Policy tools / Simulation models

Goldman DP. The Future Elderly Model.
A microsimulation model that tracks elderly Medicare beneficiaries over time to project their health, functional status, and health care expenses over their remaining lifetime.

Wu S. The Falls Surveillance and Prevention Planning Tool.
A decision-support tool for policy makers and community planning groups to (1) map and track fall data with geo-coded sociodemographic information; (2) perform spatial analysis to identify needs and gaps in falls prevention, and (3) perform cost-effectiveness analysis to compare programs and intervention for best allocation of resources to prevent falls.

Lakdawalla D. Geographic Database of Food Prices in the US, 1989-2000.
A database contains the average prices paid for 12 major food items by standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSA). This allows users to construct relative prices for different kinds of food — e.g., meats, fruits and vegetables, and "junk" food.

Grants

Goldman, D.P. & Lakdawalla, D.N. Obesity among Older Americans. Funded by the National Institute on Again: R01 AG025743.

Castle, N.G. & Engberg, J. Staffing Characteristics of Nursing Homes and Quality. Funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: R01 HS016808-01.

Wu, S. Cost-Effectiveness in Physical Activity Promotion. Funded by the National Cancer Institute: 1 R21 CA122664-01A1.

Publications

Lakdawalla, Darius, Dana Goldman, and Baoping Shang, “The Health and Cost Consequences of Obesity among the Elderly,” forthcoming, Health Affairs.

Goldman, Dana, and Darius Lakdawalla. “Retirement and Weight.” Working Paper, RAND Corporation. Presented at 2006 American Society for Health Economists Annual Meeting, Madison, WI, June 2006.

Castle, N.G.; Engberg, J. The influence of staffing factors on quality of care in nursing homes. Health Services Research, 2007. (in print).

Ganz DA, Alkema GE, Wu S. It Takes a Village to Prevent Falls: Reconceptualizing Fall Prevention and Management for Older Adults, Injury Prevention, 14, 2008: 266-271.

Castle, N.G.; Engberg, J. The influence of staffing factors on quality of care in nursing homes. Health Services Research, October 2007.

Joyce GF, Goldman DP, Karaca-Mandic P, Zheng Y. “Pharmacy Benefit Caps and the Chronically Ill”, Health Affairs, 26(5), 2007: p.1333–1344

Presentations

Joyce GF. The Lifetime Burden of Chronic Disease among the Elderly. UCLA School of Public Health, May 2005.

Joyce GF. The Lifetime Burden of Chronic Disease among the Elderly. UCLA/VA Geriatric Lecture Series, UCLA School of Medicine, December 2004. Wu S. Enhancing Falls Surveillance and Community Planning Activities with a Geographic information System based Tool. Fall Prevention Center of Excellence Advisory Committee Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, October 20-21, 2005

Wu S. Is An Infrastructure in Place to Support Fall Prevention in California? 58th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Orlando, FL, November 18-22, 2005.

Wu S. Tools for Efficient Allocation of Fall-Prevention Resources. Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University, March 2006.

Wu S. A Look at the Future. California Senior Injury Prevention Conference. Organized by Alameda County Public Health, Center for Injury Prevention, and Senior Injury Prevention Partnership, Orange County, CA, May 2006.

Wu S. Tools for Efficient Allocation of Fall-Prevention Resources. Gerontological Society of American Annual Meeting, Dallas, TX, November 16 to 20, 2006.

F. Girosi, D. Goldman, Y. Zheng: Projections of Health Status and Utilization for Older Americans. Invited talk at the 1st meeting of the IOM Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans. Washington, DC, March 27th 2007.

Ganz DA, Wu S. Reducing the Risk of Falls and Fall-related Injuries among Older People. Invited talk at the Workshop on the Social Determinants of Adult Health and Mortality, organized by the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council. Washington, DC, May 22, 2007.

Maesetas N. Price Variation in Markets with Homogeneous Goods: The Case of Medigap. The 22nd Meeting of the European Economic Association, August 2007.

Wu S. Fall Prevention among Older People: Practice and Policy. Quality of Care Workshop, Tainan Union of Nurses Association & Tainan Hospital, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Tainan, Taiwan, December 2007.