# Effects of Public Health Interventions on Aged Adults in Village Social Networks

> **NIH NIH R01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $414,857

## Abstract

Changing Social Network Interactions and Dementia in Rural Honduras Villages
Abstract
Social connections may reduce dementia risk. But determining the extent and direction of any such
causal effect is difficult. The relationship between social networks and dementia in developing world
settings is also very incompletely understood. Here, we will exploit rare data about 2,011 people in 12
villages in Honduras who are part of an ongoing longitudinal study in order to evaluate how social
network interactions are associated with dementia in this rural elderly population, using cross-
sectional, longitudinal, and coincidentally experimental approaches. We assess dementia using a
validated dementia assessment tool suitable for use in this rural population (PhotoTest). In Aim 1, we
will first quantify the association between social network position and dementia. A primary hypothesis
is that older adults with dementia will be socially marginalized within village-level social networks,
even after accounting for pertinent confounders. Next, in Aim 2, we will assess how changes in the
social networks of older villagers across a two-year interval are associated with their subsequent
dementia status, exploiting the longitudinality of our data. A primary hypothesis is that a decline in
social network degree and centrality will be associated with higher subsequent dementia risk. Finally,
in Aim 3, we will assess how exogenously induced changes (induced by an underlying randomized
trial that offered public health information to randomly chosen members of each village with monthly
visits over a two-year period) in the networks of older villagers are associated with their subsequent
dementia status. Here, since the network connections of the elderly change, under experimental
pressure, over the two-year period from Wave 1 to Wave 3, we hypothesize that measures of
dementia ascertained subsequently will be adversely affected. A primary hypothesis is that
exogenously caused social marginalization of older adults will increase their dementia risk, compared
to the elderly not experiencing such shocks to their social network.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10711632
- **Project number:** 3R01AG062668-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** NICHOLAS A CHRISTAKIS
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $414,857
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10711632

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10711632, Effects of Public Health Interventions on Aged Adults in Village Social Networks (3R01AG062668-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10711632. Licensed CC0.

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