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Chapter 2 - Social Network Positions and Health Status in Older Adults

from Part I - Approaches to Society within the Brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2023

By
Yoosik Youm  and
Junsol Kim
Edited by
Jeanyung Chey
Jeanyung Chey
Affiliation:
Seoul National University
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Summary

Since the 1970s, the association between social relationships and health status has been observed using a variety of measures. It is, however, still rare to obtain a dataset that contains detailed information on everyday social networks and that measures social relationships quantitatively for various statistical analyses. In conjunction with the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), the Korea Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP) is a longitudinal study of health and social factors among older adults in South Korea. Since its inception in 2012, the KSHAP has been an interdisciplinary project involving studies spanning the disciplines of sociology, psychology, psychiatry, medicine, and social work. To date, there are five waves of social network data for village K and one wave for village L. This chapter describes, compares, and discusses the social lives and health of older adults in Korea and the United States by utilizing various social network dimensions and measures of older adults from the KSHAP and NSHAP studies to find common as well as unique pathways in aging in the two countries.

Keywords

social network analysisaginghealth statusphysical healthmental healthcognitive healthKSHAP (Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project)
Type
Chapter
Information
Society within the Brain
How Social Networks Interact with Our Brain, Behavior and Health as We Age
 , pp. 50 - 68
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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