| 1. |
- Jock, Janet, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of pension eligibility expansion on men’s cognitive function : findings from rural South Africa
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Aging & Social Policy. - : Routledge. - 0895-9420 .- 1545-0821.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two-thirds of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) live in low- and middle-income countries, and this figure is expected to rise as these populations are rapidly aging. Since evidence demonstrates links between socioeconomic status and slower rates of cognitive decline, protecting older adults’ cognitive function in resource-limited countries that lack the infrastructure to cope with ADRD is crucial to reduce the burden it places on these populations and their health systems. While cash transfers are a promising intervention to promote healthy cognitive aging, factors such as household wealth and level of education often confound the ability to make causal inferences on the impact of cash transfers and cognitive function. This study uses a quasi-experimental design, leveraging an exogenous expansion to the Old Age Pension for men in South Africa, to approximate causal associations with cognitive function. We found evidence that there is a potential benefit of cash transfers at an earlier age for older individuals. As such, transfers such as pensions or other forms of direct basic income transfers may hold promise as potential interventions to promote healthy cognitive aging.
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| 2. |
- Rosenberg, Molly, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of a randomized cash transfer intervention on mortality of adult household members in rural South Africa, 2011–2022
- 2023
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Ingår i: Social Science and Medicine. - : Elsevier. - 0277-9536 .- 1873-5347. ; 324
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Increasing socioeconomic resources through cash transfer payments could help promote healthy longevity. However, research in this area is limited due to endogeneity in cash transfer exposures and limited geographic representation.Methods: We leveraged the HPTN 068 randomized cash transfer trial, conducted from 2011 to 2015 in a rural setting in South Africa. We assessed long-term mortality follow-up (until March 2022) on older adult members (n = 3568) of households enrolled in the trial from the complete Agincourt Health and socio-Demographic Surveillance System census of the underlying source population. The trial intervention was a monthly cash payment of 300 Rand conditional on school enrollment of index young women. The payments were split between the young woman (1/3) and their caregiver (2/3). Young women and their households were randomized 1:1 to intervention vs. control. We used Cox PH models to compare mortality rates in older adults living in intervention vs. control households.Findings: The cash transfer intervention did not significantly impact mortality in the full sample [HR (95% CI): 0.94 (0.80, 1.10)]. However, we observed strong protective effects of the cash transfer intervention among those with above-median household assets [HR (95% CI): 0.66 (0.50, 0.86)] and higher educational attainment [HR (95% CI): 0.37 (0.15, 0.93)].Interpretation: Our findings indicate that short-term cash transfers can lead to reduced mortality in certain subgroups of older adults with higher baseline socioeconomic status. Future work should focus on understanding the optimal timing, structure, and targets to maximize the benefits of cash transfer programs in promoting healthy aging and longevity.
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