bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE LONGEVITY CONSORTIUM VISION
Authors: Evans Daniel S , Evans Daniel S , Cummings Steven R , Schork Nicholas
Published: November 2019

Molecular factors and pathways promoting human longevity and healthy aging can potentially delay or prevent multiple chronic diseases and conditions, but identifying such factors that can be pharmacologically targeted requires an integrated multidisciplinary approach. We describe the design of the five research projects and three cores of the Longevity Consortium (LC) and how their cooperative research is designed to discover molecular factors and pathways that can predict healthy human aging and longevity, associate with extreme human lifespan, show relevance to chronic age-related conditions, respond to interventions to slow aging in mice, and show evidence for association with lifespan across species. A systems biology approach is undertaken to identify common molecular features across human traits and organisms, and a chemoinformatics approach to link molecular targets to candidate healthy aging interventions. The LC results are made publicly available and we provide funding opportunities to the scientific community to support pilot projects.
GENETIC SUPPORT FOR INTERVENTIONS THOUGHT TO PROMOTE HEALTHY AGING
Authors: Schork Nicholas J , Miller Richard , Girke Thomas
Published: November 2019

We consider the human genetic targets of many proven and hypothesized pharmacologic interventions meant to promote healthy-aging and explored not only how polymorphic these targets are in the human population, but also whether these polymorphisms have been shown to impact longevity and age-related phenotypes in general. We also determined if polymorphism in the genes or proteins modulated by healthy-aging interventions have been shown to also modulate the expression levels of those genes and proteins (i.e., act as gene or protein expression quantitative trait loci – eQTLs or pQTLs, respectively) and whether they have been subjected to mediation analyses testing their potential causal relationships to aging and longevity phenotypes. We compare our results to studies of other classes of drugs used to treat specific conditions, such as hypertension.
PRESIDENTIAL SYMPOSIUM: THE TIES THAT BIND: THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE LIVES OF OLDER ADULTS
Authors: Baker Tamara A , Lee Lewina O
Published: November 2019

Data show that seven out of every ten adults, over the age of 50, own a smartphone, with one out of ten owning a tablet. While traditional activities dictate the use of technology among this cohort, there is growing evidence that adults similarly use devices to also manage their medical care and to learn online. This increase has guided scholars in recognizing the utility of technology from designing interventions to understanding how technology may serve as a barrier and/or facilitator to one’s general well-being. This symposium features four presentations from nationally recognized scholars that will expand traditional perspectives on technology use, and how it influences social ties among older adults. Dr. Charness will examine the population-level trends in social network use by aging adults and discuss a recent CREATE intervention study (PRISM), that used a computer-based platform to reduce social isolation and loneliness among older adults. Dr. Czaja will similarly present findings from CREATE, and other trials, on the access to and use of email, social media sites, and online support groups among older adults, and the resultant impact on social connectivity, loneliness and social support. Dr. Rogers will discuss technologies that currently exist (e.g., apps, mobile devices, social networking) or are being developed (e.g., robotics, telepresence, virtual reality) to support social engagement. Dr. Antonucci will examine aspects of new technologies and their influence on health and well-being, while underscoring the perspective that new and emerging technologies hold great promise in overcoming traditional barriers to maintaining social contact and exchange.
VACCINATION TO PROMOTE HEALTH THROUGHOUT LIFE AS A HEALTHY AGING STRATEGY
Authors: Friedland Leonard
Published: November 2019

This symposium addresses the role of vaccination to promote healthy aging, the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age. Life-span immunization of adults across all age categories can help to reduce morbidity and mortality. Healthy aging is critical for our global society to counter the surge in healthcare costs that is coming as a result of the demographic shift to older age. Immune system function and response to vaccination declines with advancing age. Generating effective immune responses against new infectious disease targets can be difficult in older individuals. Important progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms underlying immunosenescence, the age-related decline of the immune response to infections and vaccinations. Innovative research and the development of new technologies, such as adjuvants, substances that can enhance and shape the immune response to the target antigen(s), has facilitated the development of vaccines specially tailored for adults. This evidence-based approach to the development of innovative vaccines addressing immunosenescence is an important clinically relevant healthy aging strategy to promote health throughout life.
INTERACTIONS OF OPTIMISM WITH SOCIAL RELATIONS FOR WOMEN'S WELL-BEING
Authors: Sherman Aurora M
Published: November 2019

The impact of personality on the relationship between social relations and well-being has been understudied. We assessed optimism, social support, and social strain in association with self-esteem, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction for a sample of 247 women (Mean age = 57.56, range 45-89 years) from three race groups (42% Native American, 34% African American, 24% European American). PROCESS models revealed significant interactions between optimism and support suggesting that high support buffers the risk of low optimism for all three dependent variables, and two interactions of optimism with social strain, showing that low optimism exacerbated the negative impact of high strain for CES-D and self-esteem scores. The full models accounted for 30-50% of the variance explained in each outcome. We discuss important resources for resilience shown by the women in the sample.
OLDER WOMEN'S EXPERIENCES OF AGING: THE PHYSICAL, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND THE SOCIAL
Authors: Newton Nicky J
Published: November 2019

According to the life course perspective (Settersten, 2003), major life transitions are embedded in contexts shaped by personal history and social circumstances “as natural as the changing seasons” (Miller, 2010, p.663). Aging itself is perhaps the epitome of all transitions: a relatively measured movement through a series of situations, conditions, and social roles (Hettich, 2010); a transition that particularly lends itself to a life course approach. In this qualitative interview study, 37 women (Mage = 72.27) responded to questions regarding their experiences of the physical, psychological and social aspects of aging. While themes of inevitability and physical health were evident, the highly-personalized nature of aging was also underscored through individual themes of invisibility, freedom from expectations, fear of cognitive decline, and the quality and maintenance of friendships. Similarities and differences in women’s experience of aging are compared; the need to contextualize aging within the life course is discussed.
ARCHIVES OF GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS: MEN’S HEALTH AND AGING
Authors: Thorpe Roland J
Published: November 2019

Historically men typically have had more opportunities, privileges, and power; yet men die sooner and have earlier onset of health conditions compared to women. This is largely because there is a paucity of research focusing on the complex interaction that exists between social, behavioral, biological, and psychosocial factors among men. This symposium contains a collection of papers in the latest Volume of the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics that discuss some key factors that can provide insights to advance our understanding of men’s health and aging. Kelley and colleagues bring together several important concepts from sociology and gerontology to provide an explanatory framework for older men’s differential health profiles within and between cohorts, and over time. Wilmoth and colleagues discuss the complexities of understanding the health and well-being of male veterans in late life by providing critical insight on next steps that are needed on specific war-era cohorts to identify the mechanisms that shape veteran status differences in late-life health and mortality. Taylor and Taylor focus on social isolation and loneliness among a diverse sample of older men including understanding how social isolation and loneliness impact health outcomes. Bruce and Thorpe focus on how faith has implications for socio-biologic interactions associated with elevated risk for disease and premature death among this marginalized population. These presentations collectively will bolster our knowledge on men’s health and aging.
SOCIAL ISOLATION, LONELINESS, AND MEN'S HEALTH
Authors: Taylor Harry O
Published: November 2019

Strong and fulfilling relationships are important components of men’s health and well-being across the life course; however, social isolation and loneliness are important but under-assessed conditions among older men. This is important to note because older men often subscribe to common masculinity themes regarding independence and self-sufficiency which places them at greater risk for social isolation and loneliness in comparison to older women. The purpose of this presentation is to review the social isolation and loneliness literature specifically among older men by 1) discussing gender differences, and the potential mechanisms behind these differences, in social isolation and loneliness, 2) examining health, behavioral and physiological effects of social isolation and loneliness specifically among older men, and 3) providing future research directions for understanding social isolation and loneliness among older men including understanding social isolation and loneliness and their associative outcomes among diverse samples of older men.
ACTIVITIES ACROSS AMERICA: EVALUATING GEOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN ACTIVITY ENGAGEMENT
Authors: Trubenstein Brittany P , Corley Robin , Gebelin Kyle D , Rey Sergio , Wadsworth Sally , Reynolds Chandra A
Published: November 2019

Rurality is associated with cognitive health disparities. We investigated proximal and distal indices of rurality, activity engagement and cognitive performance in the ongoing Colorado Adoption/Twin Study of Lifespan behavioral development and cognitive aging (CATSLife; N = 979; 47% female). The Index of Relative Rurality (IRR) (0 = Urban to 1= Rural) was calculated using population density, population, percent urban, and remoteness at the census tract (IRRtract; M=0.40,SD =.05) and county levels (IRRcounty; M=0.53, SD=.09), which were moderately correlated (r = .21, p = .000). Individuals reported weekly-hours of engagement in 19 activities, classified into social (M=6.85, SD=4.03), physical (M=6.53, SD=4.76), family (M=10.76, SD=7.06), sedentary (M=11.84, SD=5.83), or cognitive (M=4.63, SD=3.74) domains. Social activities correlated with IRRcounty (r=0.091, p = .005) but not with IRRtract (r=-0.004). WAIS-III IQ scores were available. Social activities modestly correlated with IQ, particularly Verbal-IQ (r = .063, p = .049). Cognitive activities correlated with all IQ measures (r’s = .17 to .25, p < .000). While IRRcounty correlated positively with IQ (r’s=0.057 to 0.094, p’s = .079 to .000), IRRtract correlated negatively but not significantly with IQ (r’s=-0.053 to -0.062, p’s = .104 - .054). Analyses accounting for family nesting, sex, and age suggested compensatory associations between IRRcounty versus IRRtract and Full-Scale-IQ (p < .019), with similar patterns for Verbal-IQ and Performance-IQ. Social activities did not uniquely contribute. Further investigation is warranted to better understand the complex relationships between proximal and distal rurality and the implications that these relationships have on activity engagement and cognitive performance.
SOCIAL COHESION, TRANSPORTATION, AND PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AMONG OLDER ADULTS
Authors: Latham-Mintus Kenzie , Miller Keith
Published: November 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this research is to examine the role that social cohesion and access (conceptualized as mobility and transportation) plays on participation in social activities (i.e., visiting friends/family, attending religious services, participating in organizations, and going out for enjoyment). Participation in valued, social activities promotes of well-being through social interactions and the maintenance of personally meaningful relationships and lifestyles. Methods: Data from the National Health and Aging Trends (NHATS) study were used. The NHATS is representative of U.S. Medicare recipients ages 65 and older. The NHATS collects information on health and participation as well as detailed environmental measures, which makes it well suited for this research. Results: Higher ratings of social cohesion were associated with higher cumulative odds of participating in social activities among older adults, net of sociodemographic characteristics, personal network size, neighborhood disorder, and health factors. Taking public transportation services and walking places were associated with higher cumulative odds of participating in social activities. An interaction between social cohesion and walking places was significant (p=0.002). Older adults who reported high levels of social cohesion and walked to get around their community were more likely to participate in social activities compared with those reporting low social cohesion and walking as a transportation. Discussion: This research provides evidence that socially cohesive neighborhoods enable greater access to social activities through transportation services. Offering a range of transportation services is only piece of creating an age-friendly community—older adults must also feel comfortable using these options.
ADMINISTRATIVE INDICATORS OF FAMILY SUPPORT AMONG COMPLEX PATIENTS
Authors: Jimenez Elvira E , Trivedi Ranak , Huynh Alexis , Haderlein Taona , Katz Marian , Chang Evelyn
Published: November 2019

Greater access to family support has been shown to positively affect the management of complex patients (i.e., multiple chronic conditions and psychosocial needs). However, patients’ availability of family support is not easily obtainable from medical records. We aim to identify administrative variables that can be used as indicators of family support. We investigated secondary next-of-kin (i.e., patient identified two next-of-kin) and marital status as administratively defined family support availability in a Veteran sample (n=2210). A subsample (n=329) was further evaluated with documented responses to questions “Are there any friends/family members you would like to involve in any aspect of your health care?” (i.e., “actual availability”) and “Does anyone help you with your daily activities?” (i.e., “obtained” availability). We performed a logistic regression analysis to evaluate the association between administratively defined and “actual” or “obtained” availability of support controlling for age, race/ethnicity, and gender. The sample was 90% male, mean age 63 years, 50%White and 44% African American. We found that 32.9% had administratively defined availability by being married, and 32.5% by listing secondary next-of kin. Married Veterans were significantly more likely to report greater actual availability (p=0.01) and obtained (p=0.04) support. Veterans listing a secondary next-of-kin were significantly more likely to report “actual” availability (p= 0.04) but not on “obtained” (p=0.08) support. Marital status may be a useful proxy of actual family support and listing a secondary next-of kin may be an alternate indicator for complex patients. Our study provides guidance on the use of administrative data in understanding caregivers.
IDENTIFYING UNMET NEED IN INFORMAL CAREGIVING: DISPARITIES BY GENDER, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, AND RACE-ETHNICITY
Authors: Cohen Steven A , Xu Furong , Meucci Marissa R , Woodham Symone , Greaney Mary L
Published: November 2019

Older adults, including those with dementia and other types of cognitive decline, often report a desire to remain in their homes. Over 50 million informal caregivers in the US provide needed in-home assistance to those in need, and there are well-documented disparities in informal caregiving responsibilities by sociodemographic factors , yet little is known about “unmet need” in informal caregiving. Therefore, the study’s objective is to examine discrepancies in unmet caregiving-related need by race/ethnicity, gender, and employment status. We abstracted data about caregivers from the 2017 National Study of Caregiving and linked these data to participants in the National Health and Aging Trends Study on caregivers of older adults (n=993). Generalized linear models were used to model the discrepancies between the number of activities of daily living for which the care recipient required assistance and the number of tasks caregivers provide, by race/ethnicity, gender, and employment status, accounting for confounders and complex sampling. Care recipients whose primary informal caregivers were employed were 69% more likely than those whose informal caregivers were not employed to experience unmet caregiving need (OR 1.69, 95%CI 1.19-2.41). A similar association between employment and unmet caregiving was observed among White caregivers (OR=1.79, 95% CI 1.16-2.69), while the association was not significant among Black caregivers (p=0.228). These findings suggest potentially addressable disparities in informal caregiving duties between Black and White caregivers, and can be used to inform and develop of policies and programs designed to improve caregiver health and reduce undue strain on caregiver health and wellbeing.
PERSONALITY AND FAMILY HISTORY OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AS PREDICTORS OF OLDER ADULTS’ SELF-REPORTED MEMORY PROBLEMS
Authors: Bhargava Sakshi , Hill Nikki , Mogle Jacqueline , Bell Tyler R , Wion Rachel
Published: November 2019

Understanding individual factors (e.g., personality) associated with self-reported memory problems is important to refine identification of individuals at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Using multilevel modeling, we examined the association of family history of AD and personality traits with self-reported memory problems in older adults (n = 421; 72.21% White; 62.95% female; Mage = 76.69). Results showed that individuals with a family history of AD reported more frequent memory problems and greater one-year memory decline. Similar findings were reported for individuals with higher extraversion scores. Further, older adults with higher neuroticism scores reported greater one- and ten-year memory decline. Neuroticism was positively related to frequency of memory problems, but only among participants with a family history of AD. Findings suggest that higher neuroticism and lower extraversion may increase older adults’ reports of memory problems. Family history of AD may further exacerbate this tendency.
GENETICS AND MECHANISMS OF HUMAN AGING AND FRAILTY
Authors: Melzer David , Ferrucci Luigi
Published: November 2019

Great progress has been made recently in identifying the genetic and likely biological mechanisms of aging traits in humans, thanks to the very large UK Biobank cohort of 500,000 persons. This symposium will discuss new results for known genetic loci influencing aging, including in-depth analysis of the APOE e2 “protective” allele and aging outcomes, and will highlight new pathways for follow-up. Identifying genetic variants associated with frailty (accumulation of deficits) is implicating specific pathways with possible causal effects on premature frailty, with particular emphasis on neurological traits. Large-scale analysis of physical frailty – here parametrized as muscle weakness – is shedding light on specific mechanisms that are divergent from those associated with the Rockwood-like analysis, with evidence for sex-specific pathways. At the end of this symposium, the audience should be able to better understand the processes that potentially drive aging and frailty in older adults, and the possibilities for future diagnostic and treatment modalities for delaying or reversing aging and frailty in older adults.
GERONTOLOGISTS’ CONSIDERATIONS IN CHOOSING AND EXPERIENCING LATER-LIFE RELOCATION AND RESIDENCE
Authors: Kivnick Helen Q , Wyatt-Brown Anne , Kivnick Helen Q
Published: November 2019

Increasing numbers of Baby Boomers and their older cohorts are now confronting challenges of aging that have long been research topics and practice domains of gerontologists. Choosing later-life relocation and residence is one such challenge. However, large-scale, population-based research runs the risk of making unwarranted assumptions about individuals based on group membership, alone. As people continue to develop through older adulthood, residential preferences and priorities can change over time – based on financial pressures, health concerns, family circumstances, and more. No solution works for all people. And for many, a choice made early in older adulthood may prove unworkable in the longer term. As Stephen Golant put it in Aging in the Right Place (2015), it is important to try to match the place -- be it home, community, or institution -- with the temperament and the finances of the person who will be living in it. Each older adult needs information about different options and appropriate self-knowledge, in order make a decision that gives them pleasure for an extended amount of time. In this session, aging gerontologists (aged 69-90+) discuss their personal considerations in anticipating and making these major decisions and in experiencing their consequences – as influenced by the unique disciplinary and theoretical perspectives afforded by a lifetime of work in gerontology. Presenters will share their personal later-life housing stories, as they are influenced by theories, concepts, findings, personal circumstances, and styles of observing, thinking, and acting – all developed through their personal careers in gerontology.
HOW TO PUBLISH: FROM START TO FINISH AND BEYOND
Authors: Sands Laura P
Published: November 2019

This symposium, organized by the Gerontological Society of America’s (GSA) Publications Committee, will provide information on the publication process from the perspective of several editors of GSA’s scientific journals that publish diverse types of gerontological research, basic to applied across multiple disciplines. This session is comprised of three parts including: 1) Podium presentations from editors-in-chief from GSA’s The Gerontologist, Innovation in Aging (GSA’s new open access journal), and Journal of Gerontology-Series B, Social Sciences. Editors will describe how to prepare your manuscript for submission, choose the right journal, and revise the manuscript for resubmission; 2) A presentation about how to assess and maximize the impact of published work given by a representative from Oxford University Press (OUP); and 3) Round table discussions with editors from the Journals of Gerontology-Series A (Medical Sciences) and B (Psychological and Social Sciences), The Gerontologist, and Innovation in Aging and OUP representatives. Editors will answer questions related to the podium presentations and other questions specific to each journal. Intended audiences include emerging and international scholars, and authors interested in learning more about best practices and tips for getting their scholarly work published. Current and future published authors will also gain information about how to leverage already published work.
I-CONECT PROJECT: CAN SOCIAL INTERACTION IMPROVE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS AMONG SOCIALLY ISOLATED OLDER ADULTS?
Authors: Dodge Hiroko H , Hooker Karen , Antonucci Toni C
Published: November 2019

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that larger social networks or more frequent social interactions may have protective effects against cognitive decline and the incidence of dementia. Therefore, increasing social interaction could be a promising intervention for improving cognitive well-being in socially isolated older adults. We have conducted multiple NIH-funded randomized controlled trials (RCT) over 10 years, examining whether conversational interactions through webcam and internet can improve cognitive functions and enhance cognitive reserve. In this symposium, we will introduce this series of behavioral intervention trials through 4 presentations. First, Dodge will provide background and results of their previous RCT where they showed efficacy of conversational intervention on domain-specific cognitive functions and introduce the ongoing larger project called I-CONECT (https://www.i-conect.org). Second, Lindsey will introduce technological innovations used in the I-CONECT project including development of user-friendly video-chat devices, recording of audio and video data and innovative recruitment efforts. Third, Asgari will share results on how speech utterance and characteristics collected through the project could distinguish those with mild cognitive impairment from those with normal cognition using machine learning modelling approaches. Finally, Cerino and his team will show results of the study which examined whether cognitive improvements through conversation-based intervention depend on an individual’s personality, laying the groundwork for a personalized intervention trial in the future. The symposium is of interest for those who study social isolation and its prevention, the link among cognition, social isolation and personality, as well as those who focus on technology as a tool for improving well-being of older adults.
I-CONECT: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Authors: Dodge Hiroko H , Kaye Jeffrey , Goodrich Elena , Lindsley Jacob , MacDonald Mattie , Mattek Nora , Asgari Meysam , Silbert Lisa
Published: November 2019

In our previous NIH-funded randomized controlled behavioral clinical trial, we developed a conversation-based social interaction cognitive stimulation protocol delivered by trained interviewers through webcams and a user-friendly interactive Internet interface. Daily 30 minute face-to-face video-chats were conducted for 6 weeks. Despite a short duration, this proof of concept study demonstrated high adherence among older adults (mean age 80 years) and showed improvement in cognitive domains which tap language-based executive functions and semantic memory among the experimental group compared to the control group who did not engage in any video-chats. Building on these results, we are now conducting two NIH-funded projects (https://www.i-conect.org), targeting socially isolated older adults who are less likely to participate in clinical trials despite their high risk of cognitive decline. In this presentation, we introduce a series of projects outlined above and share the challenges and opportunities identified in our behavioral intervention trials focused on social interaction.
LINGUISTIC MEASURES OF SPOKEN UTTERANCES FOR DETECTING MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT
Authors: Asgari Meysam , Kaye Jeffrey , Dodge Hiroko
Published: November 2019

Studies have shown that speech characteristics can aid in early-identification of those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We performed a linguistic analysis on spoken utterances of 41 participants (15 MCI, 26 healthy controls) from conversations with a trained interviewer using the Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) method. Data came from a randomized controlled behavioral clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01571427) to examine effects of conversation-based cognitive stimulation on cognitive functions among older adults with normal cognition or MCI, which served as a pilot study for I-CONECT. From the collected spoken utterances we first constructed a fixed-dimensional feature vector using TF-IDF. Next, to distinguish between MCI and healthy controls, we trained a support vector machine (SVM) classifier on per-subject feature vectors according to 5-fold cross-validation procedure. Our results verify the effectiveness of TF-IDF features in this classification task with Receiver Operating Characteristic Area Under Curve of 81%, well above chance at 65%.
SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUALITIES IN TRANSITIONS BETWEEN FRAILTY STATES IN THE VERY OLD: THE NEWCASTLE 85+ STUDY
Authors: Jagger Carol , Mendonca Nuno , Kingston Andrew , Robinson Louise , Yadegarfar Mohammad E , Hanson Helen , Duncan Rachel
Published: November 2019

Early-life socio-economic position (SEP), defined by education, remains a significant factor in disability progression in Innovation in Aging, 2019, Vol. 3, No. S1 225 GSA 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting very old age, but there is less evidence for its effect on frailty progression. We used the Newcastle 85+ Study, a longitudinal cohort of people born in 1921 and aged 85 at first assessment in 2006, and followed up at 18, 36, and 60 months. Of the 845 participants at baseline, the Fried frailty status (FFS) was available for 696 participants at baseline of whom 60% (n=414) were women. The effects of SEP in early, mid (occupation) and late-life (area deprivation) on frailty transitions between age 85 and 90 were investigated in multistate models. We found no significant effect of education on any frailty transitions. However those living in less deprived areas were less likely to die when frail (HR: 0.60, 95%CI: 0.40-0.89), and this remained significant after further adjustment for education and morbidity count.
LINKING ETHNIC MINORITY ELDERS TO PROGRAMS AND SERVICES: CHALLENGES TO BUILDING NETWORKS
Authors: Glicksman Allen , Ring Lauren , Torres Sandra
Published: November 2019

Building networks that are effective in linking older adults to supportive programs and services often involves challenges related to access, eligibility requirements, the elder's ability to understand enrollment processes, and lack of trust in service providers. For ethnic minority elders these challenges are often greater due to additional linguistic and cultural barriers. The four presentations on this panel address challenges to building effective service networks for ethnic minority elders using data derived from focus groups with members of these communities and those tasked with providing their care. The first presentation (Graham and Tseng) examines the Village model, a model designed to empower older adults, and asks why more Latino, African American and Asian elders do not participate. The second paper (Ågård) looks at communication difficulties as a source for understanding the nature of cross-cultural discussions around end of life issues with ethnic minority patients. The third paper (Ajrouch, Janevic, and Antonucci) explores how caregiving programs for Alzheimer’s Disease patients can be modified to better serve Arabic speaking caregivers. The final paper (Ring, Liebman, Glicksman and Rodriguez) uses data collected among Spanish and Chinese (Mandarin) speaking elders to design a conceptual model which describes how ethnic minority and other elderly navigate the Long Term Care Services and Supports network. Our respondent will place these papers within the growing theoretical work on diversity and care support.
A FAMILY-CENTERED APPROACH TO DEMENTIA CAREGIVING AMONG ARAB AMERICANS
Authors: Ajrouch Kristine , Ajrouch Kristine , Janevic Mary , Antonucci Toni C
Published: November 2019

This paper presents the process by which we adapted an existing Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD) caregiver support intervention that is directed at multiple family caregivers and culturally-responsive to the needs of the Arab American community. Three focus group discussions with Arab American families caring for a family member with ADRD were organized in partnership with the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS). Focus group discussions included two members from each family to gather data on needs of Arab American ADRD caregivers, role of family in caregiving and use of technology for caregiving information. Results underscored the lack of and desire for knowledge around ADRD, and the perception by Arab Americans that they differ from non-Arab Americans in approaches to caregiving (e.g., person with ADRD often moves from one child’s house to another). These data confirm the need for caregiving interventions responsive to Arab American needs/preferences.
NOTES FROM THE FIELD: TAPPING INTO RESILIENCE THROUGH REFLECTIVE WRITING
Authors: Holmes Holly M , Cole Thomas R
Published: November 2019

Reflective writing is a powerful tool that can help healthcare providers address burnout and access inner strength. We describe the formation and functioning of a writing group for palliative care and geriatrics physicians at McGovern Medical School. The group has served several functions, including the promotion professional and personal growth. Using reflective writing and prompts, our group has explored issues of compassion, caregiving, grief, and loss. Group writing has provided a safe space for processing and letting go of professional and personal stressors related to caring for patients and to demands in our daily lives. The positive impact of the writing group has extended to caregiving and to other writing, including technical writing. This symposium is designed for healthcare professionals in all disciplines who are interested in exploring the use of reflective writing in regular practice.
EXPERIENCES IN CREATING A WRITING GROUP
Authors: Flores Renee J , Rianon Nahid J
Published: November 2019

Writing and publication in an academic setting is vital for advancing careers and knowledge. Attempting to increase scholarly productivity, our division created a physician-writing group, led by a prolific humanities expert to hone our writing skills. An unexpected outcome was realized. Using a mix of reflective, intent-driven, impromptu writing exercises and group sharing we discovered new opportunities for personal and professional growth through empathy. During these 1-hour sessions, several organic themes emerged. These included gaining greater inner-personal insight and recognizing inter-personal similarities in career paths and provider benevolence as motivation to continue when experiencing emotional fatigue and burnout. Ultimately, while honing our professional writing skills we also stimulated compassion to ourselves and our colleagues, opening new sources of resilience. We plan to continue these sessions exploring the potential multifaceted impacts on professional/academic growth these sorts of writing groups can have for geriatric and palliative medicine professionals and other healthcare providers.
USING REFLECTIVE WRITING TO PROMOTE RESILIENCE
Authors: Leech Ana L , Koshy Anson J
Published: November 2019

Patients invite us, rather reluctantly sometimes, into their lives during some of their most difficult moments; these encounters change us even if it is not readily apparent. Gathering for this writing group, we have found that creating a permanent record of our deepest thoughts and feelings enables further analysis and discussion in a collegial and supportive environment. In this paper, I relate one clinical story as an example. I will never forget caring for Mr. R. during what I can only call an ordeal, but writing it down, exploring my chosen words, and sharing them with the team brought validation and closure to what would have been a deep wound in my soul. The scar remains, being remodeled by time, experience, and other wounds, softened through writing and sharing, becoming part of me. We explore one way in which supportive writing groups can foster professional relationships and growth.
ADVANCED ILLNESS AND THE AGING NETWORK
Authors: MacPherson Andrew
Published: November 2019

This session will provide insights on the many ways that the aging network and the Older Americans Act is able to assist individuals, and their families, who are dealing with a serious or advanced illness.
WORK FORCE COMPETENCIES AND TRAINING FOR SELF-DIRECTED SERVICE PROGRAMS
Authors: Sciegaj Mark , Hooyeman Nancy
Published: November 2019

In 2017 over one million individuals of all ages were enrolled in approximately 260 self-directed long-term services and support programs nationwide. Research conducted by the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Care (NRCPDS) and the Council for Social Work Education identified training gaps among current aging and disability network professionals and within social work education. Believing that both self-directing individuals and their family caregivers would benefit from a workforce that has the knowledge and skills to implement the principles of self-directed care, NRCPDS and CSWE working with national professional organizations and government agencies have identified workforce competency domains and developed a number of training resources that can be used in both academic and professionals settings. This presentation will review the work of NRCPDS and CSWE in workforce competencies, training resources, and recommendations for self-directed services training.
THE PITTSBURGH FATIGABILITY SCALE: VALIDATION OF THE MENTAL SUBSCALE IN THE LONG LIFE FAMILY STUDY
Authors: Renner Sharon W , Brown Patrick J , Bear Todd M , Andersen Stacy L , Cosentino Stephanie , Boudreau Robert M , Santanasto Adam J , Glynn Nancy W
Published: November 2019

We previously validated the physical, but not the mental subscale of the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale (PFS). Thus, we aimed to validate the PFS mental subscale in 1,738 individuals aged ≥60 from the Long Life Family Study (55.5% female, age 74.8±11.1 years, PFS mental score 7.1±10.1, range 0-50). Confirmatory factor analysis with promax rotation showed all 10 items loaded on two factors: social and physical activities (SRMR=0.07, RMSEA=0.13, CFI=0.90). PFS mental score had strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=0.90) and demonstrated moderate concurrent and construct validity using Pearson correlations against measures of cognition (Trail Making A (r=0.26) and B (r=0.29) time), gait speed (r=-0.30), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (r=0.35), p<0.0001 for all. In conclusion, by accounting for self-pacing inherent in common fatigue questionnaires, the validated PFS mental subscore may be a more sensitive tool to examine perceived mental fatigability as an important contributor to cognitive and physical function.
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF HELPING OTHERS: INNOVATIVE METHODS TO UNDERSTAND STRAINS AND GAINS
Authors: Haley William E , Pillemer Karl
Published: November 2019

Older adults are often involved in prosocial behaviors including volunteering, informal assistance to family members, or extensive caregiving for family with chronic disease or disability. Many studies find that volunteering and providing informal support can enhance health and well-being, but family caregiving has generally been characterized as being highly stressful and harmful to health and well-being. Recent research has suggested that involvement in prosocial activities, including caregiving, can actually build resilience and buffer the impacts of stress, and that the commonalities across different types of prosocial behaviors in older adults deserve greater attention. This symposium brings together researchers who are using innovative methods to study prosocial behaviors, including measuring daily experiences and their linkages with affect, epidemiological methods, and use of health outcomes including serum biomarkers of inflammation and immunity, activity tracking, and mortality. Results across the presentations show that the effects of helping others can be considered as mixed blessings, with potentially harmful and helpful effects depending on contextual factors. Factors including a history of adverse childhood experiences, and dementia caregiving, can create particular challenges. The Discussant, Dr. Karl Pillemer, will discuss implications for future research on volunteering, informal assistance to family, and family caregiving. He will also address ways that gerontological researchers can present a more balanced public narrative about how stressful experiences such as caregiving can produce not only negative affect, but also potentially positive health benefits, resilience to stress, and personal growth.
DESIGNING FAMILY CAREGIVER STUDIES THAT BALANCE STRESS PROCESS AND HELPING RELATIONSHIP PERSPECTIVES
Authors: Roth David L , Haley William , Sheehan Orla , Walston Jeremy , Rhodes David , Howard Virginia
Published: November 2019

Family caregiving is often characterized as a chronically stressful situation, and stress process models have been the dominant conceptual foundation underlying caregiving studies for decades. Recently, this perspective has been augmented with more positive views that emphasize potentially healthy and prosocial aspects of caregiving. Replicated findings from population-based studies show that caregivers have lower mortality rates than noncaregivers, consistent with the more balanced conceptual approach. The Caregiving Transitions Study is investigating 251 participants who transitioned into a caregiving role at some point between two blood samples taken 10 years apart in a national epidemiological study and 251 matched controls. Preliminary analyses confirm that caregiving leads to increased psychological distress. Ongoing analyses are examining changes in inflammatory biomarkers, health status, and positive aspects of caregiving. Findings will be examined alongside our recent meta-analysis of convenience samples that found caregiving to have small and inconsistent relationships with biomarkers of inflammation and immunity.
EFFECT OF ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES ON DAILY SUPPORT TO FAMILY AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING IN ADULTHOOD
Authors: Kong Jooyoung , Liu Yin , Almeida David
Published: November 2019

Extensive evidence suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can lead to negative health effects across a lifetime. This study examines the impact of ACEs on the frequency of providing daily support (i.e., unpaid assistance, emotional support, and disability-related assistance) to family members and the moderating effects of ACEs in the association between providing daily support to family and daily negative affect. Using the National Study of Daily Experiences II, we analyzed a total of 14,912 daily interviews from 2,022 respondents aged 56 on average. Key results showed that a greater number of ACEs were associated with providing more frequent emotional support to family. We also found the significant interaction effect that adults with more ACEs showed greater negative affect on the days when they provided assistance to family members with disabilities. The findings underscore the long-term negative impact of ACEs on daily well-being in the context of family relationships.
THE INCIDENCE AND IMPACT OF POLYPHARMACY IN AL RESIDENTS
Authors: Galik Elizabeth
Published: November 2019

The purpose of this study was to describe polypharmacy in AL settings. We hypothesized that: (1) age, gender, race, setting, multimorbidity and cognitive status would influence polypharmacy; and (2) polypharmacy would be associated with falls, emergency room visits and hospitalizations. This was a descriptive study using data from the first cohort of the FFC-AL-EIT Study. A total of 242 participants from 26 AL settings were included. Participants had a mean age of 86.86 (SD=7.0), the majority were women 179(74%) and white (N=232, 96%) with 5 (SD=2) comorbidities. The mean number of drugs was 7 (SD=3.56) and 51% were exposed to polypharmacy, 24% fell at least once, 9% were sent to the hospital and 13% to the emergency room. Neither hypothesis was supported. Continued research is needed to explore the factors that influence polypharmacy and to identify if there are negative outcomes associated with polypharmacy in this population.
ETHICAL DILEMMAS, VULNERABLE ELDERS, AND ELDER ABUSE
Authors: Heisler Candace J
Published: November 2019

Elder abuse is a growing concern worldwide. It is described across multiple professional disciplines: as a social justice issue by social workers; as a medical syndrome and public health issue by health care providers; and as a violation of human rights and criminal laws by courts, legislators, and the justice system professionals. Elder abuse assumes different forms, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, financial exploitation, neglect, and abandonment. Forms often co-occur in a variety of settings. This presentation explores key ethical conundrums emerging when different professions address elder abuse. Specifically examined is how the ethical principles of autonomy and non-maleficence conflict with mandatory reporting laws, for example, if their purpose is to incarcerate older offenders who are ill and vulnerable serving lengthy mandated prison terms. The presentation also explores the rights of perpetrators, including how rights of crime victims are weighed against those of perpetrators in a just society.
INTEREST GROUP SESSION—TECHNOLOGY AND AGING: THE POTENTIAL AND PITFALLS OF EXTENDED REALITY SOLUTIONS FOR SUPPORTING AND ASSESSING OLDER ADULTS
Authors: Charness Neil , Narasimhan Balaji
Published: November 2019

Extended Reality (XR), which encompasses Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), holds a great deal of promise for improving the health and well-being of older adults. These opportunities include providing rehabilitation, physical exercise, skills training, leisure opportunities, and support for instrumental activities of daily living. Further, XR presents novel assessment opportunities. This session will explore the potential of XR solutions, and also crucial barriers to XR implementation, adoption, and engagement, particularly with respect to the “digital divide.” Some older adults, for a number of reasons, experience greater challenges adopting and using newer technologies. This session will start with a broad overview of issues related to XR solutions and will identify critical research needs, with an emphasis on the needs of older adults. This will be followed by a presentation of older adults’ perceptions of XR using data derived from a large, nationally representative sample. While some older adults reported not being ready for XR solutions, many older adults reported being willing to accept them to support optimal aging. Next, a study is presented that directly compares older adults’ perceptions of presence and immersion in virtual spaces. Using VR to assess wayfinding and navigation abilities of older adults is discussed next. The final talk will present VR usability issues derived from interview and focus group data. The session discussant will bring an interdisciplinary perspective to these important issues.
USING VR FOR NAVIGATION ASSESSMENT IN OLDER ADULTS
Authors: Moffat Scott
Published: November 2019

There has been a long tradition of wayfinding and orienteering studies in humans but these have mostly neglected possible age-related differences in navigation. This field of inquiry is experiencing something of a resurgence of interest due to the development of VR technology which has brought the systematic study of large scale navigation into the laboratory and into the MRI scanning environment. Empirical studies to date identify navigation as an aspect of cognition that is vulnerable to the aging process. Functional and structural neuroimaging studies in humans suggest that age-related changes in the brain’s “navigation circuit” may underlie these behavioral age differences. Older adults also adopt unique spatial strategies and knowledge of these strategy preferences could enlighten both basic science research in spatial cognition and also inform the development of age-specific technological assistance that may extend functional independence of older adults into later life.