Social Determinants, Race, and Brain Health Outcomes: Findings from the Chicago Health and Aging Project

The broad spectrum of economic and cultural diversity in the U.S. population correlates with and affects the study of behavioral aspects of health. The purpose of this article is to provide a selective overview of research findings from the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP), which covers a socio-demographically diverse population in Chicago, with a focus on role-related psychosocial factors and observed racial/ethnic differences in aging outcomes. CHAP is a longitudinal, epidemiological study of common chronic conditions of aging with an emphasis on medical, psychosocial, and environmental risk factors for the decline in cognitive function across the older adult lifespan. We briefly summarize the study design and methods used in the CHAP study and characterize the study population and describe the psychosocial data, noting black-white associations as they relate to three common brain health outcomes: cognitive function and Alzheimer’s Disease, stroke, and subclinical vascular disease as noted on neuroimaging.