Aging and the Health and Well-Being of New Orleans Residents Following Hurricane Katrina

About This Grant

Project Summary/Abstract As the frequency, prevalence, and severity of extreme weather events and disasters increase, the long- term and life course consequences on the older population in the US of experiencing cyclones, heat waves, droughts, floods, and wildfires grows in terms of its significance for research, policy, and population well-being. Of particular urgency is developing a better understanding of the effects of disasters exposures and post-disas- ter experiences on disparities in well-being over the older life course years, on levels and differentials in health and mortality, and for policies aimed at mitigating long-term consequences of disasters. A predominant focus of the literature addressing disaster effects on health and well-being is the period in the immediate aftermath of the event. Much is known about short-term effects on mortality, mental health, displacement, living arrange- ments, and recovery. For subsequent post-disaster years, however, there is a dearth of data sources, and hence of population-level empirical research, on individual outcomes, especially among the elderly population. Key issues that remain uninvestigated include whether disaster effects are fleeting, whether they have long- term negative consequences, or whether individuals may actually be better off. This project will build on a ma- jor investment we have made to create a linked data source for addressing the medium- and long-run effects of Hurricane Katrina on the pre-disaster population of New Orleans. We will use these new linked data to exam- ine living arrangements, well-being, and mortality among the older population of New Orleans aged 60-plus years in the period following Hurricane Katrina. Using within-New Orleans comparisons along with an external counterfactual comparison group, we will address two aims. First, we will examine how exposure to Hurricane Katrina for the older New Orleans population affected long-term trajectories of living arrangements and resi- dential neighborhood attainment compared to the counterfactual comparison group. Second, we will examine post-Katrina mortality and disability disparities within the older New Orleans population by race, pre-Katrina social and economic characteristics, hurricane impact, and post-disaster experiences. This is a novel and ex- ploratory project to establish a general and broadly-applicable approach to studying the effects of disasters on the older population using linked census and administrative data. It will also make significant substantive con- tributions by combining stress and social vulnerability theories to generate and evaluate testable hypotheses about the effects of pre-disaster socioeconomic resources and disaster exposure on key health and well-being outcomes among the older New Orleans population. The project will set the stage for future replications for other disasters as well as for a variety of enhancements and extensions in order to answer pressing questions on the consequences of disasters on the health and well-being of the older US population.