# Forming science-industry partnerships to link everyday behaviors to well-being

> **NIH NIH R25** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $128,379

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
In an age of unprecedented longevity, health and well-being in old age reflect decisions and behavioral
practices that span decades. Seemingly minor decisions and actions people take in everyday life have
cumulative, long-term consequences that affect stress, opportunities for engagement, and health in old
age. Financial security is strongly related to physical and mental health, and the majority of Americans
are not financially secure. Even among those who have sufficient resources to save and invest, many
lack the skills and motivation required to engage in wise planning and habits that support health and
well-being at advanced ages. Independent of the potential causal relationships among financial health,
physical health and psychological well-being, long-term financial and health-related planning share
many common features. Social science is beginning to address these issues but the vast amount of
existing research relies on individuals' performance on hypothetical tasks in laboratory settings or
responses on surveys. Private industries often have very large and rich data resources that reflect
behavior in everyday life. A lack of connection between well-controlled laboratory studies and actual
behavior creates a major barrier to progress in understanding behavior and developing scalable
interventions to improve financial, mental, and physical health. The financial services and healthcare
industries are key stakeholders in finding effective solutions but at present collaborations between
social scientists and private sector companies are limited to occasional consulting and proprietary
research. Collaborations are typically difficult to establish, limited by complex privacy concerns,
logistical issues and mutual distrust about how the findings might be used. Yet, partnerships between
researchers and private sector companies represent extraordinary opportunities to answer important
questions about decisions and actions that predict long-term health outcomes. The goal of this project
is to bring a unique interdisciplinary perspective to the understanding of optimal and suboptimal
decision making across adulthood. By training early-stage researchers to effectively establish research
partnerships with industry, we can facilitate the development of research projects that promise to
improve health and financial well-being for aging individuals and society.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9928866
- **Project number:** 5R25AG053252-05
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** LAURA L CARSTENSEN
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $128,379
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-15 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9928866

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9928866, Forming science-industry partnerships to link everyday behaviors to well-being (5R25AG053252-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9928866. Licensed CC0.

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