Social network type is a useful way to assess social integration within this model of cascading effects. More detailed information could be gained through the development of our network assessment instruments for older people.

This article provides an overview of the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement Study (HWR), the focus of which is on determinants of cultural-contextual factors on physical and mental health among 6,662 New Zealand citizens, a nationally representative sample of adults between 55 and 70 years of age. The HWR was initiated in 2006 with two-year re-assessment intervals. The health and wellbeing of older Māori was a study priority as previous research has shown large health disparities between Māori and non-Māori in New Zealand. Persons of Māori origin were over-sampled to ensure adequate information for subsequent analyses. First-wave results indicated that socioeconomic status, social support and retirement status were associated with optimal ageing among older adults in New Zealand. Māori scored lower on markers of physical and mental health, which was partially explained by restrictive factors including reduced economic living standards and a propensity towards less physical activity. After controlling for multiple socio-contextual and biological variables, ethnicity continued to predict health, suggesting that there are other markers of health and wellbeing in ageing among Māori. Structural variables which restrict access to health care and predispose Māori to engage in maladaptive lifestyle behaviours combined with the distal effects of colonisation may contribute to the health disparities found between Māori and the majority population in New Zealand.

The poorer health of caregivers supports previous findings on the detrimental health effects of caregiving. Caregiving may have more detrimental effects on Māori health outcomes due to existing inequalities in health, barriers to formal support services, and the multiple roles of elder Māori.

In 2005 the Health, Work, and Retirement (HWR) Longitudinal Study was established at Massey University in order to identify the later-midlife factors that lay the basis for community participation, independence, and health in later life. Information was collected via postal questionnaire on physical and mental health, psychosocial factors, work and retirement attitudes, and socioeconomic and demographic indicators of a sample of 6662 community-dwelling adults aged 55-70 years. This report provides an overview of these results, and highlights the impact that the transition from work to retirement has on the health and retirement adjustment of older people with respect to independence, well-being, and social participation.

The impact of disparities in socio-economic status on the health of older people is an important issue for policy makers in the context of population ageing. As older people live in different types of economic circumstances and because, as people age, their desires and needs are different to those of younger generations, measures of living standards need to be appropriate for older people. This paper reports on the validation of a measure of living standards for older people based on Sen's Capability Approach. Using this approach, living standards are conceptualised as varying from constraint to freedom rather than from hardship to comfort. Using the New Zealand Longitudinal Study of Ageing omnibus survey of 3,923 adults aged 50–87 years, the validity of the measure was assessed. The results indicate that this measure assesses what older people are able to achieve. In addition, this measure discriminates better at the higher end of the living standards spectrum than an existing measure that assesses living standards from hardship to comfort in terms of what people possess. From this, a short form of the measure has been developed which offers a conceptually based and valid measure useful for survey research with older people. This measure of living standards provides future avenues for improved understandings of socio-economic position in later life.