Overview
Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute (S3RI) is organising a 3-day short-course on the demography of adult morbidity and mortality to be presented by Professor Richard Rogers, Director of the Population Program and Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA.
The course will tackle such crucial questions as: Are health disparities widening over time and place? Are individuals really living longer and in better health? How does socioeconomic status operate to improve health and reduce mortality? Will life expectancies in more developed countries continue to increase over time and, if so, by how much?
We will combine lectures and assigned readings with lively participation, discussion, and exercises to provide an in-depth understanding of substantive, theoretical, and methodological issues related to morbidity and mortality. We will begin by discussing and expanding upon the Epidemiologic Transition Theory to provide a framework to better understand past, present, and future trends in health and longevity among individuals in both less and more developed countries. We will also present additional theories and perspectives, including theories of cumulative (dis)advantage.
We will examine such factors on the effects on morbidity and mortality as risky behaviors, including cigarette smoking; health status, including functional limitations, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, obesity, and cholesterol; cultural differences, including religious attendance; demographic characteristics, including race/ethnicity and nativity; and socioeconomic status (SES). Part of the discussion will focus on disparities in health and longevity, which may be widening over time for some subpopulations. And we will devote particular attention to future mortality trends, identifying factors that can either improve or deteriorate mortality risks, discussing whether the factors will affect both life expectancy and life span, and considering whether these changes are likely to occur in the near or more distant future.
Demographic techniques covered will include unistate, cause-elimination, and multistate life tables, statistical tests, model schedules, such as the Heligman-Pollard model, and multivariate statistical analyses, including Cox proportional hazard models. The in-class exercises will illustrate a number of demographic trends and basic, as well as more advanced, techniques that can be explored and employed to better understand morbidity and mortality patterns. Overall, we will endeavor to understand ways to improve health and lengthen life.
The number of places on this course is limited and hence early application is advised.