and of levels of cognitive impairment and mood.