Trajectories of functional ability over the life course: a conceptual model of the interaction of stressor‐induced functional loss and resilience

David B. Matchar, John P. Ansah, Victoria Koh and Heather E. Whitson

System Dynamics Review, 2018, vol. 34, issue 4, 481-502

Abstract: Understanding the factors that influence functional ability over the life course is integral to identifying clinical and public health policies to facilitate successful aging. The World Health Organization has advocated a conceptual framework to clarify the policy discussion. We have sought to translate this general framework into an explicit system dynamics model of the interaction of physiological loss, stressors and endogenous responses to produce a familiar variety of trajectories of functional ability over the life courses. Simulation experiments were implemented for both a 30‐month duration with only one major stressor; and for the life course with an initial major stressor and subsequent stressors determined by the level of functional ability. For both contexts, variations in the few parameters in the scenarios led to a realistic range of trajectories of function over time. © 2019 System Dynamics Society

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/sdr.1611

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:sysdyn:v:34:y:2018:i:4:p:481-502

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0883-7066

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in System Dynamics Review from System Dynamics Society
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().