# Pathways from Health Insurance to Subjective Well-Being and Psychological Health at Older Ages

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2021 · $108,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The American population over 65 is growing rapidly, which will lead to a steep rise in the number of dementia
cases (Hebert et al. 2003). Cognitive impairment, even in the absence of a dementia diagnosis, is often
associated with limitations in an individual's ability to work, manage finances, and deal with routine activities,
with possible implications for psychological well-being. Increased uncertainty that harms senior psychological
health might, in turn, result in faster cognitive decline (Goveas et al., 2011) and dementia onset.
The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the disruptions caused by measures to slow it, might reinforce the
relationship between psychological well-being and dementia. Like individuals with underlying health conditions,
older adults are at higher risk of serious reactions to COVID-19 and death. In addition, seniors have steeper
cognitive decline that might be accelerated by the increased uncertainty and health risks associated with the
pandemic, with implications for the prevalence of dementia. As a result, there is an urgent need to understand
the negative cognitive and psychological well-being effects of the pandemic among seniors, which
subpopulations are most vulnerable, and what can be done to mitigate such effects. In particular, it is important
to understand the role of large social programs such as Medicare in reducing the uncertainty generated by the
pandemic and alleviating its consequences.
In this administrative supplement, we propose to collect data to investigate the role of Medicare in delaying
cognitive decline – and the consequent onset of dementia -- and improving psychological well-being of older
Americans. In particular, we will document how the role of Medicare in providing access to health insurance and
health care, as well was any consequent effects, changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In question is
whether, by providing access to health insurance, Medicare can reduce the cognition and well-being
consequences of the pandemic.
This supplement fits in with the overall goal of my K parent grant, which is to understand how health insurance
affects the SWB and mental health of the elderly. The aims listed above are closely related to the parent grant's
aims, but now use the opportunity to also understand how the pandemic, which greatly increased uncertainty,
affected cognition and the onset of dementia. My plan is to develop a long-run panel following this initial cohort
of respondents over time in order to capture changes in the cognition, dementia diagnosis, self-reported health
and psychological well-being of this important demographic group. To do so, I will apply for a R01. The data
collection supported by this supplement will increase my chances of writing a successful R01 application as a
PI, one of the few K01 objectives that I still need to achieve. Finally, all collected data will be made publicly
available for the research community after the publication of main findi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10237639
- **Project number:** 3K01AG050811-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Silvia Helena Barcellos
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $108,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-05-15 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10237639

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10237639, Pathways from Health Insurance to Subjective Well-Being and Psychological Health at Older Ages (3K01AG050811-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-08-03 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10237639. Licensed CC0.

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