Grant: Operating Grant

Canada has an increasingly aging society with the number of Canadians above the age of 65 years doubling within the next ten years. It is well known that marriage impacts health, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Importantly, most research investigating the impact of marriage on health with aging looks at married individuals rather than both members of the couple. This limits our ability to understand the spousal dynamics and mutual influences that characterize the daily lives of older couples. Therefore, we will conduct an in-depth investigation of the way in which spouses collaboratively solve the problems they encounter as part of their daily life routines, and how this translates to their stress and health behaviors. We will also follow participating couples for two years to better understand how daily life processes accumulate and impact their long-term health. Combining expertise from psychology and geriatrics will allow us to generate new knowledge on spousal resources (e.g. collaborative problem solving) and bio-behavioral processes (e.g. stress hormones, physical activity) with the potential for significant implications for future research and practice. Ultimately, we believe this study will help develop daily life interventions to capitalize on the potential of couples to promote healthy aging in Canada.