bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CONSIDERATIONS FOR SUSTAINING DEMENTIA CARE INTERVENTIONS IN THE COMMUNITY
Authors: Shuman Sari
Published: January 2025

As community organizations implement dementia care interventions, they are tasked with the day-to-day intricacies of disseminating their chosen program. However, to ensure dementia services and supports remain in the community, they must assess how they can sustain the intervention into the future. The ability to continue dementia programs hinges on careful planning and consideration of several factors. Community organizations need to consider and assess the immediate and longer-term demand for the program in the geographic region being served, determine if they have or need to build organizational support, assess staffing needs and training abilities, and decide how they will continue to fund the dementia services and supports offered through the program if it is successful. In terms of funding, estimating the present and future costs of the dementia care intervention can help community organizations determine if the full program or only portions can be sustained using current or future funding mechanisms. Community organizations also need to secure the commitment from organizational decision makers to continue dementia care programs that have proven effective. Collecting and analyzing program data to demonstrate the program’s impact on participants can assist in garnering support from key organizational stakeholders. In this session, these considerations and others for sustaining dementia care interventions will be presented and discussed.
CHANGES IN SEDENTARY PATTERNS AND SELF-REPORTED HEALTH IN A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF SITTING REDUCTION
Authors: Rosenberg Dori , Acevedo Stefani Florez , Greenwood-Hickman Mikael Anne , Zhu Weiwei , Arterburn David , McClure Jennifer , Green Bev
Published: January 2025

Background

Interventions to reduce sedentary time in older adults have been limited to feasibility studies. Building off a series of pilot studies, we aimed to test the effects of the I-STAND sitting reduction intervention to reduce sedentary patterns and improve self-reported health outcomes.

Methods

283 participants were randomized to the I-STAND sitting reduction arm or an attention control condition. I-STAND included 10 brief health coach sessions, a tabletop standing desk, and fitness tracker to prompt sitting breaks. The attention control received 10 brief general healthy living focused sessions. The activPAL accelerometer worn for 7-days at baseline, 3, and 6 months measured sitting metrics. We measured pain interference, depression, loneliness and sleep disturbance by self-report. Linear regression models included baseline outcomes, covariates (e.g. demographics, health status), and whether randomization occurred pre- or post-pandemic.

Results

I-STAND (N = 140) and control (N = 143) participants mean age was 68.8 (SD 6.2) years, mean BMI was 34.9 (SD 4.7) kg/m2, 51.9% had hypertension. Participants were 65.7% women, 68.9% White, 14.5% Black, 5.7% Hispanic/Latinx, 4.2% Multiracial, and 3.2% Asian. Sitting time (-31.85 mins/day, p = 0.003), prolonged sitting bouts (-.57 bouts, p = 0.004), and mean sitting bout duration (-1.8 mins, p = 0.006) reduced while standing time increased (+27.7 minutes, p = 0.003) favoring the intervention. Loneliness reduced favoring I-STAND (-0.27, 95%CI: -0.52, -0.02, p=0.032).

Conclusion

I-STAND changed sitting patterns and improved loneliness. Uptake of sitting reduction interventions by older adults could improve physical and mental health.
THE NATIONAL COLLABORATORY TO ADDRESS ELDER MISTREATMENT MENTORSHIP PROGRAM: KEY LEARNINGS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Authors: Bangerter Lauren , Haggerty Kristin Lees , Mosqueda Laura
Published: January 2025

The National Collaboratory to Address Elder Mistreatment (NCAEM) recognizes that improving elder mistreatment identification, intervention, and prevention requires diverse mentorship. The NCAEM Mentorship program is a one-year program designed to mentor clinicians, service providers, researchers, policymakers, and advocates who are focusing on improving care for older adults experiencing or at risk of experiencing elder mistreatment. This symposium will begin by an overview of the NCAEM mentoring program history and goals and presentations from current and past mentees. Dr. Troutman-Jordan’s presentation will discuss their mentee project that included focus groups with home health nurses, as well as the process of then serving as a mentor and highlight opportunities for collaborative mentoring to address elder abuse. Dr. Simley will describe a mentee project focused on developing a survey for the Parkinson’s Foundation to help generate data to inform the development of a continuing education module on elder mistreatment among individuals living with Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Roberts will will focus on the role of the NCAEM in catalyzing interdisciplinary elder abuse research in long-term care settings, including nursing homes and assisted living. Dr. Steinman’s presentation will describe a mentee project focused on the conceptualization and development of a national study of racial/ethnic group differences in older adults’ involvement in Adult Protective Services. Dr. Marrs’s presentation will focus on the links between ageism and elder abuse and describe the development of an ageism public awareness project funded by the Administration for Community Living. Our discussant, Dr. Mosqueda, will provide summary remarks and moderate discussion.
UNPACKING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND COGNITIVE DECLINE AND DEMENTIA
Authors: Herd Pamela , Walsemann Katrina
Published: January 2025

This session, which brings together a set of papers from participants in the Network on Education, Biosocial Pathways, and Dementia in Diverse Populations (EdDem), attends to the relationship between education and cognitive function and dementia in later life. The papers in this session explore two major themes. First, they examine the role of early and mid-life influences on these relationships. How do exposures to poor health in early life influence both educational attainment and subsequent risk for poor cognitive outcomes in later life? How does the content of early life schooling, including the rigor of the curriculum, influence both educational attainment and subsequent risk for poor cognitive outcomes in later life? The papers also consider the role of midlife factors, including occupation, health behaviors, and health conditions, in mediating the relationship between education and later life cognitive outcomes. Finally, these papers explore how the relationship between education and later life cognition varies within and across middle- and high-income countries. Overall, this set of papers helps unpack the persistent and robust relationship between education and cognitive function and dementia in later life. Session attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about the NIH-funded EdDem network, including funding and network related opportunities.
EDUCATION, OCCUPATIONAL ENVIRONMENT, AND COGNITIVE DECLINE IN LATE ADULTHOOD
Authors: Cao Katy (Qiuchang) , Carr Dawn , Taylor Miles
Published: January 2025

Education and occupational environment shape cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related dementias (ADRDs) in late adulthood. However, few studies have explored both factors simultaneously. This study aims to (1) Identify occupational environmental factors impacting cognitive decline and ADRD; (2) Analyze the separate or combined contributions of education and occupational environment to cognitive decline and ADRD; (3) Identify whether occupational environment mediates the association between education and cognitive decline/ADRD in late life. Structural Equation Modeling was conducted in Mplus using nationally representative data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Occupation Information Network (O*NET) linked dataset, incorporating new race/ethnicity adjusted ADRD measures. Confirmatory Factor Analyses suggested that hazardous exposure and cognitive complexity capture two separate but connected components of the occupational environment. Both the measurement (N=7301) and structural model (N=6345) demonstrated good model fit (TLI, CFI >=.95, SRMR<.08). Education had a positive direct effect on cognitive function (standardized direct effect = 0.08, p=0.002). Although the indirect effect of cognitive complexity was non-significant, hazardous occupational environment mediated education’s link to cognitive function (standardized indirect effect= 0.018, p=0.03). A one-unit increase in the hazardous occupational environment was associated with a 0.06 decline in cognitive function accounting for education, gender, race/ethnicity, depressive symptoms, baseline cognition, and age of the latest cognitive assessment. No statistically significant relationships between occupational exposure and ADRD were identified due to the limited waves of the new ADRD measures. Findings may inform interventions addressing occupational hazards to modify the association between early-life education and late-life cognitive outcomes.
CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION AT MIDLIFE: EVALUATING THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EDUCATION
Authors: Hair Nicole
Published: January 2025

Educational attainment is one of the strongest predictors of dementia among older adults. It is unclear, however, whether this association reflects the benefits of education per se or early life factors that influence educational attainment. We leverage the introduction of the first measles vaccine in 1963, which contributed to a pronounced and sustained reduction in infectious disease morbidity, to evaluate the effects of better overall health in childhood on cognitive function at midlife and, further, to assess the role of educational attainment in the causal pathway from early life health to later life cognition. Our project links early-life contextual data, e.g., state-level socioeconomic, epidemiologic and policy measures, to the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal population-based study of individuals over age 50 with validated cognitive measures. Our analytic sample includes older adults in the War Baby (1942-47), Early Baby Boomer (1948-53), Mid Baby Boomer (1954-59), and Late Baby Boomer (1960-65) cohorts who were born and attended school in the United States. Our analytic approach compares outcomes across birth cohorts with more or less exposure to measles vaccination campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s and across states with higher or lower baseline measles incidence. We find that mass vaccination against measles had positive and significant impacts on both educational attainment (e.g., years completed) and cognitive function (e.g., global cognition and episodic memory) at midlife and that education mediated the association between better overall health in childhood and cognitive function later in life.
WHEN CONTEXT GETS UNDER THE SKIN: HOW ATTITUDES SHAPE CONTEXTUAL IMPACT ON AGING WELL IN LATE LIFE
Authors: Schilling Oliver , Slaug Björn , Schilling Oliver
Published: January 2025

In late life, increasing risks of loss of resources may aggravate vulnerability to contextual conditions that challenge habitual life conduct. However, evidence of older adults’ capabilities to deal with adversity suggests that subjective accounts of enabling or challenging contexts and corresponding attitudes, rather than objective context per se, shape conditions for aging well. This symposium highlights recent findings from studies that examined the role of subjective attitudes in associations between contextual conditions and aging well in very old adults: Sabatini et al. analyze associations between changes in depressive symptoms, attitudes to aging, and indicators of aging well (life satisfaction, informant-rated disability) in an Australian sample, their findings suggest a crucial role of attitudes to aging in mediating effects of poor mental health on aging well. Slaug et al. show that effects of functional limitations on active aging were moderated by how older Swedes perceived their housing (i.e., meaning of home). Zimmermann & Demirer show that impacts of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation in Germany on functional health were mediated by social cohesion (i.e., trusting people in the neighborhood). Using multiple German very old samples, Kaspar et al. propose and test how a contextually enriched model of successful aging, comprising perceptions of contextually driven opportunity structures could better account for the realities of aging well with disability. Schilling will discuss these findings, focusing on needs to understand the interplay between subjective attitudes, contexts and aging well in late life.
ATTACHING MORE MEANING TO THE HOME SUPPORTS ACTIVE AGING DESPITE FUNCTIONAL DECLINE
Authors: Slaug Björn , Granbom Marianne , Björk Jonas , Rantanen Taina , Schmidt Steven , Iwarsson Susanne
Published: January 2025

When functional limitations increase with age, perceived qualities of the home may influence the level of activity among older adults. Active aging is the process through which people strive to maintain wellbeing when growing old. The aim of this study was to investigate whether perceived housing moderates the relationship between functional limitations and active aging. Cross-sectional data from a sub-sample (N=820; mean age=69.7; 54% women) of the Prospective RELOC-AGE was used. Functional limitations were captured by ten dichotomous questions. Active aging was assessed with the University of Jyvaskyla Active Aging Scale (UJACAS; 17 items, self-rated for four perspectives). Perceived housing was self-rated with four usability questions and the meaning of home (MOH; 28 items) questionnaire. Associations and interactions were analysed using linear regression models, adjusting for gender and educational level. Each functional limitation decreased the active aging score by almost five points (p<0.001). Usability did not moderate the relationship while MOH significantly attenuated the association between functional limitations and active aging (p=0.039). Those with high MOH had two points less decrease in active aging score compared to those with low MOH. Having a home with more personal meaning attached to it seems to provide more ability and opportunity for meaningful activities, thus supporting active aging despite functional limitations. This sheds new light on the known association between MOH and different aspects of wellbeing in old age and has relevance for further theory development.
PERCEIVED NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCES AND MEDIATING ROLE OF SOCIAL COHESION ON FUNCTIONAL HEALTH AMONG VERY OLD ADULTS
Authors: Zimmermann Jaroslava , Demirer Ibrahim
Published: January 2025

Functional health is not only a key indicator of physical health in old age, but it also reflects the individual ability to self-care and participate independently in important areas of life. The evidence shows that older adults living in socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods have higher likelihood to experience functional limitations. Nevertheless, little is known about the underlying mechanisms explaining this effect. Following the social disorganization theory, the aim of this contribution was to test the hypothesis that the link between neighborhood socioeconomic resources and functional health is mediated by social cohesion. Data from the German representative study “Old age in Germany” were used. The study sample included 10,578 persons aged ≥80 years. Functional health was measured by instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Neighborhood socioeconomic resources were operationalized by perceived walkability of neighborhood and building condition. Social cohesion referred to trusting people in neighborhood. Considering the complex sample design, path analysis based on structure equation modeling was conducted. Adjusting for individual and regional characteristics, the results showed that low walkability and poor building condition (independently of each other as well as in a combined form) were associated with decreased ability in IADL and lower social cohesion, while higher social cohesion increased IADL. The findings suggest that unfavorable socioeconomic conditions in neighborhoods negatively affect social cohesion and functional health. Moreover, social cohesion in neighborhoods have protective effect on functional health. Both, socioeconomic and social conditions should be targeted when planning interventions to promote or maintain functional health of the very old.
OLDER ADULTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD TECHNOLOGIES TO ADDRESS LONELINESS: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW
Authors: Cho Emma , Weiss Charlotte , Demiris George
Published: January 2025

Older adults are at increased risk for loneliness and social isolation, which can affect healthy aging and well-being. This study aimed to understand how older adults perceive technology interventions that address loneliness and social isolation. Databases (PubMed, CINAHL, APApsychInfo, and Abstracts in Social Gerontology) were searched for articles reporting on perceptions of technologies that address social isolation and loneliness in older adults (65 years of age or older). Thirteen studies with English language, and peer-reviewed articles in various countries met the quality review and inclusion criteria. The findings of the review were synthesized into themes and sub-themes. The emergent themes suggest that older adults may positively perceive technologies (e.g., video phones, avatar pets, social assistive robots) to facilitate increased social connectedness, emotional attachment, companionship, and comfort, and connection to resources in the wider community. Older adults may also experience negative perceptions regarding technology: dissatisfaction with digital social communication style or content (e.g., repetitive conversations with digital pet) and technical barriers (e.g., audio delay on videophone, multiple steps to follow to use telephone). Technologies can offer solutions to address social connectedness in older adults, by mitigating loneliness and social isolation. Yet opportunities exist to partner with older adults to understand the barriers to using technology and co-create acceptable and feasible digital strategies to improve their overall well-being by reducing perceived loneliness and providing opportunities for improving social connectedness.
SOCIAL DISCONNECTION CORRELATES OF A “WISH TO DIE” AMONG A LARGE COMMUNITY-DWELLING COHORT OF OLDER ADULTS
Authors: Ward Mark
Published: January 2025

Social disconnection and deaths by suicide among older adults are both important public health concerns. In response to the “Epidemic of loneliness and isolation”, the Surgeon General’s Advisory has identified social connection as a cross-disciplinary research priority and developed a national strategy to advance greater social connection. A ‘Wish to Die’ (WTD) is predictive of future suicide attempt(s) and social disconnection has been identified as an important predictor of suicide-related thoughts and behavior. Data were from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a sister cohort of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). TILDA is a large cohort of 8500 community-dwelling older adults aged 50+. Cross-sectional analyses of the association between numerous markers of social disconnection (loneliness, social isolation, living alone, marital status, social participation, volunteering, and attending religious service) and WTD were conducted. Four percent reported a WTD. Both functional and structural markers of social disconnection were associated with WTD. Among these, loneliness was the strongest risk factor while attendance of religious services was an important protective behavior. There is a strong association between social disconnection and a WTD among older adults. There is also a strong association between depression and a WTD, while attending religious services or similarly prosocial settings may protect older adults from experiencing negative thoughts about dying.
THE EFFECT OF GUARANTEED BASIC INCOME ON HOUSING ACCESS AND HEALTH AMONG OLDER PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
Authors: Traver Anthony , Calhoun Katie
Published: January 2025

The confluence of population aging and rising housing costs across the United States has resulted in an unprecedented number of older people experiencing homelessness (OPEH). Worldwide, guaranteed basic income programs are being explored as strategies to prevent or end an episode of homelessness. The Denver Basic Income Project (DBIP), which began in 2022, provided a guaranteed income to adults experiencing homelessness in Denver, CO. DBIP used a randomized controlled design to compare the impact of two payment methods, monthly ($1,000 per month), and lump sum ($6,500 the first month, $500 per month after that), to an active control group ($50 per month). This study used a subsample of DBIP participants aged 50 and older at the time of enrollment (n=221) to analyze the 12-month impact of guaranteed income on housing access, overall health (measured by the SF-36), and emergency department visits among OPEH in Denver, CO. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate the effect of intention to treat on outcomes of interest. The increase in the likelihood of obtaining housing was significantly larger for the monthly and lump sum groups than the control group. Group assignment was not associated with a difference in the likelihood of visiting an emergency department or a change in overall health. Results indicate that guaranteed income programs can support housing access among OPEH but may not alter health status over twelve months.
ADVANCING OLDER ADULTS’ QUALITY OF LIFE AND INDEPENDENCE WITH FITNESS: INNOVATIVE APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES
Authors: Heyn Patricia , Dowd James , Dowd James
Published: January 2025

This symposium by the Fitness, Exercise, and Wellness (FEW) Interest Group showcases diverse approaches to enhancing well-being and quality of life for older adults through innovative exercise interventions and research methodologies. Dr. Sara Pappa’s work outlines the success of the Northern Virginia Falls Prevention Alliance in deploying community-based evidence-based fall prevention programs, highlighting the effectiveness of academic-community partnerships in implementing and scaling such initiatives. Dr. James Dowd delves into the motivations of older runners, revealing that while health benefits play a role, the habit and joy of running are fundamental factors in their persistence, shedding light on the fortitude of this demographic and the new insights that this research is contributing to the field. Dr. Julie Ries and colleagues address research redundancy in meta-analyses evaluating exercise interventions for older adults with cognitive impairments, advocating for more strategic and ethical research practices to optimize resources and knowledge accumulation. Finally, Dr. Patricia C. Heyn and colleagues present a case study of implementing the 4Ms framework in dementia care in Brazil, emphasizing personalized approaches and the role of technology in maintaining family engagement and improving caregiving quality and connectivity from afar. Together, these innovative presentations highlight the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations, personalized care approaches, and technological innovations in promoting older adults’ functional well-being and autonomy, particularly in the realms of fall prevention, physical activity performance, cognitive health, and dementia care.
AGE-FRIENDLY PROGRESS WITH THE HEALTHYAGINGDATAREPORTS.ORG: NOTES FROM MA, RI, NH, CT, ME, MS, AND WY
Authors: Dugan Elizabeth
Published: January 2025

This symposium celebrates ten years of collaboration to translate data into high impact tools for stakeholders forming coalitions, identifying priorities, and working to make their state or community age-friendly. The session will review the tools included in the healthyagingdatareports.org website and highlight the exciting and replicable age-friendly work underway in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Wyoming. We have found that identifying health disparities by gender, race, or geography may be a key step in addressing health equity. The process involved in each state and how the reports were launched to generate awareness and enthusiasm for each state’s age-friendly priorities are described. Dugan (chair) will present an overview of the data reports (community-engagement, data sources, indicator calculation methods, hierarchical approach to reporting, data visualization tools, dissemination efforts, and on-going technical support). Then leaders from Massachusetts (Fuccione), New Hampshire (Rabalais), Mississippi (White), and Wyoming (Vincenti) will share an overview of their state’s efforts to create longevity-ready communities and to promote healthy aging. They will also describe how their coalitions or collaboratives were formed and supported, how to identify the key stakeholders and various outreach approaches. State leaders will describe how the data report tools support their advocacy and/or outreach. Reflections on how age-friendly efforts are sustained and grow will be discussed. Attendees and presenters will then have a question and answer time to discuss how others could join the movement.
LOOKING FORWARD TO A NEW DECADE OF TRANSLATING DATA INTO TOOLS TO SUPPORT STATE LEADERS ADVANCING HEALTH EQUITY
Authors: Dugan Elizabeth
Published: January 2025

This presentation will describe how the healthy aging data reports started and how the work has evolved. The importance of community-engagement, collaboration, and shared ownership has driven progress. The partnership of the Point32Health Foundation has been critical to our growth and success. Opening ways for other funders to support the work has allowed us to partner with other states to expand the reach and impact of the reports. How graduate gerontology students have contributed innovations and improvements to our process and products is highlighted.
TEACHING AND LEARNING IN TURBULENT TIMES
Authors: Holley Lyn
Published: January 2025

Teachers now face circumstances in which everything, everywhere, seems to be changing all at once. The ongoing techno-communications revolution is continuous and relentless. Many agree that its impacts will equal those of the Industrial Revolution. With particular emphasis on Lifelong Learning and Intergenerational engagement, the recipient of the 2024 AGHE Distinguished Faculty Award will lead discussion of ongoing changes in traditional education, and then will describe some strategies for engaging existing resources and developing approaches to pedagogy and andragogy that are useful for coping with the continuous change of the current foundations of formal education. Finally, learning opportunities provided by GSA and AGHE annual conferences and by membership in GSA and AGHE will be discussed.
UTILIZING A LENS OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, DECOLONIZATION, AND INTERSECTIONALITY IN GERONTOLOGY EDUCATION
Authors: Lee Yeonjung Jane
Published: January 2025

Educational transformation can be catalyzed by engaging in critical self-reflection. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and deeply ingrained histories of racism and ageism, educators must reflect on their roles and encourage students to critically evaluate the impact of their identities on how they serve older adults. With the aging population becoming more diverse, it is imperative for students to be equipped to work with diverse older adults who come from various cultural backgrounds and life experiences. This session will delve into the presenter’s teaching philosophy and experiences gleaned from instructing and conducting research at a minority-serving institute. With the aim of nurturing high-quality education to support a diverse student body, this session seeks to inspire meaningful dialogue and impart valuable insights about gerontology education. The presentation will cover the discussion integrating diversity, equity, decolonization, and intersectionality perspectives into gerontology education.
LOCAL FUNDING FOR SOCIAL CARE FOR OLDER COMMUNITY MEMBERS: A BOTTOM-UP STRATEGY THAT IS ALSO GOOD POLITICS
Authors: Applebaum Robert , Brekke Bailee
Published: January 2025

The national response to providing home and community-based services for older people with disability relies almost exclusively on the Medicaid program. Because 90% of older community members are not eligible for Medicaid this means that until a crisis the vast majority of older individuals are not eligible for public support. In 15 states across the nation, communities have raised local funds to support social care services to assist in maintaining community independence. Raising more than $400 million, primarily through property tax levies, the more than 400 communities using this approach fund an array of social care services, such as personal care, home modification, meals, and transportation targeted toward a population above the Medicaid eligibility threshold. This strategy is particularly salient in Ohio, where 74 or the state’s 88 counties have levies totaling more than $200 million. This presentation will describe both the programs and politics associated with this funding approach. The presentation will highlight how funds are use and the target population served. Local funding has been successful at the polls, and a review of voting patterns found a more than 95% passage rate in the Ohio communities, with no differences in rates between red and blue counties of the state.
AGING IN LATIN AMERICA: HEALTH, DISPARITIES, AND OUTCOMES AMONG OLDER ADULTS
Authors: Osuna Margarita Maria , Samper-Ternent Rafael
Published: January 2025

Older adults in Latin America are living in contexts of high levels of poverty, low education, poor health literacy and reduced healthcare access. This symposium is focused on heath-disparities among older adults living in Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Colombia. The symposium explores connections between aging and health such as longevity, cognition, disability, and wellbeing in the context of Latin America, aiming to shed light on health-related dimensions and disparities among older Latinos. Using data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging, Gomes examines the relationship between hearing loss and cognitive decline. Using the longitudinal Puerto Rican Elderly Health Conditions Project and the Puerto Rico Contextual Data Resource, García, examines how the relationships between racial identity, neighborhood-level racial density, and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status are related to the probability of experiencing all-cause mortality among island-dwelling Puerto Ricans. Using four nationally representative surveys of older adults in Latin America, Osuna studies how disability prevalence varies among older adults in Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Brazil. Lastly, Saenz studies evaluates how level of exposure to a major drought Mexico is related with health among older adults, for this study they use data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study. Results underline what populations in Latin American have increased risk of experiencing poorer health outcomes and disparities that may exist. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the conditions under which Latin American older adults are aging and the implications this can have in the future.
ALIGNING MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR MARGINALIZED OLDER ADULTS: CLINICAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONSIDERATIONS
Authors: Renn Brenna , Kern Kristopher
Published: January 2025

As the older adult population grows and diversifies, the urgency mounts for clinicians and academics to provide inclusive, culturally responsive, and anti-racist services and training. Culturally responsive practice can improve care engagement and optimize patient outcomes. Attending to such issues across training ensures retention of students from marginalized backgrounds and prepares clinicians who reflect diversity of the aging population. This symposium convenes speakers from the Society of Clinical Geropsychology to discuss the challenges and opportunities in provider training and mental health service provision with a focus on inclusivity. Each presentation pays close attention to actionable steps. The first presenter outlines strategies to strengthen mentorship by fostering equity, diversity, and inclusivity. The second speaker presents qualitative findings regarding challenges, opportunities, and concrete strategies to improve culturally responsive and anti-racist care from a sample of geropsychologists and trainees across the U.S. The third presenter describes a national survey of geropsychology workforce diversification and presents inclusive strategies to support diverse learners at all stages of training. Finally, our Discussant synthesizes these findings in the broader context of training and clinical practice that is responsive to the needs of individuals from historically marginalized backgrounds and intersectional identities. The Discussant will comment on the pressing need to transform both how training is conducted and how services are delivered to ensure optimal outcomes. The insights gleaned from these three initiatives will lead to a rich discussion among the panel and audience on applications and future directions in geriatric mental health care with relevance across settings.
ENJOYMENT OF DAILY ACTIVITIES IN OLDER CAREGIVERS: AN ECOLOGICAL MOMENTARY ASSESSMENT
Authors: Pichardo Abel , Mausbach Brent
Published: January 2025

Behavioral Activation (BA) theory posits that depression stems from poor exposure to positive environmental rewards, with increased positive activities linked to mood improvement. BA theory may explain the high prevalence of depressive symptoms observed in informal caregivers. The current study used an Ecological Momentary Assessment approach to investigate the association between daily variability in activities with variability in daily mood. Participants were 64 informal caregivers of Alzheimer’s Disease or related disorders. Using a digital diary, participants recorded daily their mood, number of activities, and enjoyment ranging from 2 to 335 days. Enjoyment of activities and daily mood were rated on scales ranging from 1 to 5 (1 being least pleasant). A linear mixed-model analysis examined the associations between variability in mood with variability in both frequency and enjoyment of daily activities. Results indicated that a greater number of activities was associated with more positive mood for the day (B=0.045, t=13.58, p<.001). Greater average enjoyment of activities was also associated with more positive mood for the day (B=0.5, t=33.40, p<.001). There was a significant interaction of total activities by average enjoyment (B=-0.02, t=-8.49, p<.001). Post-hoc analyses indicated that increasing activation by 8 daily activities indicated an improvement in mood of approximately 0.3 points. However, replacing two moderately enjoyable activities with highly enjoyed activities indicated an improvement in mood of nearly 0.7 points. These findings suggest that modifying types of activities to focus on enjoyment rather than total activity may provide greater impact to overall mood.
PERSONALITY AND PREDEATH GRIEF IN FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA
Authors: McLean Elisabeth , Elliott Lauren , Schneider Sydnie , Neugebauer Volker , Singer Jonathan
Published: January 2025

Caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s Disease or Alzheimer’s Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) is associated with psychosocial difficulties, including pre-death grief (PDG; grief symptoms that can develop while an individual with a chronic, life-limiting illness is still living). PDG can be debilitating and is a robust predictor of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) once the person with AD/ADRD passes away. Past research has demonstrated several personality factors related to PGD in bereaved individuals; for example, low extraversion and agreeableness and high neuroticism have been found to confer greater risk of developing prolonged grief disorder after a death. However, it is presently unknown whether personality factors are related to the development of PDG prior to the death. Data were analyzed from a sample of family caregivers of individuals with AD/ADRD (Mage = 68.68, SD age = 11.89). Participants answered a battery of questions regarding pre-death grief (Prolonged Grief—12; PG-12), perceived social support (Oslo Social Support Scale; OSSS), and the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI-3). Bivariate correlations revealed non-significant relationships between all personality dimensions except for neuroticism (r =.441, p <.001). Additionally, a multiple linear regression examining the impact of neuroticism and perceived social support on PDG revealed a significant main effect of neuroticism (F(2, 52) = 6.53, p =.002, R2 =.17) on pre-death grief. Thus, family caregivers who have high levels of neuroticism may be at increased risk of experiencing pre-death grief and clinical intervention might be more warranted for this population.
OVERVIEW OF NIA BUDGET AND RESEARCH
Authors: Hodes Richard
Published: January 2025

Dr. Hodes will discuss the NIA budget, overall research priorities of the Institute, NIA-funded research advances, and key programs and initiatives.
NIA DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY
Authors: Carrington-Lawrence Stacy
Published: January 2025

Dr. Carrington-Lawrence will discuss research priorities of the NIA Division of Aging Biology. Dr. Carrington-Lawrence will also be available for small group discussion.
NIA DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH
Authors: Nielsen Lisbeth
Published: January 2025

Dr. Nielsen will discuss research priorities of the NIA Division of Behavioral and Social Research. Dr. Nielsen will also be available for small group discussion.
EDITORS’ PERSPECTIVES ON GLOBAL PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES IN GERONTOLOGY
Authors: Miller Edward , Simpson Elizabeth
Published: January 2025

Global aging has proceeded at an unprecedented and accelerating rate. The aging of the population creates both opportunities and challenges for older adults, their families, and society. Importantly, there is substantial variation in the effects of and response to global aging both within and across nations depending, in part, on prevailing cultural expectations and values, political and economic imperatives, and social and demographic characteristics. Thus, while some regions and countries have responded with innovative policies and programs to better enable the growing cohort of older adults to remain active and engaged in the community, other regions and countries have struggled with their response or barely begun to plan for the rising population of older adults. This symposium assembles editors at five leading gerontological journals to demonstrate the role that peer-reviewed scholarship can play in disseminating knowledge that informs gerontological research, policy, and practice internationally. The editors include: Edward Alan Miller, PhD, Journal of Aging & Social Policy; Kyungmin Kim, PhD, Research on Aging; Debra Dobbs, PhD, Journal of Applied Gerontology; Danielle Nadorff, PhD, International Journal of Aging and Human Development; and Sandra Torres, PhD, Ageing & Society. Each presenter will review the scope, content, and focus of their journals and the role and opportunities for international scholarship.
INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES AT THE JOURNAL OF AGING & SOCIAL POLICY
Authors: Miller Edward , Simpson Elizabeth , Gusmano Michael , Nadash Pamela
Published: January 2025

Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers need a balanced, thoughtful, and analytical resource to meet the challenge of global aging at a rate that’s historically unprecedented. The Journal of Aging & Social Policy (JASP), which was founded in 1989, serves this role by drawing contributions from an international panel of policy analysts and scholars who assume an interdisciplinary perspective in examining and analyzing critical phenomena that affect aging and the development and implementation of programs for older adults from a global perspective. Study settings extend beyond the United States to include Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Latin America, Asia, and the Asia-Pacific rim. This presentation will document the scope, content, and focus of JASP, including the rise of international submissions, which now account for approximately half of articles published. Opportunities for publishing in JASP will be discussed; so too will strategies for navigating the peer-review process successfully.
PUBLISHING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGING AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Nadorff Danielle , Patrick Julie
Published: January 2025

For more than 50 years, under the leadership of four editors and two publishers, The International Journal of Aging and Human Development (IJAHD) has featured multidisciplinary scholarship related to aging processes and older adults. With the publication of eight issues a year and over 1000 pages of scientific content, the IJAHD places emphasis upon psychological and social studies of aging and the aged. However, the Journal also publishes research that integrates observations from other disciplines that illuminate the “human” side of gerontology. A more recent focus includes midlife development, as well. About half (47%) of the publications in the IJAHD are from international colleagues. IJAHD is delighted to support new investigators as they navigate dissemination. This presentation will discuss tips for both international and US-based scholars for ensuring timely reviews and positive decisions for manuscript submissions, including such areas as key words, suggesting unbiased reviewers, formatting, writing mechanics, clearly-articulated methods, and a sound theoretical basis.
TOP TEN TIPS FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF AGEING & SOCIETY
Authors: Taylor Philip , Torres Sandra , Tsimpida Dialechti
Published: January 2025

Understanding the nuances of academic writing genres is crucial to nailing down the craft that is writing for peer-review journal publication. In this presentation, we will leverage an Editor-in-Chief’s expertise, to explore the routines of esteemed international peer-review journals like Ageing & Society. By uncovering editors’ expectations, this session offers invaluable insights into mastering the art of writing for prestigious publications. More specifically, this presentation will shed light on different publication outlets, the different readers these cater to, and how these differences impact how we craft manuscripts about the research we conduct. Building upon this foundational understanding, we will delve into strategies for presenting data collected in specific national contexts, contributing to global discussions in social gerontology.The ultimate goal is to provide attendees with an editor-in-chief’s top 10 tips by focusing on the routines that established international peer-review journals, such as Ageing & Society utilize, and the expectations editors place on the different sections of a manuscript.
FOOL ME ONCE: FRESH PERSPECTIVES ON FINANCIAL VULNERABILITY AND FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION
Authors: Miller Julie , Miller Julie
Published: January 2025

Threats associated with fraud and financial exploitation of older adults have grown exponentially. To surface and scale the most meaningful approaches to preventing financial exploitation among older adults, we need innovative approaches that challenge our collective understandings of which factors are at play and what works, why, and how. This symposium will bring together leading scholars to share emerging understandings of mechanisms that fuel financial exploitation, as well as novel approaches with important implications for prevention. The first presentation in the symposium will share new perspectives on cognitive underpinnings of scam susceptibility by exploring individual’s abilities to discern credibility of information and their susceptibility to pseudo-profound statements. The second presentation will describe a randomized control trial with older adult victims of mail fraud designed to evaluate the efficacy of a mailed intervention intended to prevent revictimization. The third and final presentation will highlight an intersectional model of financial exploitation vulnerability that combines interpersonal factors and brain mechanisms, ultimately underscoring the importance of considering multiple factors and different levels of analysis when considering financial exploitation vulnerability in older age. Together, the three presentations will demonstrate the importance of reframing professionals’ and non-professionals’ experiences with − and expectations about − financial vulnerability and financial exploitation.
ABSTRACT THOUGHT LEADS TO UNPARALLELED BEAUTY: A STUDY ON BULLSHIT RECEPTIVITY AND SCAM SUSCEPTIBILITY
Authors: Wood Stacey , Jawadi Sagrika , Hengerer David
Published: January 2025

In the age of disinformation, the ability to discern the credibility of information is more vital than ever. To assess an individual’s susceptibility to pseudo-profound statements, or “bullshit”, the Bullshit Receptivity (BSR) Scale, a list of meaningless, mundane, and profound statements, was devised in 2015. In Study 1, a lifespan sample of 213 individuals (age range 24-78, M = 46.05, SD = 17.21) participated in the study via MTurk and were asked to rate the profundity of various bullshit and mundane statements, complete a vocabulary test, and complete a subset of the CART (rational thought). Older adults performed significantly better than did younger and middle-aged adults on the overall BSR scale. The relationship between age and BSR score was partially mediated by performance on the vocabulary test, with a greater vocabulary leading to lower susceptibility to bullshit (β = -.0248, p <.001, SE =.002). In Study 2, we introduced scam susceptibility to investigate the relationship between scam susceptibility and bullshit receptivity. We replicated the study in person with 92 neurotypical participants (M = 19.96, SD = 5.42). Participants also completed subtests from the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery and rated the appeal of fraudulent investment pitches and red-flag persuasion tactics. Scam susceptibility was positively related to bullshit receptivity, as measured by rated profundity of pseudo-profound statements (r =.27, p <.05). This information can be used to better understand the cognitive underpinnings of scam susceptibility, especially among older adults who are targeted for scams.
A FRAUD AWARENESS MAIL CAMPAIGN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES RATES OF REVICTIMIZATION AMONG OLDER VICTIMS
Authors: DeLiema Marguerite , Brannock M Daniel , Preble Edward , Langton Lynn
Published: January 2025

Older adults are disproportionately targeted by scams, with direct cost estimates ranging from $5.9 to 48.4 billion per year (Federal Trade Commission, 2023). Much of these costs are driven by repeat and chronic victimization. We conducted a randomized control trial to evaluate the efficacy of a mailed intervention to prevent revictimization among known older adult mail fraud victims. Participants’ addresses were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups or to a control. Treatment groups received either (1) a single letter from the US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) informing them that they paid money in response to a mail scam and may be targeted by additional scams, as well as education on how to spot mail scams, or (2) the same letter along with five additional “Fraud Fighter” awareness materials mailed two weeks apart. The control group received no materials. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed through actual victim behavior. USPIS collected return addresses from detained victim mail for 4 months following the initial intervention mailing. We identified revictimization by matching the return addresses from the newly detained victim mail to the addresses of victims in the experiment. Compared to the control (no intervention), the single letter condition reduced the rate of revictimization by 8.6% and the multiple mailing condition reduced the rate of revictimization by 22.4% over 4 months. This represents the first test of a simple, scalable, mailed intervention to reduce the incidence and cost of mass marketing fraud among older Americans.