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The older adult population is growing rapidly in the United States. By 2060, nearly 1 in 4 Americans will be 65 or older. This is an important trend because older adults in the United States face unique challenges related to the aging process, including high rates of poverty, health challenges, and social isolation.
Read MoreIn June 2017, the Minneapolis City Council voted to increase the city’s minimum wage above the state level to $15 an hour. The wage increase was rolled out incrementally each year, and full implementation was set for July 1st, 2022 for large businesses (those with greater than 100 employees) and July 1st, 2024 for small businesses (those with less than 100 employees). This minimum wage policy presented an opportunity for a multisite team of health researchers to take a unique angle on a minimum wage evaluation: What effect might the wage increase have on health outcomes? Could these be measured by following low-wage workers in real-time?
Read MoreStress is often viewed as something unhealthy, dangerous, and “must be avoided” because of the heavy toll it has been found to play on individuals’ lives. Still, stress can also be adaptive for individuals because it has the capacity to foster learning and growth.
Read MoreIt’s well-known that stress causes and/or exacerbates many diseases, particularly common problems like cardiovascular disease, asthma, and depression. In the context of a growing and aging population and high health care costs, prevention of these diseases is a necessity. The central thesis of this blog is that we can enhance public health and happiness and simultaneously reduce health care expenditures by attenuating stress on a population scale through kindness and social connection.
Read MoreIntensive care unit nurses (and other frontline healthcare workers) have experienced unprecedented psychological stress caring for COVID-19 patients during the pandemic. Constant psychological stress can lead to mental exhaustion, burnout, and with traumatic events, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Read MoreRecent data estimate that nearly 88 million immigrants and their U.S.-born children account for approximately 27% of the total U.S. population. Identifying the key factors that impact the health and wellbeing of newly arrived children is a complex challenge, even for the most seasoned school professional.
Read More“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This opening sentence of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is not just intriguing, but speaks to the many conditions and experiences that can influence how we live our lives. It likewise reflects the findings of research that focuses on factors that affect vulnerability or resilience to the effects of stressful experiences and the consequences on physical and mental health.
Read MoreIndividuals may have positive and negative beliefs about their own aging. Despite the growing interest in researching beliefs about aging, relatively little attention has been paid to perceived stress in this area.
Read MoreResilience—the ability to adapt to adversity—has been a topic of conversation in both research and popular press for decades. This broad area of focus has led to explorations of resilience to different forms of adversity, including natural disasters, combat exposure, death of a loved one, divorce, and professional failures. In many cases, resilience has been considered in relation to a single event, or stressor.
Read MoreAs we move into the second year of a pandemic, with its associated limitations and influences on our work and personal lives, it seems important to continue talking about the process of self-care. This is especially relevant to those professionals (most of us!) who live with deadlines and requirements separate from our social isolation, our telecommuting, and our drastically different lifestyles.
Read MorePosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental disorder with limited treatment options. Historically, PTSD was associated with combat exposure and hence named “shell shock” in WWI and “combat stress reaction” in WWII. However, we came to realize that following severe trauma, both civilians and military personnel can develop PTSD.
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