On this page
- About the study
- Download an information sheet
- Why you are contacted
- Rights as a participant
- Get replacement survey resources like consent forms
- Postcard reminders
- Updating contact details
- National health data connection
- ACC health data connection
- Data security and confidentiality
- Summaries of findings
- Latest newsletter
- Contact us
About the study
The Health, Work and Retirement (HWR) Study is a longitudinal study of people aged 55 years and over who live in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The study began in 2006 and is led by principle investigators Professor Christine Stephens and Professor Fiona Alpass from the School of Psychology.
Aims of the study
The study aims to provide information on issues relevant to people in this age group such as:
- health
- work
- retirement
- housing.
This research provides Aotearoa New Zealand residents with the opportunity to share their experiences to help inform national and international discussions on these important issues.
Frequency of surveys
Participants in the HWR study usually receive a survey every two years.
Number of participants
To date, more than 14,000 New Zealand residents have responded to the survey.
Interviews
To gain greater insight into questions which are not well characterised by survey responses, interested participants are also sometimes invited to participate in face-to-face or telephone interviews.
Download an information sheet
2022 participant information sheets
Why you are contacted
People who have previously filled out a survey are re-surveyed to obtain valuable information regarding changes, or lack of change, in their circumstances over time.
Rights as a participant
If you decide to participate, you have the right to the following:
- decline to answer any particular question
- ask any questions about the study or withdraw from the project at any time by telephone or email (see contact details below)
- know that the information will be kept strictly confidential and will be used only for health research
- know that reports and publications from this study are based on de-identified information and will not identify any individual taking part
- request a summary of the study findings.
Get replacement survey resources like consent forms
You can request:
- a new survey booklet
- information sheet
- consent form
- reply paid envelope.
Choose the survey resources you need when you fill out this online form.
Postcard reminders
We send out postcards to:
- remind those who have not completed the survey to do so
- thank participants who have returned their surveys.
If you get a postcard reminding you to complete the survey but have already sent it in you do not need to do anything.
Updating contact details
If you move house or need to update your contact details fill out this online form.
You can also phone us on the free phone number below.
National health data connection
If you are an existing participant, you will have been approached before to allow us to access your National health data.
For new participants, this lets us link national health record data held on file by the New Zealand Health Information Service to other data from study participants.
It provides valuable information for health research, such as number of hospital emergency room or GP clinic visits people make in a year.
The combined data allows us to answer many health-related questions that we could not answer with the survey data alone.
ACC health data connection
Since 2020 we have asking for consent to link data held by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) to other data provided by study participants. With your consent, we request injury and related health data held by the ACC.
Request a consent form to give us access to your health or ACC information
Data security and confidentiality
All information provided to researchers is completely confidential, and will be used only for the purposes of health research.
It will not be possible to identify individuals in any dataset or report from the study.
To ensure that national health record data remains confidential, a strong and confidential data-transference and merging process is used.
You can rest assured of the following.
1, Unique ID numbers not names
Once your national health and ACC records are identified and extracted by the relevant agency, they will replace your name with a unique ID number. Once this ID is in place the data cannot be linked to your name.
2, Data encryption
The de-identified national health and ACC records data will then be securely encrypted and sent via registered courier to the Health and Ageing Research Team (HART) at Massey University.
The electronic key needed to unlock this encrypted dataset will be sent separately via secured email directly to the HART. Without this electronic key the encrypted data cannot be accessed.
3, Anonymous data
Once the HART receives the national health record and ACC data and de-codes it with the electronic key, this data can be merged with other data provided by you to the study, using your unique ID number.
This makes sure your name is always stored separately to your data. Your survey responses, national health record and ACC data are unable to be linked to your name, except by the HART Research Officer as required for study administration.
4, Restricted access
The New Zealand Health Information Service and ACC will never have access to your data stored at Massey University.
Summaries of findings
You can download reports with findings from the study on our publications and research outputs page.
Latest newsletter
Download the latest newsletter from the Health and Ageing Research Team. Older newsletters are available on request.
Contact us
Please don't hesitate to contact us any time if you can't find the answer to your question here.
HART Research team
- Hart@massey.ac.nz
- Free phone