University of Michigan (Surveys of Consumers via ISR/UMich outlets)

Introducing the Longitudinal Study of Health and Ageing in Kenya (LOSHAK) | Josh Ehrlich

The Institute for Social Research hosted Josh Ehrlich to unveil LOSHAK, the Longitudinal Study of Health and Aging in Kenya. The initiative, a partnership between the University of Michigan, Aga Khan University, and Kenyan government agencies, seeks to fill critical data gaps on older adults’ health, cognition, and economic well‑being in a region experiencing rapid demographic change. Ehrlich highlighted that Africa’s life expectancy rose to 62.7 years in 2020, yet the continent still lags behind global averages. Kenya, in particular, is projected to see a four‑fold increase in its over‑60 population by 2050, driving a double burden of infectious and non‑communicable diseases. LOSHAK is harmonized with the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP), enabling cross‑national comparisons across more than 40 countries that together represent over 70% of the world’s older adults. The pilot feasibility study conducted in Kilifi—a coastal health‑demographic surveillance site—demonstrated that comprehensive surveys, biomarker collection, and cognitive testing are operationally feasible in low‑resource settings. Funding from the National Institute on Aging and seed support from the Center for Global Health Equity were pivotal, and the collaboration brings together ophthalmologists, economists, demographers, and public‑health experts to design a multidisciplinary data platform. LOSHAK’s forthcoming Wave 1 will generate publicly released data that policymakers, health planners, and researchers can use to design age‑responsive health systems, assess caregiving burdens, and evaluate economic impacts of aging. By integrating Kenyan data into the global HRS network, the study also offers comparative insights that could refine aging research in the United States and other high‑income nations.