Vicki A Freedman

Professor, School of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

PhD, Yale University
MA, Georgetown University

Dr. Freedman has published extensively on the topics of population aging, disability, and long-term care, including several widely publicized articles on trends in late-life functioning. Her current portfolio of research projects focuses on disparities and causes of late-life health trends; policy interventions to promote late-life disability decline; the use of technology in long-term care; and the role of neighborhoods in late-life health.

She has served on over a dozen national advisory boards for federal agencies including the National Institute on Aging, Institute on Medicine, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Email Address
732-235-9061

Related Publications

Freedman VA, Martin LG, Cornman J, Agree E, and Schoeni RF. 2009. Trends in Assistance with Daily Activities: Racial/ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities Persist in the U.S. Older Population. in Health at Older Ages: The Causes and Consequences of Declining Disability Among the Elderly, Editors: David M. Cutler and David A. Wise. Pp. 411-438. University of Chicago Press. (Earlier version appeared as TRENDS Working Paper 05-2.)

Martin LG, Freedman VA, Schoeni RF, and Andreski P. 2009. Health and Functioning of the Baby Boom Approaching 60. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (Forthcoming.)

Schoeni RF, Freedman VA, and Martin LG. 2009. Socioeconomic and Demographic Disparities in Trends in Old-age Disability. in Health at Older Ages: The Causes and Consequences of Declining Disability Among the Elderly, Editors: David M. Cutler and David A. Wise. Pp. 75-102. University of Chicago Press. (Earlier version appeared as TRENDS Working Paper 05-1.)

Freedman VA, Martin LG, Schoeni RF, and Cornman J. 2008. Declines in Late-life Disability: The Role of Early- and Mid-life Factors. Social Science and Medicine 66(7):1588-1602.

Schoeni RF, Freedman VA, and Martin LG. 2008. Why is Late-life Disability Declining? Milbank Quarterly 86(1):47-87.

Freedman VA, Schoeni RF, Martin LG, and Cornman J. 2007. Chronic Conditions and the Decline in Late-Life Disability. Demography 44(3):459-477. (Earlier version appeared as TRENDS Working Paper 06-5.)

Martin LG, Schoeni RF, Freedman VA, and Andreski P. 2007. Feeling Better? Trends in General Health Status. Journal of Gerontology 62:S11-S2.

Freedman VA, Agree E, Martin LG, Cornman J. 2006. Trends in the Use of Assistive Technology and Personal Care for Late-Life Disability, 1992–2001. The Gerontologist (46(1): 124-127.)

Schoeni RF, Martin LG, Andreski P, Freedman VA. 2005. Persistent and Growing Disparities in Disability Among the Elderly: 1982-2002. American Journal of Public Health (95(11):2065-2070.)

Freedman VA, Crimmins EM, Schoeni RF, Spillman BC, Aykan H, Kramarow E, Land K, Lubitz J, Manton KG, Martin LG, Shinberg D, Waidmann TA. 2004. Resolving Inconsistencies in Trends in Old-Age Disability: Report From a Technical Working Group. Demography 41(3):417-41.

Freedman VA, and Martin LG. 2003. Beyond inconsistent results: Finding the truth about trends in late-life cognitive functioning. Commentary on ‘Trends in scores on tests of cognitive ability in the elderly U.S. population, 1993-2000. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences 58B(6): S347-S348.

Freedman VA, Aykan H. 2003. Trends in Medication Use and Functioning Before Retirement Age: Are They Linked? Health Affairs 22(4): 154-162.

Freedman VA, Aykan H, Martin LG. 2002. Another look at aggregate changes in severe cognitive impairment: Cumulative effects of three survey design issues. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (57B(2):5126-5131.)

Freedman VA, Martin LG, and Schoeni RF. 2002. Recent Trends in Disability and Functioning Among Older Americans: A Systematic Review. Journal of the American Medical Association 288: 3137 - 3146.

Schoeni RF, Freedman VA, and Wallace RB. 2002. Late-life morbidity trajectories and socioeconomic status. Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics (In Press.)

Freedman VA, and Aykan H. 2001. Asking leading vs. neutral questions: Implications for functional limitation measurement. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences December 2001. (Presented at the annual meeting of the 2001 Gerontological Society of America.)

Freedman VA, and Aykan H. 2001. The contribution of medication use to recent trends in old-age functioning. (Report prepared for the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.)

Freedman VA, Aykan H, and Martin LG. 2001. Aggregate changes in severe cognitive impairment among older Americans: 1993 and 1998. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 56B(2):100-111.

Schoeni RF, Freedman VA, and Wallace RB. 2001. Persistent, consistent, widespread, and robust? Another look at recent trends in old-age disability. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 56B:S206-S218.

Freedman VA. 2000. Implications of asking “ambiguous” difficulty questions: An analysis of the second wave of the Asset and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old Study. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 55B:288-297.

Freedman VA, and Martin LG. 2000. Contribution of chronic conditions to aggregate changes in old-age functioning. American Journal of Public Health 90(11):1755-1760.

Aykan H, Freedman VA, and Martin LG. 1999. Re-weighting the Second Supplement on Aging to the 1994 National Health Interview Survey for trend analyses. RAND Labor and Population Program Working Paper Series DRU-2066-NIA.

Freedman VA, and Martin LG. 1999. The role of education in explaining and forecasting trends in functional limitations among older Americans. Demography 36(4):461-473.

Freedman VA, and Martin LG. 1998. Understanding trends in functional limitations among older Americans. American Journal of Public Health 88(10):1457-1462.

Freedman VA, and Soldo BJ. 1994. Forecasting disability: Workshop summary. Convened by the Committee on National Statistics of the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council. (October 4-5 1993. Washington DC: National Academy PressSoldo.)