Event Description
As our society ages rapidly, citizens, researchers, and policy-maker’s alike are seeking ways to help our population age well. Most biomedical, psychological, and public health efforts have focused on reducing harmful risk factors, and this approach has contributed greatly to prevention and treatment programs. However, expanding the focus to include upstream dimensions of psychological well-being (e.g., sense of purpose in life) may help inform the comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and multi-level response efforts needed to maximize healthy aging. Mounting evidence links different dimensions of psychological well-being with reduced risk of chronic diseases, yet, the underlying biobehavioral mechanisms are unclear. Without this understanding, a promising avenue of intervention cannot progress because we are unable to establish a causal role, or understand how intervening on psychological well-being might alter mechanistic pathways and physical health outcomes. In this talk, Eric Kim will describe a theoretical model for how psychological well-being may influence our physical health. He will discuss results from a series of studies evaluating associations between psychological well-being and chronic conditions, and mechanistic biobehavioral processes underlying these associations. Ultimately, Dr. Kim's work aims to move the field forward by providing new directions for building a science of resilience and providing new targets for multi-level preventive and therapeutic interventions.
Event Speaker
Eric Kim, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia
Event Information
Free and open to the public; registration required. For more information, visit the event webpage or contact [email protected].
Hosted by the Columbia Aging Center.
