# Health of Aging Mexicans on Both Sides of the Border

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · 2022 · $429,693

## Abstract

HEALTH OF AGING MEXICANS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER.
PROJECT SUMMARY.
Aging in the United States is increasingly contingent on the health of adults from historically-disadvantaged
groups. The Mexican-origin population is one of the fastest growing segments of US elderly and one facing
many disadvantages, both from experiences prior to immigration and by hardship experienced since
immigration. The accumulation of decades of poor working and living conditions and poor access to health
care have likely led to the particularly problematic physical and mental health problems observed in this
population in old age, despite exhibiting “paradoxically” low cardiovascular mortality risks. These problems may
have deteriorated further due to contemporary declines in the conditions that facilitate the social inclusion of
immigrants and their descendants. The impact of these changes on older Latinos and their support networks is
essentially unknown.
The health impacts of changes in immigration-related climate, policies, and practices also likely affects aging
populations in Mexico. One in five older adults in Mexico have previous migration experience in the U.S. Many
older Mexican adults depend on economic, social, and emotional support from relatives living in the U.S.,
particularly their adult children. These family support networks have been disrupted by e.g., the deportation
and unplanned return of circa 2 million Mexican immigrants from the United States over the last 15 years.
This project examines how changes to migration patterns and policies shape aging in the Mexican-origin
population on both the U.S. and Mexico. Using a novel, binational approach that jointly considers different
forms of migration-related selection, mortality and proxy selection, and several kinds of unobserved
heterogeneity, we examine how the physical, cognitive, and mental health of older adults has changed over
time as a function of their migration experiences. We analyze rich longitudinal data from the 2006-2018 Health
and Retirement Study (HRS) in the United States and the 2001-2018 Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS)
in Mexico using several ancillary datasets to enhance the measurement of different dimensions of immigrant
social inclusion (ISI). We have three aims. First, we estimate the association between cumulative
disadvantage and chronic mental, physical, and cognitive health and mortality. Second, we examine the
contribution of spatiotemporal variation in attitudes, policies, and practices influencing ISI to changes in mental
and physical health among older adults in the US. Third, we assess how changes in the location and support
younger adult children provide to elderly parents living in the United States and Mexico affect parental mental
and physical health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10395593
- **Project number:** 5R01AG068392-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
- **Principal Investigator:** Fernando Riosmena
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $429,693
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2026-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10395593

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10395593, Health of Aging Mexicans on Both Sides of the Border (5R01AG068392-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10395593. Licensed CC0.

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