• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Indiana University IU

Open Search
  • About
    • Welcome
    • Leadership
    • Offices
    • Directory
    • Accreditation
    • Join our Team: Faculty/Academic Appointments
    • Join our Team: Staff Positions
    • Contact
    • Virtual Tour
  • Undergraduate
    • Majors & Degrees
    • Minors & Certificates
    • Advising
    • How to Apply
    • Costs and Finances
    • Contact & Visit
    • Dean's List
    • Virtual Tour
  • Masters
    • Majors & Degrees
    • Accelerated Master's Programs
    • Online program
    • How to Apply
      • Exploratory Non-Degree Seeking
      • International
      • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Advising
    • Costs and Financial Aid
    • Continuing Education
    • Certificates
    • Contact & Visit
    • Virtual Tour
  • Doctoral
    • Majors
    • How to Apply
      • International
      • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Advising
    • Costs and Financial Aid
    • Continuing Education
    • Contact & Visit Us
    • Virtual Tour
  • Career Services
    • Career Coaching
    • Career Kickstart
    • Student Outcomes
    • Recruit with Us
  • Student Experience
    • Life in the School of Public Health-Bloomington
    • Classroom Experience
    • Honors Program
    • Living Learning Center
    • Education Abroad
    • Research Day
    • Ombuds Office
  • Research & Departments
    • Centers and Institutes
    • Departments
      • Applied Health Science
      • Environmental and Occupational Health
      • Epidemiology and Biostatistics
      • Health & Wellness Design
      • Kinesiology
    • Bìguān 闭关
    • G.I.F.T.S.
  • Alumni & Giving
    • Ways to Give
    • Ways to Get Involved
    • Dean’s Alliance
    • Alumni Association Board
    • Distinguished Alumni Awards
      • Submit a Nomination
  • Current Students
    • Advising
    • Career Services
    • Internships
    • Financial Support
      • Scholarships
      • Fellowships
      • Fellowship & Scholarship Application
        • Fellowship & Scholarship Application: FAQs
    • Education Aboard
    • Student Organizations
    • Forms
    • Inclusive Excellence & Belonging
    • Graduation
    • Contact
  • News & Events
    • News
      • All News
    • Events
    • Distinguished Colloquium Speaker Series
      • Past Speakers
        • Distinguished Colloquium Speaker Series
        • Distinguished Colloquium Speaker Series
    • For Media Professionals

School of Public Health‐Bloomington

  • Home
  • About
    • Welcome
    • Leadership
    • Offices
    • Directory
    • Accreditation
    • Join our Team: Faculty/Academic Appointments
    • Join our Team: Staff Positions
    • Contact
    • Virtual Tour
  • Undergraduate
    • Majors & Degrees
    • Minors & Certificates
    • Advising
    • How to Apply
    • Costs and Finances
    • Contact & Visit
    • Dean's List
    • Virtual Tour
  • Masters
    • Majors & Degrees
    • Accelerated Master's Programs
    • Online program
    • How to Apply
    • Advising
    • Costs and Financial Aid
    • Continuing Education
    • Certificates
    • Contact & Visit
    • Virtual Tour
  • Doctoral
    • Majors
    • How to Apply
    • Advising
    • Costs and Financial Aid
    • Continuing Education
    • Contact & Visit Us
    • Virtual Tour
  • Career Services
    • Career Coaching
    • Career Kickstart
    • Student Outcomes
    • Recruit with Us
  • Student Experience
    • Life in the School of Public Health-Bloomington
    • Classroom Experience
    • Honors Program
    • Living Learning Center
    • Education Abroad
    • Research Day
    • Ombuds Office
  • Research & Departments
    • Centers and Institutes
    • Departments
    • Bìguān 闭关
    • G.I.F.T.S.
  • Alumni & Giving
    • Ways to Give
    • Ways to Get Involved
    • Dean’s Alliance
    • Alumni Association Board
    • Distinguished Alumni Awards
  • Search
  • Current Students
  • News & Events
  • Home
  • News & Events
  • News
  • 2024
  • Faculty member awarded $3.7 million to investigate inequities in environmental stressors and cognitive decline in urban and rural older adults

Faculty member awarded $3.7 million to investigate inequities in environmental stressors and cognitive decline in urban and rural older adults

By: Elizabeth Ellis

Monday, August 26, 2024

Evan Jordan, Ph.D.

For many older adults, stress is a natural part of daily life. But could it contribute to their cognitive decline?

Evan Jordan, Ph.D. in the Department of Health & Wellness Design was recently awarded a National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) R01 Research Project Grant for $3,787,908 to study—over the course of five years—the effects of the environment on people 65+ who are at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Participants in the study will be Indiana residents in both urban and rural areas with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

“Approximately 10 to 15 percent of people with MCI will progress to ADRD within one year, according to the Alzheimer’s Association,” says Dr. Jordan. “We are very interested in this very compressed time period; who progresses and who doesn’t, and in this study link that progression to specific elements of their lived environment.”

The project, entitled “Assessing Urban-Rural Environmental Stress Inequities in ADRD through Ecological Momentary Assessment (AURESIA),” will recruit a total of 600 participants (about half from rural environments; half from urban) who consent to being tracked via a provided smartphone and smartwatch. The participants will make use of the Stress Reports in Variable Environments (STRIVE) app. Built in collaboration with Patrick Shih Ph.D., associate professor of informatics at Luddy School IU Bloomington, the app will record environmental stressors over a two-week period.

“The app even gives them the option of taking a picture of their stressful environment,” says Dr. Jordan. “The idea is between tracking everywhere they go based on their GPS location and relying on them to report their stressors, we can establish in two weeks the usual environment where they live, work and play, then monitor their cognitive state over the next two years.”

Study-provided devices—a smartphone and smartwatch—will ensure that all participants have equal access to technology. These devices will track participants around the clock with their knowledge and consent.  Indiana University co-investigators include Stephanie Dickinson, executive director of the biostatistics consulting center; and IU School of Medicine faculty  Malaz Boustani, M.D., M.P.H., Frederick Unverzagt, Ph.D., and Paul Dexter, M.D. External co-investigators include Zina Ben Miled, Ph.D. of Purdue University;  Erik Nelson, Ph.D. of Brigham Young University; and Mario Schootman, Ph.D. of University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Malaz Boustani, M.D.
Malaz Boustani, M.D.

“Over the past two decades, our IU interdisciplinary team has been developing, testing, and implementing innovative care models to reduce the individual, family and societal burden of ADRD,” shares Dr. Boustani. “More recently we have been focusing on reducing the risk of developing ADRD by implementing scalable risk-reduction strategies. This study will help us in enhancing the precision and the inclusivity of our dementia prevention strategies by identifying modifiable environmental risk factors in rural, suburban, and urban communities across the entire state of Indiana.”  

Studying urban versus rural settings is crucial to the study, says Dr. Jordan, because environmental stressors can vary widely between the two settings.

“There are very disparate sets of environmental stressors older adults can be exposed to—for example, in an urban dwelling a person may be subjected to noise and air pollution, traffic, and higher level of crime with a denser population,” shares Dr. Jordan.

Rural dwellings come with their own set of unique stressors, such as limited access to healthcare, being sedentary due to longer commutes to access necessities, and feelings of isolation.

“Urban areas often have a lot of parks and recreational opportunities, but rural people—while they may be closer to nature, it often isn’t organized in a way where it is easy to use that green space for recreation,” says Dr. Jordan.

Once the data is collected, investigators hope to identify environmental factors that might contribute to cognitive decline—and provide healthcare recommendations based on their findings.

“For instance, if we can prove that green spaces and nature might be protective of people’s neurocognitive abilities, we could intervene specifically for people with MCI and their healthcare providers to encourage them to spend more time in those environments,” says Dr. Jordan. 

For more stories about SPH-B students and faculty making a big difference both locally and worldwide, visit go.iu.edu/48bx.

  • News
    • All News
  • Events
  • Distinguished Colloquium Speaker Series
  • For Media Professionals

Additional links and resources

  • Information for:
    • Current Students

      • Academic Forms Online
      • Academic Forms Download
      • Advising
      • Career Services
      • Internships
    • Faculty / Staff

      • Grant Administration Office
      • Dean's Office Guidelines
      • Academic Council Guidelines
      • HR Toolkit
      • Faculty / Staff Online Forms
  • Quick Links
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Faculty Directory
    • News
    • Events
    • Alumni
    • Giving
    • Room Request Form
  • Join our Team
    • Administration & Faculty positions
    • Staff positions
  • Undergraduate Programs
    • Degrees & Majors
    • How to Apply
    • Contact
  • Masters Programs
    • Degrees & Majors
    • How to Apply
    • Contact
  • Doctoral Programs
    • Majors
    • How to Apply
    • Contact
  • Key Websites
    • Online Programs & Certificates
    • THRIVE Living-Learning Center
    • Grant Administration Office
    • Internships
    • Public Health Partnerships
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

School of Public Health-Bloomington
1025 E. Seventh Street, Suite 111
Bloomington, IN 47405-7109

Phone: 812-855-1561
Fax: 812-855-4983

Indiana University

Accessibility | College Scorecard | Open to All | Privacy Notice | Copyright © 2025 The Trustees of Indiana University