Not just living longer: Identifying inequalities in healthy and working life expectancies in an ageing Australia

Abstract:
Many social norms and structures have not kept pace with rising life expectancies. Current social policy and public discourse strongly encourages older adults to remain in the workforce. While there are health benefits associated with employment and productive ageing, poor health may also limit labour-force participation, particularly in low skill and labour intensive occupations. In addition, there is a need to understand whether greater longevity is accompanied by reductions or increases late-life disability. In this seminar I will introduce a program of research investigating variation in sensory impairement life expectancies, cognitive impairment life expectancies, and  healthy-working life expectancies in an ageing Australia. I will outline plans to extend this research to examine inequalities in healthy longevity using other markers of social position and disadvantage, and include multi-dimensional measures of productivity, health, and hardship.

Bio:
Dr Kim Kiely is a postdoctoral research fellow within the Centre for Research on Ageing Health and Wellbeing (CRAHW), at the ANU. With a background in psychology and epidemiology, Kim adopts a contextualised life-course approach to the study of human ageing. His main research interests encompass psychiatric epidemiology, social determinants of healthy longevity, and 'active' ageing. He currently holds a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship and has previously held fellowships from the Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation. Key contributions have been to examine social, functional and cognitive impacts of sensory loss in late life, and evaluation of how hardship, poverty, and social disadvantage are linked to wellbeing and healthy ageing.

 

Date & time

Fri 11 Aug 2017, 3:00pm to 4:00pm

Location

Jean Martin Room, Level 3. Beryl Rawson Building (Building 13) ANU

Speakers

Kim Kiely

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