Health and Aging Post Conflict: War’s Enduring Effects Among Survivors in Vietnam (VHAS)

Project's Details

Title: Health and Aging Post Conflict: War’s Enduring Effects Among Survivors in Vietnam (VHAS)

Funded by: National Institute on Aging, the U.S. National Institutes of Health

Amount: US$3.1 million

PI: Associate Professor Kim Korinek, Department of Sociology and Director of Asia Center (Asian Studies Program), The University of Utah

Co-PI: Associate Professor Bussarawan (Puk) Teerawichitchainan, Department of Sociology and Co-Director of CFPR, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS; and Professor Zachary Zimmer, Department of Family Studies and Gerontology, Mount Saint Vincent University

Project completion: 31 May 2022

Abstract

Co-led by Associate Professor Bussarawan (Puk) Teerawichitchainan, VHAS provides a unique resource for investigating mechanisms of association between diverse exposures to armed conflict during the Vietnam War and multiple dimensions of health and wellbeing among older adults. VHAS is conducted by an interdisciplinary team of social scientists and health scientists from the University of Utah, USA; Mount Saint Vincent University, Canada; National University of Singapore, Singapore; University of Washington, USA; Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam; and the Institute of Family and Gender Studies, Vietnam. The VHAS is funded by a grant from the United States National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging (R01 AG052537-01A1).

Uniquely stressful, war punctuates the life course of many millions worldwide. As such it is incumbent upon us to understand war’s long-term impact on the course of aging, global disease burdens, and demands upon public health and support systems. Vietnam’s geopolitical context and movement of war survivors into older ages make it an illustrative case for studying war’s long-term impacts. Research in the developed world demonstrates that veterans and war refugees face heightened risks of physical and mental health problems. In developing countries like Vietnam where population aging and chronic disease burdens are rapidly rising, the older-aged populations have seen a disproportionate share of armed conflict and related casualties. Yet, enduring impacts of war and military service in developing settings remain greatly understudied.

The VHAS aims to provide a unique, publicly available dataset for analysis of the long-term implications of war and trauma exposure for old-age health and aging processes. The VHAS has a longitudinal design. The first wave of data collection conducted in 2018 among 2,500 adults at 60 and older. A second wave of follow-up data collection is scheduled to take place in 2021. Both waves of data collection include face-to-face interviews and biomarker measurement.