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

Why It Matters

LOSHAK provides the first large‑scale, harmonized evidence base on aging in Kenya, guiding health‑policy decisions and enabling global comparisons that can improve aging strategies worldwide.

Key Takeaways

• Kenya's aging population set to quadruple by 2050.
• LOSHAK aligns with global HRS and HCAP harmonization standards.
• Feasibility study in Kilifi proved data collection viability.
• Funding secured from NIA and University of Michigan’s CGHE.
• Data will inform policy on health, economics, and caregiving.

Summary

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.

Original Description

Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing rapid demographic shifts, including an unprecedented aging of their populations. Kenya is at the front end of these transitions and is projected to experience a 4-fold increase in the number of adults over age 60 in just three decades. The Longitudinal Study of Health and Ageing in Kenya (LOSHAK) was developed to collect data on health and economic wellbeing among older Kenyans. LOSHAK is harmonized with other studies in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) families of studies. We anticipate that LOSHAK will serve as an important resource for policy, public health, and economic planners in Kenya and the region as they aim to address the varied social, health, and economic consequences of aging populations. This talk will focus on the development of LOSHAK and plans for its future.