b'Note from the DirectorOne of the best questions a study participant can ask is, what is this study about? Sometimes the answer is simple: Maybe a study is testing a new medication for safety and effectiveness or maybe the study is measuring unemployment or consumer satisfaction. For the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the answer isnt so simple. Sometimes, we say the study is about aging in America, but this doesnt quite capture the whole picture. HRS measures many different things about individuals lives so researchers can study how those pieces fit together as we age. And HRS data isnt used by just a few people. Hundreds of researchers use our completely anonymous statistical data, publishing over 300 peer-reviewed studies every year. In this participant databook, we showcase a few important themes to help give you a sense of the kinds of questions your participation is helping us to answer. For instance, Alzheimers disease and dementia affect so many lives. If youre not worried about your own memory, chances are youre worried about a spouse or parent. The HRS is contributing to the national effort to combat this disease, studying how cognition impacts livesboth for the affected member and the families who care for them. Another issue, retirement, seems like a simple thing but, in reality, changes in peoples work lives can be complex as they look for the right balance. Additionally, how we save for retirement and spend in retirement is important information for things like Social Security policy. Doctors and economists have very different interests but they share the tendency to look at people as individuals in isolation. HRS recognizes the importance of family to aging Americans and how it shapes health and decisions about work and saving. These examples and more are why this study and your participation are essential to making things better for all of us. I am very grateful to you for yourQuestions?time and dedication. It wouldntContact the Health and Retirementbe HRS without you. Im alsoStudy at:grateful to Amanda Sonnega, our Outreach Director, for all her866-611-6476HRS-QandA@umich.eduwork in bringing the information in this databook together for you.Visit the participant website for more info:I hope you enjoy it. http://hrsparticipants.isr.umich.eduDavid Weir, Director Health and Retirement StudyThe Health and Retirement Study is funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration'