Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108INTRODUCTION 17 The Future As the aging of the population unfolds and the retirement of the Baby Boomers continues, the HRS will continue to innovate and grow to meet the need for data on these trends. In the coming years, by observing the dynamics of retirement and health and people’s social and economic well-being following retirement, the HRS will be a powerful research tool for tracking and under- standing important societal changes and poten- tial policy responses. This last section outlines some of the new directions the HRS is taking. New Linkages Where older people live may be very important for creating opportunities to lead healthy, ac- tive, independent and engaged lives. The HRS Contextual Data Resource (HRS-CDR) links data on the socioenvironmental context to HRS re- spondents and includes measures representing six domains (see Figure A-6). Measures are available across multiple years of the survey period and at different levels of geography. The HRS-CDR will be available to users through the virtual desktop infrastructure in 2017. Similarly, a linkage to the Census Bureau Business Register is underway. These data will also facilitate the availability of contextual data on the physical, social, and health care envi- ronments of the geographic regions where HRS participants reside. Finally, given the high policy priority of understanding more about the health of those with low income, HRS is now building a linkage to the Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX). Obtaining Whole Blood In 2016, the HRS began collecting samples of venous blood, which will greatly enhance the existing set of biomarkers by adding biomarkers related to immune system functioning, new information about age-related changes at the molecular and cellular levels, and epigenetic markers. Frontiers in Genetic Discovery The HRS will continue to build its data resource for conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which investigate both common and rare genetic variations in a population to see whether certain variants are linked to better health and FIGURE A-6  Selected contextual measures, by domain SES/Demographic Structure Physical Hazards Socioeconomic disadvantage Air pollution Racial/ethnic composition Monitor-based Age structure Predicted surfaces Residential stability Amenities Psychosocial Stressors Retail stores Disorder and decay Food environment Traffic Recreation facilities Health Care Public libraries Qualify/effective care Land Use/Built Environment End of life/post-acute care Street connectivity Hospital & physician capacity Land use mix Utilization Parks