Description:

India appears to be in the middle of a transition in terms of disease burden from communicable to non-communicable diseases. This is a consequence of the developing economy, increased life expectancy, and improved healthcare. The increasing burden of heart disease and diabetes brings lifestyle factors and health behaviors into sharper focus, given their influence on the incidence and course of these chronic diseases. Health behaviors are known to be influenced by both social structural variables as well as individual psychological variables. Work in this area both globally and in India will be reviewed. Health outcomes in terms of chronic conditions, perceived health and aging will be discussed, with the goal of planning more effective interventions to prevent and manage health conditions.

Speaker Bio:

After completing her Ph. D at University of Albany, SUNY, she worked at the Harvard School of Public Health – in the department of Health and Social Behaviour. She later worked at the Family Planning Association of India. She has been faculty at I.I.T Bombay since 2007. Her work lies at the intersection of health and social psychology. She works in the areas of health behaviour, gender, mental health, groups and education. She is associated with the Koita Center for Digital Health and is a member of the National Disease Modelling Consortium.