bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EXPLORING THE DAY-TO-DAY DYNAMICS AMONG FLOW EXPERIENCE, SUBJECTIVE AGE, AND POSITIVE AFFECT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Authors: Tse Dwight , Finnigan Samuel
Published: January 2025

The subjective experience of aging can vary day-to-day, and can depend upon a person’s activities and experiences. Activities conducive to flow experiences (energized experiences of intense focus and enjoyment) are associated with participants feeling younger on the same day, as well as increased levels of positive affect. Younger subjective age has similarly been found to increase positive affect throughout the day. We therefore hypothesized that greater daily flow experiences would predict greater positive affect both directly and indirectly through reducing subjective age. In the UK sample, participants completed up to 14 daily diaries, including questionnaires on their flow experience in their most time-consuming activity, subjective age, and positive affect. Analysis of responses from 85 participants aged 50 to 85 (mean = 62.16) with at least 7 completed daily surveys revealed significant within-person variability ranging from 44% (flow experience) to 73% (positive affect). Multilevel mediation analysis revealed flow experience was negatively related with subjective age and positively with positive affect, where on days with greater flow participants felt younger and reported higher positive affect. There was also a within-person indirect effect of flow increasing positive affect through subjective age: on days where participants experienced more flow than usual, they indirectly experienced higher positive affect through feeling younger. These findings remained robust when controlling for stressors, uplifts, and change in positive affect from the previous day. These findings suggest engaging in flow-conducive activities may provide additional benefits for older adults by increasing positive affect, partly by making them feel younger.
LIFESPAN PREDICTION USING MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES ON HISTORIC FULL COUNT CENSUS DATA
Authors: Carlston Kelsey
Published: January 2025

This study proposes a new measure of status scores for Censuses in the early 1900s. Preceding 1940, income and education were not collected by the US Census, leading researchers to rely primarily on occupation-based metrics such as the IPUMS OCCSCORE or Duncan SEI for continuous status assessment. These measures do not incorporate the rich data available in the Census. Employing machine learning techniques, we aim to develop socioeconomic status scores by leveraging a diverse array of Census variables, including occupation, industry, race, geography, housing tenure, and nativity. The scores will primarily be estimates of life span based on links to Social Security data via CenSoc. The objective of the study is to make publicly available scores that researchers can use in studies of intergenerational mobility, life course studies, and labor force composition, and to determine the most important characteristics from pre-1940 Census data that predict life span.
EXPLORING A RANGE OF ROADMAPS LEADING TO THE AGE-FRIENDLY UNIVERSITY DESIGNATION AND BEYOND
Authors: Friberg-Felsted Katarina , Eaton Jacqueline , Guest M Aaron
Published: January 2025

The Age-Friendly University Global Secretariat encourages and processes applications to the Age-Friendly University Global Network (AFUGN). Membership indicates each institution’s commitment to endorsing the 10 Age-Friendly Principles and the implementation of age-inclusive practices to promote older adult engagement and value in the academic setting. Five presenters describe their journey in obtaining the AFU designation. They describe pre-designation road maps, steps involved, barriers faced, and implementation of post-designation plans. Dr. Orit Hirsch-Matsioulas and colleagues at the University of Haifa share how their quest aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and reliance on deep community ties to become the first AFU institution in the Middle East. Dr. Dobish explains how mapping the 10 AFU principles to the core values of West Virginia’s Shepherd University created a successful application at a time of leadership change within the AFU Global Secretariat. Dr. Buys and colleagues delineate how Mississippi State University was invited by the State Department of Health’s Age-friendly Ecosystem Initiative to lead the pursuit of AFU designation as a sentinel university in the state. Dr. Powers illustrates how the University of Central Oklahoma’s path to AFU designation moved through both Faculty and Staff Senates and describes the university president’s investment in the inaugural post-designation initiative. Dr. Eaton and Dr. Friberg-Felsted show how garnering multi-faceted support at the University of Utah led to AFU designation and expansion into current age-inclusive collaborations. Dr. Aaron Guest, of Arizona State University and AFUGN, will facilitate discussion focused on AFU designation and implementation.
SEEKING AGE FRIENDLY UNIVERSITY DESIGNATION TAKES PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE
Authors: Powers Melissa
Published: January 2025

The road to achieving Age Friendly University Designation at the University of Central Oklahoma was long and circuitous. It involved patience and persistence from the primary advocates. The initial steps involved gaining support on campus including from the Committee on Diversity, Faculty Senate, and Staff Senate. Both Senates unanimously approved resolutions in support of seeking the designation. In addition, the Senates added an affirmation that our campus community will be a place where the ideas and contributions of people of all ages are welcomed and valued. The next step on our roadmap was to gain approval from university leadership. It was at this level that our initial request stalled due to lack of interest. After a change in leadership, campus support was again evaluated and was determined to remain high. Due to the high level of campus support, the request was submitted directly to the President who approved seeking the designation without hesitation. The President specifically asked that our priority post designation be to conduct an age-friendly assessment of the campus to guide future priorities and programming. This assessment is currently underway. Our programming and priorities will be determined by the results of the age-friendly assessment.
“I’M HAVING THE WORST TIME”: CAREGIVER EXPERIENCES WHEN OLDER ADULTS UNDERGO MAJOR ELECTIVE SURGERY
Authors: Dillon Ellis , Keny Christina , Li Lingsheng , Yank Veronica , Colley Alexis , Ramaiyer Malini , Tang Victoria
Published: January 2025

Older adults are at higher risk of major complications, functional decline, and mortality after surgery. Family caregivers play a critical role supporting older adults, but often experience caregiver burden and distress. We know little about family caregiver experiences before and after a major operation. We conducted semi-structured interviews at three timepoints (2-weeks before and 1 and 3-months post-operation) with family caregivers of adults ≥ 65 years undergoing a major elective operation at an academic hospital. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Thirteen family caregivers completed 27 unique interviews. Family caregivers mean age was 67 (range 44-79), 67% identified as White, and 61% were female spouses. Cancer was the most common indication for operations. Themes identified included: (1) the caregiving role evolves to become all consuming - “my day is kind of wrapped around what he needs,” (2) caregiving demands may disrupt the relationship dynamic - “you just become more of a caregiver than a wife,” (3) uncertainties about surgery and caregiving demands contribute to distress - “I’d like to know the statistics and if there was a 25% chance for full recovery,” and (4) family caregiver insights about how to support their own well-being through better guidance and support through all phases of surgical care. Family caregivers for older adults undergoing a major operation face many challenges and need better psychosocial and instrumental support, family-centered education, and communication. By identifying and addressing these needs, we can optimize the well-being of family caregivers and the older adults they support.
GRANDPARENTS’ CAREGIVING STRESS AND RESILIENCE AMID THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN HONG KONG
Authors: Tang Vera Mun Yu , Chan Sonia Kin Lai
Published: January 2025

Informal care provided by grandparents became more crucial to children with parents unable to look after them at home during COVID-19 lockdown when formal childcare services were suspended and schools were closed. However, there is limited understanding of grandparents’ experiences of caregiving to grandchildren beyond the early COVID-19 waves (i.e., from July 2020 onward). This study applies Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional theory of stress and coping to understand grandparents’ primary appraisal of stressor, coping strategies, and perceived self-efficacy (i.e., secondary appraisal) in providing childcare during the third and forth COVID-19 waves in Hong Kong. Individual interviews were conducted with 21 grandparents aged 45 or above, who had been taking care of grandchildren aged 0 to 15 during the COVID-19 pandemic or six months before the outbreak in Hong Kong. A coding team performed content analysis to identify emergent themes across cases. This study reveals that grandparents’ stress appraisal of pandemic in childcare as threat to harm their grandchildren’s health and development, and as challenge to effective communication with grandchildren and adult children. They initiated problem-focused coping strategies to ameliorate the impact, including lifestyle changes through practicing hygiene and sanitation to protect their grandchildren from infection, performing multiple roles as teacher, playmate, carer and activity facilitator, and learning new communication technologies. They felt pride in their efforts and abilities to ensure grandchildren’s safety and whole-person development, and maintain family stability amid an unprecedented health crisis. These findings suggest that positive caregiving appraisal is crucial for grandparental resilience in stressful times.
FUTURE OF CAREGIVING: INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND CHALLENGES WITH NOVEL NONPHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS
Authors: Savla Jyoti , Hagemann Lauren
Published: January 2025

As we explore the evolving landscape of family caregiving, it becomes clear that caregiving roles offer fulfillment but also pose unique mental health challenges for caregivers of persons living with dementia. These challenges stem from expanded responsibilities and managing dementia-related behaviors. Research emphasizes the intertwined well-being of caregivers and their care recipients, highlighting the need for interventions that support caregivers’ mental health and improve their capacity to address their care recipients’ needs. This symposium aims to assess the effectiveness of novel non-pharmacological interventions, marking a step forward in our approach to caregiver support and improving caregiving dynamics overall. Martinsdale-Adams et al. explore the Annie Caregiver Text program, a text-message intervention based on the REACH-VA protocol, showing its success in improving the management of dementia-related behaviors and reducing caregiver stress. Lee et al. examine the Powerful Tools for Caregivers (PTC) program, assessing its effectiveness in enhancing self-care and communication skills, whether delivered in-person or remotely. Savla et al. share results from an RCT that compares the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention, Practice of Acceptance, Awareness, and Compassion in Caregiving (PAACC), with REACH-VA, focusing on reducing caregiver anxiety and increasing compassion. Ruggiano et al. analyze the Alabama Caregiver Connect initiative, aimed at simplifying access for caregivers to essential dementia care information through interactive, AI-enhanced web tools, including ChatGPT and chatbots. Together, these empirically-validated programs offer novel non-pharmacological options for managing caregiving responsibilities and addressing dementia-related behaviors of relatives, exploring the challenges and solutions for implementing these programs for family caregivers.
AGE DIFFERENCES IN THE BELIEF IN A JUST WORLD AND SOCIETY-LEVEL MODERATORS
Authors: Guo Niting , Li Tianyuan
Published: January 2025

Prior studies have associated belief in a just world with both positive and negative individual and societal consequences. Despite this, the determinants influencing individual differences in justice belief are underexplored. Understanding the developmental trajectory of justice belief can shed light on its influencing factors and potential roles at different stages of life. However, comprehensive research on this issue is scarce. To fill in this gap, we investigated age difference in justice belief with data from World Value Survey 6 (2010-2014) encompassing 83,683 individuals across 59 societies. Incorporating the individualism scores, society-level justice belief, human development index, and income Gini coefficient, we further examined the moderation effects of these societal factors by conducting multilevel analyses. The results showed that both the quadratic (γ40 =.054, p <.001) and linear effect (γ50 =.050, p =.022) of age on justice belief were significantly positive, suggesting a general increasing trend of justice belief with age. Individualism did not moderate the quadratic effect of age (γ41 = -.014, p =.368) but did moderate the linear effect (γ51 =.078, p =.010). Society-level justice belief moderated the quadratic effect of age (γ41 =.431, p <.001), but not the linear effect (γ51 = -.021, p =.245). This study illustrated the developmental trajectory of justice belief and revealed the moderation effects of some societal factors. It provides more insights into the developmental foundation and functions of justice belief. Future studies could further examine the mechanism.
HISTORICAL CHANGE IN MIDLIFE TRAJECTORIES OF PHYSICAL HEALTH: A CROSS-NATIONAL APPROACH
Authors: Cruz-Carrillo Yesenia , Infurna Frank , Dey Nutifafa , Wettstein Markus , Grimm Kevin , Lachman Margie , Gerstorf Denis
Published: January 2025

Empirical evidence has documented that later–born cohorts of middle–aged adults in the U.S. are reporting poorer mental and physical health than earlier–born cohorts. However, less is known about whether this is specific to the U.S. or generalizes to other nations and to what extent this is transpiring across self–report and objective indicators of physical health. Our study aims to describe the similarities and differences in historical change of midlife development in self–rated health, health conditions, and grip strength by using harmonized data from longitudinal panel surveys from the U.S. (HRS), Mexico (MHAS), 13 nations in Europe (ELSA, SHARE), South Korea (KLoSA), and China (CHARLS). Results from growth curve models revealed historical declines in self–rated health and grip strength (for both men and women), and historical increases in health conditions among middle–aged adults from the U.S. In contrast, historical improvements in self–rated health and fewer health conditions were observed for middle–aged adults in Mexico, Europe, South Korea, and China. Results for grip strength are more nuanced, with historical improvements among later–born cohorts of both men and women in Nordic Europe and South Korea and historical declines among both men and women in China. Our discussion focuses on better understanding these national differences in historical trends by considering how the dynamically changing historical context impacts ways of living and health care systems as well as considering the often-profound implications arising for psychological functioning and development at the individual and population level.
OLDER ADULTS AND CAREGIVERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD MOBILITY AND IN-HOSPITAL MOBILITY RELATIONSHIPS
Authors: Zisberg Anna , Shadmi Efrat , Agmon Maayan , Smichenko Yuliana , Shulyaev Ksenya , Gur-Yaish Nurit
Published: January 2025

Improving mobility among hospitalized older adults remains a challenge. Qualitative research indicates that patients’ attitudes are one of the key factors associated with mobility levels. According to the Family Centered Approach, family members have an influence on both patients’ attitudes and actual mobility that are yet to be supported empirically. We tested whether inpatients and their family-members’ attitudes play a role in their in-hospital mobility. Paired data on in-hospital Attitudes Toward Mobility (ATM) was collected from patients (N=151; 78.6±6.6) and their family-caregivers (N=151; 58.2±14.2) as part of the larger prospective HoPE-MOR (Hospitalization Process Effects on Mobility Outcomes and Recovery) study. Data about patients’ health, functional, physical and mental status was collected at hospital admission. Data on average number of steps was collected during up to 7-days of hospitalization (Actigraphy). Results indicate that patients and caregivers’ ATM tend to be positive (3.6±.77; 3.7±.71) and patients were relatively mobile with average 1577±1328 daily steps. In a multivariate analysis of the factors related to average number of steps during hospitalization, both patients (β=.18, p=.02) and caregivers ATM (β=.15, p=.04) were significant predictors after accounting for patients’ mobility ability, severity of the acute and chronic illness, fear of falls, age and sex. In addition, caregivers’ ATM (β=.16, p=.04) was one of the main predictor of patients’ ATM, controlling for intervening variables. To conclude, there is an interlink between family caregivers’ attitudes, patients’ attitudes and actual patients’ mobility. Interventions should consider educating patients and their families to improve perceptions and attitudes toward mobility during hospitalization.
THE JOURNEY FROM SUBMISSION TO SCORE
Authors: Hentges Rochelle
Published: January 2025

Once an application finds a study section home, the scientific review officer (SRO) manages the review of the application by assembling an expert and unbiased panel of reviewers to evaluate its scientific and technical merit. What do study section members assess and how is this reflected in the reviewers’ written assessment of the project’s overall impact? Reviewers provide scores for the core criteria and additional review criteria as defined in the notice of funding opportunity. The panel’s initial assessment determines which applications will be discussed in full at the meeting. For each that is discussed, reviewers discuss the factors that inform their overall assessment. At the end of the discussion, a final impact score is given by all eligible members of the panel, which is reported on the summary statement. Every application undergoes the same process that ensures that fair and consistent consideration is applied to all applications. By the end of the presentation, attendees will learn how the foundation and pillars of the NIH peer review process are put into practice through scoring, discussion, and potential impact on the field.
DEMENTIA-PROFICIENT MANAGED CARE: ACADEMIC–INDUSTRY COLLABORATION ON A MULTITIERED STAFF TRAINING PROGRAM
Authors: Engle David , O’Neil GeVonne , Amjad Halima , Fields Cynthia , Samus Quincy
Published: January 2025

Over 6.5 million people are living with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD) in the U.S. Effective care management can improve care quality, quality of life, delay institutionalization, and decrease unnecessary care costs. Centene Corporation, a leading US health care enterprise, operates government-sponsored healthcare programs and offers coverage to 27.5 million managed care members, including Medicaid and Medicare members. Centene and Johns Hopkins University have been engaged in an academic-industry collaboration since 2019 to address the increase in Centene’s membership population who are living with ADRD, promote dementia care proficiency within care teams, and drive person-centered care to help members achieve their care goals and exercise control over their services. This presentation will describe the development process, content, and nation-wide deployment of a new, evidence-based multi-tiered dementia care specialist (DCS) training program for managed care and health plan teams. The DCS covers 7 learning areas and aligns with CMS and state training requirements. We will review eLearning and live instructor-led modules, how the train-the-trainer program was implemented in practice settings engaging over 500 learners across 37 states since October 2022, and summarize assessment results on key metrics showing a nearly 50% increase proficiency on measures, before to after training.
RURAL URBAN DIFFERENCES IN INFORMAL CAREGIVING
Authors: Crouch Elizabeth , Brown Monique , Cohen Steven , Cassidy Jessica
Published: January 2025

With the rapidly rising aging of the U.S. population, an increasing number of stakeholders have raised concerns regarding the health of this group and where the burden of caring for them will fall. The majority of this caregiving will be at the hands of family members and friends who provide informal, unpaid care for their loved ones. In addition to a greater number of older adults who will need care, these adults are also living longer resulting in a greater need for long-term care. The distribution of both formal and informal caregiving in the United States is not uniform; informal caregiving is significantly more prevalent in rural areas than in urban while formal caregiving has the opposite distribution. Greater reliance on informal caregiving in rural areas may be due to a larger proportion of older adults living in rural areas than in urban, reduced access to formal care services in rural areas, or greater feelings of familial obligations amongst rural residents. Prior research has found that the lived experiences of rural caregivers are markedly different from those of their urban counterparts. During this session, we will describe research findings from our team on rural-urban differences in the health and lived experiences of caregivers. We will also discuss interventions that may be tailored to rural communities. This session will help stakeholders and policy makers to better understand the landscape of informal caregiving amongst minoritized rural residents and help program developers design and implement initiatives for rural caregivers.
RACIAL/ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN COPING RESOURCES AND PURPOSE IN LIFE AMONG OLDER AMERICANS
Authors: Guo Man , Wang Yi , Stangl Morgan
Published: January 2025

Purpose in life (PiL), the sense of direction and meaning in life, has been found to be linked to favorable health outcomes in later life, even lower mortality. Less is known about the perception of PiL among racial/ethnic minorities, who often face numerous adversities, but also have strong coping resources derived from religiosity, social support networks, and neighborhood contexts. Using data from the 2016 and 2018 psychosocial assessment of the HRS (N=11,579), this study assessed racial/ethnic differences in PiL among middle-aged and older adults and the role of coping resources (religiosity, social support, neighborhood cohesion) in shaping PiL. ANOVA results showed that compared to White older adults, Black older adults had significantly higher PiL, and Hispanic older adults had significantly lower PiL. Regression results further showed that all the coping resources were positively associated with higher PiL within each racial/ethnic group, with the exception of religiosity for Hispanic older adults. Despite racial/ethnic minority groups’ significantly higher ratings on religiosity and neighborhood cohesion, the positive associations between the three coping resources and PiL were stronger among White older adults than racial/ethnic minority groups. Aside from possible measurement bias or cultural response differences, the findings suggest that racial/ethnic minority older adults may face unique challenges that impact their effective utilization of coping resources, potentially weakening their PiL. Our findings highlight the importance of better understanding factors that promote PiL among racial/ethnic older minorities, especially Hispanics. They also provide insights into culturally tailored approaches to enhance well-being within these communities.
BUILDING INDIGENOUS HEALTH: INSIGHTS FROM INDIGENOUS ADULTS ON KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION AND ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES
Authors: Liao Zih-Yong , Kuo Fang-Lin
Published: January 2025

Over half of the older population faces inadequate dietary intake, posing higher risks of geriatric syndromes like frailty and sarcopenia. This community-based participatory research (CBPR) co-created a nutrition and cooking workshop in a Taiwanese Indigenous community. Employing the photovoice method alongside focus groups and individual interviews with 16 participants, we sought to understand the older Indigenous adults’ dietary patterns. Nutbeam’s health literacy model (2000) and Giddens’ structuration theory (1984) guided data analysis and conceptualization of food literacy construction in the Indigenous land. Four main themes emerged. First, ‘knowledge integration’ represents the conversation between traditional and scientific food/nutrition knowledge, strengthening functional food literacy to address health concerns. Second, ‘Indigenous adaptive strategies’ demonstrate their ability to apply food knowledge meaningfully in daily life, representing interactive food literacy. Third, ‘awareness of advanced nutrition literacy’ demonstrates the older adults’ ability to evaluate personal diets and critically reflect on the need for better health, representing critical food literacy. These food literacy constructs are iterative and interactive. Lastly, work is central to Indigenous life, shaping their identity and a sense of achievement, motivating older adults’ adaptive strategies and pursuing advanced nutrition literacy. However, the middle-aged population is less likely to attend health promotion activities due to work. Indigenous adaptive strategies reflect human agency’s potential to reproduce individual food ecosystems and healthcare practice systems within the community, overcoming structural barriers. CBPR can foster a sense of ownership among participants, enabling them to engage healthy behaviors as their personal priorities and take active initiatives toward better health.
OLDER ADULTS HAVE DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE PATTERNS TO TWO COMMON SUICIDE ASSESSMENT MEASURES
Authors: Colombowala Fatema , Bower Emily
Published: January 2025

An alarming number of older adults die by suicide each year. Older adults exhibit lower rates of suicidal ideation (SI) yet higher rates of suicide deaths compared to younger adults, so improving risk detection is imperative. Our aim was to compare response patterns to two common, validated measures for assessing SI in older adults at higher risk for suicide. We hypothesized there would be a positive relationship between responses to the two assessments for SI and death ideation (DI). We also expected variation in response patterns among some participants, and examined these exploratorally. Preliminary analyses included 41 participants (M=70 years, 78% female) with subjective cognitive decline who completed the Geriatric Suicide Ideation Scale (GSIS) and the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (CSSRS) as part of a larger study. The GSIS is a self-report measure developed with and for use with older adults that includes SI and DI subscales. The CSSRS is a clinician-administered assessment of SI severity. 62% endorsed lifetime SI and 12% endorsed past-month SI. CSSRS lifetime and past-month SI scores were strongly correlated with the GSIS SI subscale scores (r’s(39)=.5-.6, p’s <.001). However, CSSRS past-month DI scores were not correlated with GSIS DI subscale scores (r(39)=.09, p >.05). Furthermore, we observed endorsement of GSIS DI items among participants who denied DI on the CSSRS. Differential response patterns highlight the need for meaningful measures and/or adaptations of existing measure to accurately capture suicide risk.
IN-HOME ASSESSMENT OF SUICIDALITY IN RURAL-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS
Authors: Nix Caitlyn , Schaff Branden , Dozier Mary
Published: January 2025

Older adults in isolation have an increased risk for suicidality, and this can be exacerbated in a rural context. Additionally, assessment of suicidality during in-home care for older adults is different from typical clinical settings. This presentation will focus on first-hand clinical experiences from an ongoing clinical trial for older adults with hoarding disorder (n = 44, mean age = 69) in rural Mississippi. All participants completed a semi-structured interview of suicidality risk at baseline and at follow-up points across the intervention. We will discuss various factors that are unique to a rural-in home assessment setting, including the importance of re-emphasizing information critical to informed consent (e.g., thresholds for breaking confidentiality), sensitivity to the vulnerability of participants being asked such questions within their home, and confidentiality concerns (e.g., cohabitants in the home, procedures for contacting supervisor for consultation). As the individuals in the current study were volunteering due to distress from clutter or items in the home and not active suicidal ideation, conclusions from these clinical experiences will be compared with findings from risk-assessment studies in older adults.
FAMILY CAREGIVERS’ SELF-DIRECTED ENGAGEMENT WITH EVIDENCE-INFORMED CONTENT OF THE GAMEPLAN4CARE ONLINE PLATFORM
Authors: Stevens Alan , Cho Jinmyoung , Reese Jordan , Han Gang , Ory Marcia
Published: January 2025

GamePlan4Care (GP4C) translated one of the leading evidence-based dementia caregiving interventions, Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health II (REACH II), into an online, interactive platform. Using decision algorithms with integrated online support from Dementia Care Specialists, GP4C includes the full breadth of REACH II education and skill-building materials tailored to the needs of the caregiver. The GP4C online system was provided to 120 family caregivers of persons living with dementia randomized to the GP4C arm of a two-arm clinical trial. The therapeutic content of GP4C included 7 domains: Safety, Stress, Health, Emotions, Care Services, Support, and Behaviors. Ninety-three family caregivers (77.5%) accessed the system. On average, caregivers accessed the platform for approximately 6 hours over 6 months and logged into the system an average of 14 times. Of the seven content domains represented in the system, Safety and Stress were the two most visited domains. Social Support and Health were the two least visited domains by caregivers. After 6-month use of the GP4C online platform system, caregivers reported a significant reduction in caregiver burden (effect size=.50; p<0.001) and a significant increase in the Positive Aspects of Caregiving measure (effect size=.36; p=0.002). Caregivers addressed several usability issues with the system and reflected that the content was more appropriate for those new to the role of dementia care. Modifications to the content and functionality of the GP4C system are ongoing and will be evaluated in future studies.
TRENDS IN NATIONWIDE RESEARCH OUTCOMES ON ELDER ABUSE AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT TO PREVENT ELDER ABUSE IN JAPAN
Authors: Tsukada Noriko , Katsumata Asako , Ikeda Naoki
Published: January 2025

After a brief introduction on history of activities of Japan Academy for the Prevention of Elder Abuse for the past 20 years, this study presents trends in number of elder abuse cases that were reported and substantiated as “elder abuse”, and trends in reporters and types of abuse in both institutional and domestic settings by using the nationwide data collected by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare each year since the Act on the Prevention of Elder Abuse was enacted in 2006. The number of elder abuse cases in 2022 increased 5.3% compared to that in 2021 in domestic settings, while about 17% of increase for institutional settings. And the data in 2022 showed only 7.4% of the municipalities had implemented “leadership trainings” to promote actions and measures to prevent elder abuse in institutions and agencies that provide nursing care services; accordingly, it is not surprising, without leaders, the number of elder abuse cases reported and substantiated as elder abuse increased. Moreover, although there was no amendment of the Act on the Prevention of Elder Abuse, we discuss the most recent policy amendment on “Responses to Elder Abuse and Support for Caregivers in Municipalities and Prefectures”, so-called National Manual, which was enacted in April 2023 for the first time in 5 years. This policy change required a collaboration between prefectures and municipalities to develop infrastructure to prevent elder abuse. Finally, we make recommendations for solving issues identified during the past 20 years.
VOICES FROM THE MARGINS: EXPLORING INEQUITIES IN WORK AND VOLUNTEERING AMONG OLDER ADULTS
Authors: Matz Christina , Ryu Byeongju , Miller Julie
Published: January 2025

All people should have the right to choice and opportunity when it comes to engagement in paid and unpaid forms of work across the life course and particularly in later life. It is often through such roles/aspects of our identity that we derive a sense of meaning and purpose, which is critical to quality of life. We also know, however, that race, gender, birthplace, social and economic class, and additional layers of being “othered” impact the choices and opportunities available, as well as the extent to which positive (or negative) outcomes are derived. Research on paid and unpaid work in later life has not always captured the variety and complexity of lived experiences in later life. Further, statistics often obscure the most important information: how the most marginalized older workers are faring.

This symposium will explore some of these inequities in an effort to inform solutions. The first paper is a scoping review that assesses the extent to which volunteerism among economically marginalized older adults has been examined in studies. The second paper explores how older self-employed workers’ finances and health were impacted by COVID-19. The third paper considers gender disparities in wages among older workers in association with occupational sex segregation. The final paper examines the ethnoracial differences in formal and informal volunteering among individuals age 50 and older. A discussant will reflect on these studies and the need for continued research that considers intersectionality in opportunities and experiences for paid and unpaid work in later life. Aging Workforce Interest Group Sponsored Symposium
LOOSE COUPLING? A CAREGIVER, A GUARDIAN, AND AN ABUSER JUMP FROM A PLANE WITH ONE PARACHUTE: WHO SURVIVES?
Authors: Wilber Kathleen
Published: January 2025

My career in aging has given me the privilege of working directly with older people, training students in gerontology, partnering with remarkable leaders, and conducting studies on key questions needing evidence-informed answers. Over the half century that I have been doing applied research, healthy aging and longevity have emerged as fundamental achievements and key cultural and political priorities. In this lecture, I discuss intervention evidence and the need for research intersectionality in interventions that support family caregivers; preventing and addressing elder mistreatment; long term services and supports; and the role of supportive age-friendly communities in healthy aging. The lecture emphasizes underlying values including balancing doing too much and doing too little for older adults who need care, including those living with dementia; promoting person and family centered approaches; and the important role of diversity, equity, and inclusion in advancing innovative interventions that promote high quality long lives for all.
ADVANCING PERSON-CENTERED CARE PLANNING FOR PERSONS WITH MULTIPLE CHRONIC CONDITIONS
Authors: Quiñones Ana , Dorr David , Bierman Arlene
Published: January 2025

Providing high quality, comprehensive, longitudinal, person-centered care for persons living with, or at risk for, multiple chronic conditions (MCC) is a critical challenge facing our healthcare system. Persons with MCC often navigate complicated and fragmented healthcare systems that can be inefficient, duplicative, costly, and poorly coordinated which increases risk for avoidable adverse events, and unduly burdens persons with MCC, families, and caregivers with the added responsibility of sharing information and coordinating care across providers. Person-centered care planning (PCCP) is a process of active collaboration and shared decision-making among providers, persons seeking care, families, and caregivers to develop a, person-centered management plan, incorporating patient values, goals, and preferences. This symposium will share preliminary findings of a collaborative, multi-disciplinary AHRQ-funded initiative which aims to examine the current state of the field and convene frontline providers, health care leaders, and policy makers to identify solutions including the necessary resources, conditions, processes, and implementation strategies to address barriers to delivering appropriate, equitable, and high-quality PCCP as a routine component of care delivery. The first presentation will summarize the state of the field regarding PCCP models for persons with MCC identified through environmental scans. The second will discuss barriers, facilitators, and strategies identified during the Partner Roundtable discussions to improve PCCP design and implementation within health care systems. The final presentation will share successes and failures that health professionals and front-line providers have experienced implementing PCCP, as well as best practices and strategies identified during the Learning Collaborative to deliver high-quality PCCP for persons with MCCs.
PERSON-CENTERED CARE PLANNING FOR PERSONS WITH MCC: LESSONS FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
Authors: Totten Annette , Atchison Chandler , Davis-O’Reilly Cynthia , Peak Katherine D , Wyte-Lake Tamar , Cohen Deborah , Quiñones Ana
Published: January 2025

To guide overall project objectives of describing the current state of the field of person-centered care planning (PCCP) for persons with MCC, the environmental scan functions as a multi-source overview of the field and integrates input from key informant interviews (KII) of experts from diverse perspectives. The objective is to clarify our understanding of which PCCP models have been implemented in the US and which show promise for improving outcomes for patients, their caregivers, and care teams. This task involves conducting one baseline, two ad hoc scans, and 15key informant interviews. We incorporate input from a technical expert panel to inform our literature search and augment synthesis with KIIs. KIIs provide greater context on the adoption and use of PCCP models in clinical settings, and features that may be important from a patient, clinic, or policy standpoint. KII analysis follows a five-step process: Describing, Organizing, Connecting, Corroborating/legitimating, Representing the account. The methods for the environmental scan are based on systematic review methods, but are modified to fit our rapid review timeline. Modifications include: limiting citation database searches and prioritizing MEDLINE first; prioritizing triage of abstracts and using one reviewer; focusing data abstraction on project partner priorities; foregoing risk of bias, strength of evidence, and quantitative synthesis in favor of targeted summaries. Analysis focuses on understanding successful components of and barriers to PCCP model implementation, and to identify what is required for successful implementation and sustainability.
ESPO AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SECTION SYMPOSIUM: METABOLIC REGULATION OF AGING
Authors: Ghosh Bhaswati
Published: January 2025

We are excited to announce that the 2024 GSA Annual Scientific Meeting will hold the Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization (ESPO) section of BioSci on November 16, 2024, 12:00 pm – 1:30pm (Room 4C-3). This session continues to be the highlight of the program, recognizing the great work done by the graduate students in the field of biology of aging. The BioSci ESPO section will comprise four talks covering diversifying topics including proteostasis, mitochondrial bioenergetics, lipidomics and transcriptional changes during aging. We will hear from Ziying Xu from Barshop Institute Department of Medicine talking about “Sex-Specific Alterations in Circulating Lipidome During Mouse Aging”; Sidharth Madhavan at Buck institute for research on aging about “Beta-Hydroxybutyrate Is a Metabolic Regulator of Proteostasis in the Aging Brain”; Stephanie Heimier from UC San Diego will give us insights on “Serum Factors Drive Differences in Mitochondrial Bioenergetics Associated with Human Aging”; and Ruben De Man from Yale University school of medicine will present on “Single-Cell Analysis of Somatic Mutations in Human Lung Reveals Association with Transcriptional Changes in Aging”. The BioSci ESPO session at the GSA Annual Scientific Meeting is designed to showcase the academic excellence of great researchers in the field of aging. We are excited to see you all in Seattle!
STRESS, NEGATIVE AFFECT, AND NEUROTICISM ACROSS THE LIFESPAN
Authors: Ferguson Giselle , Corley Samantha , Scott Stacey
Published: January 2025

Emotional regulation and appraisal skills in response to stressors are thought to accumulate across the lifespan. Work with age-heterogeneous samples found that despite similar initial levels of stressor related Negative Affect (NA), Older Adults (OA) exhibited lower levels of NA over time perhaps due to enhanced emotional recovery. Prior work focused on OA has shown longitudinal increases in within-person NA but a lack of age related stressor-NA change cross-sectionally. We aimed to examine if the relationship between reported momentary stressor occurrence and NA is moderated by baseline neuroticism among an age-heterogenous adult sample and if there are cross-sectional age differences in this relationship. During April-October 2023, participants (N=207) 18-82 years old were recruited from a national online research panel. Participants completed surveys of trait neuroticism then completed seven days of Ecological Momentary Assessments of stressors and NA three times each day. Within persons, negative affect was significantly higher at observations following stressors than non-stressor observations (B=23.01, SE=3.12, p<0.001). Between persons, individuals who reported more frequent stressors across the study also had higher average NA (B=21.90, SE=5.99, p=0.0003). Individual differences in neither neuroticism nor age were significantly related to average NA. Unexpectedly, neither neuroticism nor age moderated the momentary association between stressors and NA. Contrary to our predictions, individual differences in stressor-related increases in NA are not explained by either cross-sectional age differences nor neuroticism. Given the similarity in responses across adult age, future research should examine the role other individual and contextual differences, including stressor type, play in this relationship.
CREATION AND EVALUATION OF A VIDEO SERIES SHARING A PALLIATIVE APPROACH TO CARE IN CANADIAN LONG-TERM CARE HOMES
Authors: Wickson-Griffiths Abigail , Hunter Paulette , Tupper Susan , Cammer Allison , Kaasalainen Sharon , Sussman Tamara
Published: January 2025

Video-assisted patient education is a favored format for accessing healthcare information. Based on a consultative process, the purpose of this project was to create and evaluate a video education resource to support communication between staff and family caregivers in Canadian long-term care (LTC) homes when introducing a palliative approach to care. The development of the resource proceeded in four stages: consulting with lived experience advisors; refining the concept; piloting the concept; and finalizing the resource. The concept included a voice-over-infographic introduction plus a four-part video series highlighting fundamental aspects of a palliative approach in LTC and featuring personal narratives by a resident, family caregiver, employee, and manager. During pilot research, family caregivers and LTC staff (n=16) participated in focus group discussions and surveys to assess the acceptability of the resource and its impact on knowledge acquisition. They also considered potential uses of the resource. After reviewing the introduction and a full video, as well as the concepts for the three remaining videos, the average acceptability of the video series across fourteen 5-point Likert-type items was 4.49 (SD=0.40) for family caregivers and 4.66 (SD=0.35) for LTC staff. The average positive change in palliative care knowledge on a 100-point scale was 6.94 (SD=10.56) for family caregivers and 12.5 (SD=10.76) for LTC staff. Overall, this work contributes a resource with high content and format acceptability, and good potential for a positive impact on knowledge about a palliative approach. It offers useful considerations for introducing the resource to staff and family caregivers.
EFFECTS OF A MULTICOMPONENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PROGRAM ON STRENGTH AND MOBILITY IN OLDER ADULTS IN CARE HOMES
Authors: Yang Yijian , Zeng Ziwei , Shen Jiahao , Ho Cheuk Yin , Chan Ka Po , Chan Francis Kin Tung , Fung Chi Tat
Published: January 2025

Physical activity (PA) is important for maintaining functional mobility in frail older adults. However, existing PA programs for older adults mainly focus on lower limb function but overlook upper limb and core strength, reaction time, and coordination, which are crucial for safe transferring and fall prevention. In this study, we evaluated a multicomponent PA program, Mobility-Fit that we previously developed for frail older adults, through a cluster randomized controlled trial. 164 older adults from 20 care homes in Hong Kong were recruited and randomly assigned into the intervention group (practicing Mobility-Fit 3 times/week, 45 minutes/session for 12 weeks) or a control group that maintained usual care. All participants underwent assessments of strength, mobility, cognition, PA level (measured by accelerometers), and falls efficacy at baseline and completion. Repeated-Measures Linear Models were used to examine changes within and between groups. The mean age of participants was 84.4±8.0 years. 58% were females. Among the intervention group, handgrip strength increased by 15% (p=0.036), knee extension strength increased by 16% (p=0.012), reaction time decreased by 7% (p=0.049), and five-time sit-to-stand duration decreased by 12% (p=0.035). There were significant interactions between time and group in these variables (p < 0.05). Conversely, participants in control group had a 6% decrease in handgrip strength (p=0.043) and higher fall efficacy score (p=0.048). No difference was found in cognitive performance. Our results suggest that multicomponent physical activities are effective in enhancing strength and mobility among frail older adults. The Mobility-Fit program may suit older adults with different functional capacities in care homes.