How where you live shapes midlife disability and thinking skills for low- and high-income adults
Official title: Implications of residential location in midlife disability and cognitive functioning among the poor vs. rich: within the US and cross-country comparisons
Funded at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor · NIH-11473589 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project compares how where people live affects disability and thinking skills in middle-aged adults in the US and other high-income countries.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project start | December 15, 2022 |
| Project end | November 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $51,557 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AG080491-04S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11473589 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults aged 21 and older, especially middle-aged people concerned about disability or cognitive changes or able to share detailed residential histories or health survey data, are the best fit.
✕Less likely to help
People seeking direct clinical treatment, children, or anyone without available residential or health records are unlikely to receive personal medical benefit from this research.
What this research studies
You will see how researchers compare people with similar personal backgrounds who live in different neighborhoods, counties, and states to find which local features (like services, built environment, and policies) relate to disability and cognitive functioning in midlife. They use residential histories across the life course to measure how long and when people were exposed to different places. The team applies quasi-experimental, multi-level analyses to separate place-level effects from individual circumstances. They also compare US patterns with other high-income countries to understand why working-age adults in the US are falling behind.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to neighborhood, county, or policy changes that reduce midlife disability and cognitive decline and guide local and state actions to improve health.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have linked neighborhood and policy environments to health, but combining life-course residential histories with multi-level quasi-experimental and cross-country comparisons is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Choi, Hwajung — University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
- Study coordinator: Choi, Hwajung
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.