Research Investigator, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
Biography
Dr. Jessica Finlay is a research investigator in the Social Environment and Health Program at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. She is a health geographer and environmental gerontologist with an MA and PhD in Geography and Gerontology from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Finlay is an interdisciplinary health geographer who uses mixed methods to investigate how built, social, and natural environments affect health and wellbeing, lifestyle behaviors, and quality of life. In particular, she focuses on aging in place and cognitive health disparities among underrepresented and underserved older adults. She also investigates psychosocial and behavioral impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical, mental, social, and cognitive health of aging adults. Her methodological expertise includes seated and mobile interviews, ethnography, focus groups, community advisory boards, geographic information science, and longitudinal surveys. The goal of Dr. Finlay’s research is to advance knowledge of society’s pressing health challenges and inform social policy to build more equitable lifelong communities.
Funded Research
- A Mobile Informatics Solution to Aid in Memory
- A Mobile Informatics Solution to Aid in Memory
- A National Neighborhood Data Resource to Understand Inequities in the Health and Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 in the United States
- Aging in Place Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic Onset: A Study of Neighborhoods and Cognitive Health Among Older Americans
Publications
- Wenshan Yu, Esposito, Michael, Mao Li, Philippa J Clarke, Judd, Suzanne, Jessica Marie Finlay. 2023. Neighborhood ‘Disamenities’: local barriers and cognitive function among Black and white aging adults. BMC Public Health 23:197.
- Colleen M. Peterson, Robyn W. Birkeland, Sara Barsel, Tamara L. Statz, Joseph E. Gaugler, Jessica Marie Finlay. 2022. ‘Sick with stress’: perspectives on airport travel from persons living with dementia and their travel companions. Disability & Society
- Jessica Marie Finlay, Jang,Bohyun, Michael Esposito, Leslie McClure, Suzanne Judd, Philippa J Clarke. 2022. ‘My neighbourhood is fuzzy, not hard and fast’: Individual and contextual associations with perceived residential neighbourhood boundaries among ageing Americans. Urban Studies
- Gabriela Bustamante, Viveka Guzman, Lindsay C. Kobayashi, Jessica Marie Finlay. 2022. Mental health and well-being in times of COVID-19: A mixed-methods study of the role of neighborhood parks, outdoor spaces, and nature among US older adults. Health & Place 76:102813.
- Jessica Marie Finlay, Michael Esposito, Kenneth M Langa, Suzanne Judd, Philippa J Clarke. 2022. Cognability: An Ecological Theory of neighborhoods and cognitive aging. Social Science & Medicine 309:115220.
- Cheng, Greta Jianjia, Wagner, Abram L, O’Shea, Brendan Q, Joseph, Carly A, Jessica Marie Finlay, Kobayashi, Lindsay C. 2022. Multimorbidity and Mental Health Trajectories Among Middle-Aged and Older US Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Findings From the COVID-19 Coping Study. Innovation in Aging 6(5):igac047.
- Ella Cohn-Schwartz, Jessica Marie Finlay, Lindsay C. Kobayashi. 2022. Perceptions of societal ageism and declines in subjective memory during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal evidence from US adults aged ≥55 years. Journal of Social Issues 78(4):924-938.
- Brenna L. Horn, Elizabeth A. Albers, Lauren L. Mitchell, Eric Jutkowitz, Jessica Marie Finlay, Ashley N. Millenbah, Gregory J. Seifert, Daniel S. Hedin, Matthew J. Knutson, Kevin M. Kramer, Jude P. Mikal. 2022. Can Technology-Based Social Memory Aids Improve Social Engagement? Perceptions of a Novel Memory Aid for Persons With Memory Concerns. Journal of Applied Gerontology
- Ella Cohn-Schwartz, Jessica Marie Finlay, Lindsay Kobayashi. 2022. Perceptions of societal ageism and declines in subjective memory during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal evidence from US adults aged ≥55 years. Journal of Social Issues 78(4):924-938.
- Jessica Marie Finlay, Esposito, Michael Hughes, Mao Li, Natalie Colabianchi, Huajun Zhao, Suzanne Judd, Philippa J Clarke. 2021. Neighborhood active aging infrastructure and cognitive function: A mixed-methods study of older Americans. Preventive Medicine 150:106669.
- Jessica Marie Finlay, Wenshan Yu, Philippa J Clarke, Mao Li, Suzanne Judd, Esposito, Michael Hughes. 2021. Neighborhood cognitive amenities? A mixed-methods study of intellectually-stimulating places and cognitive function among older Americans. Wellbeing, Space and Society 2:100040.
- Jessica Marie Finlay, Anam Khan, Carina Jane Gronlund, Ketlyne Sol, Joy Jang, Robert A Melendez, Suzanne Judd, Philippa J Clarke. 2021. Weather Woes? Exploring Potential Links between Precipitation and Age-Related Cognitive Decline. International journal of environmental research and public health 17(23):9011.
- Jessica Marie Finlay, Esposito, Michael Hughes, Mao Li, Lindsay C. Kobayashi, Khan, Anam Mashaal, Iris Gomez-Lopez, Robert A Melendez, Natalie Colabianchi, Suzanne Judd, Philippa J Clarke. 2021. Can Neighborhood Social Infrastructure Modify Cognitive Function? A Mixed-Methods Study of Urban-Dwelling Aging Americans. Journal of Aging and Health 33(9):772-785.
- Khan, Anam Mashaal, Jessica Marie Finlay, Philippa J Clarke, Ketlyne Sol, Robert A Melendez, Judd, Suzanne, Carina Jane Gronlund. 2021. Association between temperature exposure and cognition: a cross-sectional analysis of 20,687 aging adults in the United States. BMC Public Health 21:1484.
- William Magee, Michael R Elliott, Marilyn Sinkewicz, Jessica Marie Finlay, Megan E Patrick. 2021. Who looks on the bright side? Optimistic and pessimistic perceptual-response reflexes over American adulthood. Advances in Life Course Research 51:100452.
- Jessica Marie Finlay, Esposito, Michael Hughes, Tang,Sandra, Iris Gomez-Lopez, Sylvers,Dominique LaDawn, Suzanne Judd, Philippa J Clarke. 2020. Fast-food for thought: Retail food environments as resources for cognitive health and wellbeing among aging Americans?. Health & Place 64:102379.