CSDE Research Areas:
- Health of People and Populations
Kaipeng Wang examines how social, cultural, family, and healthcare factors shape aging-related outcomes and healthcare decision-making among diverse and historically marginalized populations. As a social work researcher and gerontologist, he has developed a research program focused on advance care planning, dementia care, and health equity in later life. Drawing on national and community-based data, his work advances the study of population aging by examining how social contexts and institutions shape care preferences, decision-making, and the quality of care among older adults. Specifically, his studies have examined advance directive completion, attitudes toward advance care planning (ACP), and end-of-life care preferences among Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipino older adults, showing how family relationships, acculturation, socioeconomic resources, and cultural beliefs shape healthcare decision-making. His work has also investigated pathways linking family relationships to attitudes toward family involvement in end-of-life care and examined multilevel determinants of health and well-being among older adults with cognitive impairment in long-term care settings. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, he seeks to generate population-based evidence to inform interventions that promote high-quality, equitable care for diverse older adults.