Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life

Abstract

The Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life was established in 2001 under the auspices of the Committee on Population of the National Research Council. The panel’s task was to inform the National Institute on Aging about recent research findings on racial and ethnic differences in health in late life and to help in developing a future research agenda for reducing them. This project was a follow-up to a 1994 Committee on Population workshop, which resulted in a volume of papers published by the National Academy Press, Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Health of Older Americans. The panel was asked to organize a 2-day workshop, bringing together leading researchers from a variety of disciplines and professional orientations to summarize current research and to identify research priorities. That workshop was held in March 2002 in Washington, D.C. The panel also was asked to produce a summary of the state of knowledge incorporating this information and to provide recommendations for further work. The initial plan called for the papers and the panel report to be published in a single volume, but it was decided to publish the papers and the panel report separately. The papers are presented in this volume. The panel’s final report is available in a companion volume, Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life: A Research Agenda.