The publications below were produced through research projects in the RAND Center for the Study of Aging.
Financial planning requires information about how spending needs evolve with age. Spending declines after age 65, also among wealthy households, suggesting that the decline is due to changes in the desire to spend, not tightening economic circumstances.
Barriers to HCBS access for persons with dementia range from community and infrastructure barriers (e.g., clinicians and cultural differences), to interpersonal and individual-level barriers (e.g., caregivers, awareness, and attitudes).
The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a longitudinal household survey that facilitates research into different aspects of population aging in the United States. The RAND HRS Longitudinal File is a cleaned, easy-to-use, and streamlined data product containing information from the HRS, including variables on demographics, health and insurance, Social Security, pensions, family structure, retirement plans, expectations, and employment history.
Our findings suggest that a basic workflow process—communication among HCWs—is limited in many home care settings. Simple technologies could be developed to support HCWs to navigate the challenges of providing care to clients in their homes.
This chapter synthesizes findings from existing research on the behavioral health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we consider differences across the life course and the relative resilience of older adults.
This study suggests that there are different types of care and support networks available to caregivers to people with Alzheimer's Disease and Dementias, and that the size and structure of networks vary considerably among demographic groups.
Effective financial planning for retirement requires information about the spending needs of older households, how those needs evolve with age, and their variation by economic resources. This report finds that spending, adjusted for inflation, declines from age 65 through the retirement years. Spending declines not just among those with low wealth but even among households in the upper fourth of the wealth distribution.
Saving regret, or the wish in hindsight to have saved more earlier in life, is widespread in older populations. Little of the variation is explained by procrastination and psychological factors. Unemployment, health, and divorce are larger factors.
The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine and compare telehealth experiences among outpatient palliative care programs and their patients in the United States.
The goal of this mixed-methods study was to examine differences in patient experiences by race/ethnicity in palliative care and to qualitatively explore minoritized patient experiences with care for a serious illness.
As part of a national effort to develop palliative care quality metrics for use in accountability programs, we sought to develop survey items assessing patients' experiences of outpatient palliative care, incorporating the patient's voice.
A lack of knowledge about HCBS is a barrier to access, and exposure to HCBS users is one source of knowledge. There are no contemporary estimates of exposure in the U.S. population. Overall, service exposure was more home- than community-based.
This paper examines the transition from full-time work to fully retired among dual earning couples, which we call joint retirement trajectories. We analyze 12 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to map out the distribution of potential pathways that couples undertake when retiring.
The present study tested a gateway version of a depression screening protocol (PHQ-2 to 9). Findings suggest the feasibility of a gateway scoring approach to standardized assessment of depression symptoms among PAC patients.
This issue brief describes challenges and opportunities related to measuring, reporting, and monitoring the quality of HCBS sponsored by Medi-Cal.
The purpose of this study was to characterize decedent wishes for care at the end of life and to examine next of kin narratives of their loved ones' perceptions of whether wishes were honored.
Since 2009, most states have increased the size of their home care workforces and decreased the size of their nursing home workforces, but there is substantial variation across states. More targeted efforts may be needed to ensure that people with disabling conditions can have their needs met in their desired setting across the nation.
We provide the first evidence on associations between individual characteristics and the propensity to experience an involuntary care disruption resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
New technologies for mobility could improve access for older Americans or pass them by. Research and action are needed to promote benefits for older and other Americans.
This paper examines how financial literacy is associated with three types of financial decisions pertinent to older individuals: adherence to timely credit card repayment, stock market participation, and risk diversification of household assets.
We provide new evidence on causal factors behind geographic variation in health care utilization by examining changes in health care use for the near-elderly as they transition from being uninsured into Medicare.
This study fielded a survey in RAND's American Life Panel, coinciding with the partial reintroduction of the Social Security Statement. The findings indicate that regular mailings can play a role in shaping workers' retirement plans.
We extend the Grossman (1972) model of the demand for health and use it to analyze the effect of education on health at different ages.
Community-level foreclosures are associated with a faster decline in individual cognition at older ages, with implications for the cognitive health of older adults.
Examines the age profile of life satisfaction of the U.S. population age 65 and older in the Health and Retirement Study to corroborate the view of increasing life satisfaction at older ages based on cross-sectional data.
