# Public Policies to Improve Healthy Aging

> **NIH NIH P01** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · 2020 · $100,427

## Abstract

Project 4: Research Plan—Abstract
 The goal of this project is to understand how public policies affect the health of older men and women in
the Agincourt Community, a Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), South Africa.
Our baseline wave of 5,059 men and women ≥40 for the Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Studies of
an INDEPTH Community (HAALSI) study found a strong socioeconomic gradient in a number of health
outcomes from specific chronic conditions to measures of physical and cognitive function. Our key
hypothesis is that public policies can improve population health and reduce health disparities, especially
among older men and women. South Africa has several active and proposed new public policies in the form
of social grants and public health measures that make it an interesting testbed for study. These policies
have direct relevance for US public policy. Initial findings from the HAALSI baseline found that health of the
elderly was strongly increasing with family size, leading us to the hypothesis that older peoples' health is a
public good within the family rather than a private good, and which may explain disproportionally large
effects on health from social grants. We will investigate how changes in eligibility for grants based on age
affect health. The baseline study also found low take up of some grants by the elderly and we will examine
the reasons for this. In addition to social grants, South Africa is introducing new policies on sugar-
sweetened drinks and salt in processed foods. Evaluation of salt legislation is evaluated in Project 2 in
relation to biomarkers and health with input from Project 5. In Project 5, we aim to investigate how these
policies affect behaviors related to food and drink consumption and with regard to sugar-sweetened drink
consumption, how the policy impacts obesity. This project has four specific aims:
 AIM 1: To measure and describe the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and the health
 and wellbeing of older people in Agincourt, South Africa.
 AIM 2: To explore the concept of heath as a family public good. We will study the effect of changes in
 individual health on the wellbeing of other family members and the household health production
function.
 AIM 3: To determine how social grants affect the health of the elderly in Agincourt, South Africa, and
 ascertain the reasons for non-take-up of grants among older people who appear to meet eligibility
criteria.
 AIM 4: To assess the effect of the introduction of new taxes on sugar-sweetened drinks and limits on
 salt in processed foods on consumption and health risk factors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9950993
- **Project number:** 5P01AG041710-07
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** David J Canning
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $100,427
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9950993

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9950993, Public Policies to Improve Healthy Aging (5P01AG041710-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9950993. Licensed CC0.

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