Mortality, Ageing & Health

The ANU School of Demography conducts research in the three inter-related issues of mortality, ageing and health. Research on mortality and health focuses on several key determinants, including smoking, excess body weight, air pollution and socio-economic factors; on demographic interrelations such as migration and mortality; and on mortality at the oldest ages. As a result of past and recent successes in reducing mortality, longevity continues to increase, presenting many challenges at the individual, family and society levels. A particular focus of the School is the role of social networks in meeting these challenges; a further focus is the older worker. At the population level, research addresses structural population ageing and its implications for society and intergenerational equity. These and other issues are addressed through the School's extensive expertise in modelling population futures through population forecasts and projections, and dynamic microsimulation modelling.

Researchers and Research Areas of Expertise

Dr Brian Houle: Mortality; Epidemiology; Demography; Applied Statistics; Population Heath and Disparities

Dr Collin Payne: Global Health; Life-course approaches to ageing; Inequality

Assoc Prof Vladimir Canudas Romo: Demography; Mortality

Prof Heather Booth: Mortality; Stochastic Analysis and Modelling; Population Trends and Policies; Social Change; Family and Household Studies; Pacific Peoples Health

Assoc Prof (Adjunct) Gordon Carmichael: Fertility; Health Care Administration; Family and Household Studies; Health and Community Services; Population Trends and Policies; Health Policy; Mortality; Culture, Gender, Sexuality; Public Health and Health Services; Demography

Dr Barbara Edgar (Adjunct): Migration; Population Ageing and Health

Assoc Prof (Adjunct) Adrian Hayes: Population, climate change and sustainable development; Population, environment and development; Family planning, population health, governance and social welfare; Action, institutional change and methodology; Program evaluation; Southeast Asia

Emeritus Prof Terence Hull: Demography; Reproduction; Fertility; Population Trends and Policies; Family and Household Studies; Public Health and Health Services; Health Policy; Culture, Gender, Sexuality

Assoc Prof (Adjunct) Sophie Pennec: Ageing and eldery; Projection of professional population; End-of-life; Microsimulation models applied to population studies

Dr Iwu Dwisetyani Utomo: Demography; Ageing; Life Cycle of Young People; Reproductive Health; Gender Empowerment; Studies of Asian Society; Culture, Social Change and Health

Prof Zhongwei Zhao: Demography; Mortality; Fertility; Family and Household Studies; Population Trends and Policies

Current Projects

Advanced Research on Healthy Longevity in Australia and the Asia-Pacific : This project will analyse long-term data to explore trends in the health of successive generations of older Australians, providing improved information for planning future demand for health services, the age pension, and aged care. By identifying inequalities in later-life health and the drivers of healthy longevity, this project addresses a pressing issue facing Australia and other ageing populations.

Australian Human Mortality Database: Created to provide detailed Australian mortality and population data to researchers, students, journalists, policy analysts, and others interested in the history of human longevity, the AHMD gathers all required data (deaths counts, births counts, population size, exposure-to-risk, death rates) to compute life tables for Australia, its states and its territories.

Health, well-being and longevity of older adults in low and middle-income countries: With funding provided by the ANU Futures Scheme, this project focusses on developing a new evidence-base on ageing in low- and middle-income (LMI) countries by utilising emerging nationally-representative longitudinal data sources.

HIV after 40 in Rural South Africa: Aging in the Context of HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Funding provided by the (U.S.) National Institutes of Health (NIH). This project seeks to examine life course variation in HIV vulnerability.

Life expectancy among disease-diagnosed: By analysing national linkage data, we will identify gaps in longevity between Australians diagnosed with diseases and the general population. The outcomes of this project will inform people with disorders, healthcare providers and decision-makers regarding exact life expectancies and, thereby, generate information on diseases, which ought to be addressed more comprehensively.

Mapping the prevalence of smoking with increased precision in sparsely sampled regions of Australia: After a review of the state of the art of small area estimation, we will build a multilevel statistical model for the estimation of smoking prevalence in small areas across the whole of Australia. This will lead to mapping the prevalence of smoking with increased precision in sparsely sampled regions of Australia. A third part of the project will evaluate the impacts of interventions implemented at the small-area level (rather than a State or national) level on smoking prevalence over time.

Meeting the Needs of Older Persons in Indonesia: Funding provided by the Australian Research Council and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research.The project examines the needs of older people in rural Indonesia for income, housing, health care, assistance with daily tasks and social interaction. It measures their needs, the extent to which their needs are met and how the needs are met. It also considers the efficacy of existing policy programs and how policy might be improved.