Center for Social Data Analytics Lecture

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The Center for Social Data Analytics will be hosting Shawn Bauldry, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and affiliate of the Center on Aging at the Life Course at Purdue University.  His talk will be held on Friday, November 3 at 12:15 p.m., in B001 Sparks (the databasement). His talk is titled: "Education Inequalities in Combined Physical and Cognitive Functioning". 

Abstract: This work develops a new concept, dual functionality, that represents a combination of maintaining physical and cognitive functioning. A loss of function in either domain may compromise the ability to live independently and require additional social and economic resources. Drawing on data from the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files and the Health and Retirement Study, this research estimates the prevalence of dual functionality across later stages of the life course and dual-function life expectancy for older adults with different levels of education across gender and racial-ethnic groups. Results reveal substantial education-based inequalities in the prevalence of dual functionality and dual-function life expectancies that are greater for women than men and vary across racial-ethnic groups. These findings hold significant implications for quality of life and differential burdens in caregiving and broader health care needs.

Bio: Shawn Bauldry is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and affiliate of the Center on Aging at the Life Course at Purdue University. His research focuses on the relationships between socioeconomic resources and health over the life course and across generations. In addition, he works on the development of structural equation models and other statistical models used in social science research.