bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
MUSCLE MASS NOT LEAN MASS IS ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTH-RELATED OUTCOMES: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEFINING SARCOPENIA
Authors: Cawthon Peggy 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
The Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study is the largest study to date that has employed the D3Cr dilution method to assess muscle mass. In the study of ~1400 older men, low D3Cr muscle mass (but not low DXA lean mass or appendicular lean mass) was associated cross-sectionally with worse Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score, slower walking speed, decreased lower extremity power, worse chair stand ability, and greater likelihood of prevalent mobility limitations and disability. This population of older men (mean age of 84.2 y) reported multiple chronic diseases. Men in the higher quartiles of D3Cr muscle mass had significantly lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes, myocardial infarction, chronic heart failure, and COPD. In addition, men in higher quartiles of D3Cr muscle mass/body mass generally had better cognitive function, had higher levels of physical activity, greater Life-Space, and had markedly lower levels of exhaustion and fatigue. In longitudinal analyses over 3-5 years of follow-up, low D3Cr muscle mass was also associated with increased risk of hip fractures, injurious falls, incident disability and mortality. Generally, the association of low D3Cr muscle mass with these outcomes was not explained by weakness or slow walking speed and there were few associations between low lean mass and these outcomes.
APPLES TO APPLES? DISCORDANT DEFINITIONS STILL HINDER EVIDENCE-BASED TREATMENTS FOR SARCOPENIA
Authors: Coletta Giulia 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
The definition of sarcopenia continues to evolve, creating difficulty in determining the diagnosis and prognosis of the newly classified disease. The most common definitions include a combination of (a) muscle mass [measured using proxies of muscle mass—appendicular lean soft tissue via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) or bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)]; (b) muscle strength (often measured using hand grip strength); and (c) physical function (measured using gait speed). However, each consensus definition uses different combinations of muscle mass, strength and physical function to operationalize the definition of sarcopenia. Additionally, each group recommends various measures and cutoff points to capture these outcomes. For example, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) recommends appendicular lean mass for muscle mass, grip strength or chair stand for muscle strength, and gait speed, short performance physical battery, timed up and go, or 400-m walk test for physical function. The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) uses DXA or BIA, grip strength and 6-m gait speed for muscle, strength and function, respectively. Using different consensus group definitions results in differences in the prevalence of sarcopenia, and there would be, at best, a modest agreement between the various definitions, which would be attributed to the lack of criterion standards.
SENIOR HOUSINGS AND COMMUNITY FOR SOCIAL CONNECTION AND HEALTH AMONG LOW-INCOME OLDER ADULTS
Authors: Park Sojung , Stone Robyn 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
The symposium aims to enhance the quality of life for low-income seniors in community-based housing in the US. The focus is on social connection, neighborhood resources, and community partnerships. Analyzing the 12-year-long national data, the first study used the synthetic difference in difference regression to compare social isolation and cognitive function in two groups of older individuals aged 70 and over. Residents in traditional housing were more likely to experience increased social isolation and decreased cognitive function than senior housing residents. Senior housing was protective, particularly for low-income older adults. A qualitative study on subsidized senior housing (SSH) in Baltimore City found some residents had a small network of connections; most were cordial but disconnected. Challenges related to aging, undesirable behaviors of others, and a desire for privacy limited social connections led to social isolation within the housing communities. Using A Geographic Information System approach, another study looked at SSH availability in New Jersey and its link to neighborhood disadvantage. SSH tends to be located in areas experiencing more significant economic deprivation, highlighting the need for government intervention to mitigate geographic disparities in SSH provision. The last study presented a case of Senior Housing Preservation-Detroit to address the displacement of older adults and improve the quality of life in senior housing. The presentation will cover COVID-19 outreach, lessons learned, milestones, and an emergency plan for Detroit’s older population. Our studies provides a rigorous basis for future research to identify factors and mechanisms for healthy aging among low-income senior housing residents.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF SENIOR SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN NEW JERSEY: GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPROACH
Authors: Amano Takashi , Park Sojung , Ryu Byeongju , Baek Jihye 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Subsidized senior housing (SSH) offers a solution for low-income older individuals, enabling them to maintain economic stability and continue living independently. There has been limited investigation into the geographical distribution of SSH and its association with neighborhood disadvantage. This study seeks to address this gap by (1) describing the availability of SSH in New Jersey and (2) exploring the extent to which housing availability is linked to neighborhood disadvantage. SSH-availability was quantified by the number of SSH units within each census block group. Neighborhood disadvantage was measured using the area deprivation index (ADI). The eligible population was defined as residents aged 62 or older, living below the poverty line, and allocating 30% or more of their income to housing costs within the census block group. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was employed to visually analyze the spatial distribution of SSH, ADI scores, and eligible populations across New Jersey. Poisson regression was utilized to assess the relationship between SSH availability and neighborhood disadvantage, adjusting for the number of eligible residents. The results revealed a significant association between higher SSH availability and higher ADI scores after accounting for the number of eligible residents (p&lt;.001). This suggests that SSH tend to be located in areas experiencing greater economic deprivation. These findings underscore the need for governmental intervention to mitigate geographic disparities in SSH provision for low-income older individuals. Additionally, further investigation is warranted to examine the accessibility of social and health-related resources surrounding SSH, which could support residents aging in place.
“YOU MUST BE LISTENED TO”: FACILITATORS FOR BABY BOOMERS’ SOCIAL PARTICIPATION IN CANADA AND SPAIN
Authors: Valpuesta Dolores Majón , Levasseur Melanie 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
In Quebec (Canada) and Spain in 2021, the baby boomers represented more than a quarter (26%) of the population. To better support a shift in healthcare and social services, this cohort requires a reassessment of their social participation, a key determinant of healthy and active aging. Despite their committement to participation, little knowledge about what influence the social participation of this generation. This presentation aims to report results of two qualitative studies exploring the facilitators for social participation in the old age of the baby boom generation. These two studies were both carried out in Spain and Quebec with 53 individual and 12 group interviews, involving a total of 107 baby boomers and 52 community representatives. Perceived facilitators were related to: a) accessibility (welcoming environment, physical and emotional proximity, virtual to overcome transportation difficulties); b) availability (flexible participation without high commitment, from a critical viewpoint towards the responsibility of cares); c) positive image (being recognized, required and respected in intergenerational settings); d) socioeconomic and health status (low cost of activities, adaptation to limitations focusing on what you can still do); and e) motivation (feeling useful, helping others and impacting on the society, deciding freely according to their values, but questioning productive ageing models). The challenges associated with supporting attractive forms and opportunities of participation adapted to the needs of this new generation were also highlighted. Responding to these challenges implies creating spaces for interactive exchanges between the baby boomers and key social agents, with real translation in health promotion policies.
EXTENDING GERONTOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND THEORY THROUGH ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY METHODS
Authors: Grenier Amanda 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Experiences of older people deemed to be ‘at risk or ‘in need’ of intervention are often viewed through professional classifications with corresponding ‘objective’ indices. Concepts such as frailty and mobility, which have come to draw international policy attention, and arguably shape understandings of aging, are also produced within disciplinary knowledge(s) and powerful practices that prioritize particular components over others. As critical perspectives have revealed, such processes can marginalize groups of older people, resulting in research that articulates counter positions based on disjuncture between classifications, responses, and experience. Yet, operating in the inter-disciplinary, bio-medical/technocratic, and applied contexts of gerontology, research findings themselves become sets of knowledge and discourse which are understood as binaries, with the associated sociological theoretical perspectives often marginalized in the process. This paper suggests that ethnographic case study methods can be used to better understand the social complexities of aging, including the framing and interpretation of experience(s), the everyday contexts where older people negotiate and enact relationships and lives over time, and the ways in which evidence is used to design and respond to (or deny) older people’s needs. It takes a critical position focused on the production of knowledge and the experiences of older people in the context of social, cultural, and political relations, arguing for methods which render visible the complex realities of aging that are constructed, experienced and lived through, in space and time. It outlines the ethnographic case study as one potential method to carry out this work, presenting examples on frailty and (im)mobility.
AGING ASSEMBLAGES: NEW MATERIALIST INSIGHTS IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF AGING
Authors: Gallistl Vera 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
In the last decades, scholars in gerontology and the sociology of aging have increasingly pursued overlapping ideas concerned with the materiality of aging. Central to these is the idea that studying materiality goes beyond a consideration of material objects, physical spaces, or aging bodies. Much rather, it has significant consequences for theory and methodology and hence offers a novel conceptual and empirical sociological lens for gerontology. In this paper, we put forward a new-materialist conceptualization of aging. Drawing on new materialist sociological theories, that have emerged in feminist sociology and the sociology of science and technology, we theorize aging not as an individual process, but as an aging assemblage that is distributed between humans, non-humans and more-than humans. We illustrate the fruitfulness of such a posthumanist understanding of aging by drawing on empirical examples from a qualitative case study on artificial intelligence in long-term care. We demonstrate how adopting a more-than-human perspective on aging offers unique pathways to understand how age-boundaries emerge through a complex interplay of actors and how these age-boundaries govern the unequal distribution of power and autonomy. By conceptualizing aging as an assemblage, we underscore the precarious nature of aging as a concept that is intertwined with complex systems of both situated difference and durable inequality, structural discrimination, and political and economic disadvantage. We conclude by discussing the implications of material gerontology for critical gerontology in an increasingly digitized and datafied world.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF SELF-REPORTED COGNITIVE HEALTH FOR INFORMING DAILY WELL-BEING AND FUNCTION ACROSS CONTEXTS
Authors: Stawski Robert , Cichy Kelly , Scott Stacey 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Intensive assessment of experiences, health, and well-being in daily life have shown considerable value for understanding how our experiences shape proximal as well as distal health outcomes throughout midlife and older age. To date, stressors have been the most-oft studied experiences, while negative affect and physical symptoms have been focal indicators of daily well-being. Emerging research is emphasizing the import of experiences across different contexts, including social support provision and the work-family intersection, for shaping health and well-being. Further, self-reports of cognitive health (e.g., memory failures, cognitive complaints, cognitive interference, perseverative cognition) are emerging as an important dimension of daily well-being. Such reports are indicative of stress responses, relevant anxiety and depression symptomology, and dementia risk. Thus, self-reports of cognitive health represent a potential pathway for understanding links among daily experiences and health. The purpose of this symposium is to bring together these diverse operationalizations of cognitive health in daily life to illustrate its value and utility across different daily life experiences and contexts. Cichy and colleagues examine associations among daily social support provision and cognitive interference between persons and within persons across days. Chandler and colleagues examine associations between work-family conflict, cognitive interference, and memory failures among midlife adults in the Work-Family Health Study. Mogle explores age differences in individuals’ attributions for why they could not complete tasks in daily life. Stawski and colleagues examine associations among daily stressors, perseverative cognition, and mortality. Stacey Scott will facilitate discussion of the papers and offer insights for future research.
WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THAT TODAY?: EXPLANATIONS FOR INCOMPLETE INTENDED ACTIVITIES RARELY INCLUDE COGNITION
Authors: Mogle Jacqueline , Hill Nikki , Harrington Erin , Turner Jennifer , Nicholson Jody , Stawski Robert 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Completing intended activities, such as household chores, relies on a variety of cognitive processes to plan and execute within our typical daily routine. However, when we fail to complete an intended activity, explanations for the lack of completion can span reasons that are explicitly (e.g., couldn’t concentrate) to implicitly (e.g., not feeling well) related to cognitive functioning. The current study used daily diaries to examine individuals’ explanations for not completing intended activities. Two hundred forty-six community-dwelling adults (Mage=49.1, range 20-79 years) completed evening reports in a 7-day diary study (Mdiaries=6.2). We examined whether likelihood of not completing any of eight intended tasks (e.g., physical activity, household chores, work-related tasks) and participant’s explanations for the lack of completion (e.g., couldn’t concentrate, forgot, not enough time) depended on age. Participants reported an incomplete intended activity on 49% of days (n=535) and the most common reason was not enough time (27%). Multilevel logistic regression revealed older adults were more likely to report incomplete intended activities compared to younger (OR=1.72, CI: 1.25-2.37) and to indicate lack of time (OR=1.57, CI: 1.14-2.18) or needing to complete something more important (OR=1.67, CI: 1.18-2.37). Reasons explicitly involving cognitive processes were reported on 9% of incomplete activities and did not differ across age (p=.99). These results provide insight into ways older adults may explain not completing activities without implicating difficulties in their cognitive functioning. We will discuss the explicit role of cognition in explanations individuals use that implicitly implicate cognitive difficulties to improve methods for assessing cognitive functioning.
PROFILE OF DIRECT CARE WORKERS ACROSS THE LONG-TERM CARE SERVICES AND SUPPORTS SECTOR
Authors: Kelly Christopher , Kemp Candace , Morgan Jennifer Craft 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
DCWs across long-term care are predominately women, people of color and disproportionally immigrants. About half have health insurance through their employer and about a quarter get health insurance through Medicaid or another means tested program. About half live under 200% of the poverty line. DCWs also face dangerous working conditions, persistent occupational segregation, have limited access to paid leave, and experience very little career advancement. As stated by Scales & Lepore (2020) “[direct care work] requires a mix of technical caregiving skills; health-related knowledge; infection prevention and control expertise; emotional intelligence and relational skills; and problem-solving and decision-making abilities, among other competencies (p. 173).” Despite highly meaningful jobs with high intrinsic rewards, the lack of extrinsic rewards including compensation, drive turnover. Turnover rates in long-term care have been persistently slow to recover since the start of the pandemic and the recovery has been most difficult for women and people of color. In this context, the use of agency staff, or those that are temporarily hired from staffing agencies to fill staffing shortages, has remained persistently high. Use of agency staff makes relationship-based, person-centered care difficult. Many residential care organizations have reduced the number of new residents because they do not have the staffing to accommodate them despite having available licensed beds. Using data from the 2020-2022 American Community Survey we examine trends among direct care workers (DCWs) in terms of job quality, occupation and industry. Persistent issues with churn, lack of career advancement, low wages, and few benefits remain.
CHANGES IN RESIDENT OVARIAN MACROPHAGES DURING FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE AGING
Authors: Ocanas Sarah , Poljanska Ewa , Isola Jose , Hubbart Chase , Stout Michael 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Ovaries exhibit accelerated aging phenotypes, displaying aging hallmarks earlier than other organs. During pre-menopause, endocrine function declines, and the ovarian microenvironment becomes pro-inflammatory and fibrotic. However, the cellular mechanisms driving ovarian aging remain unclear, hindering the development of therapies to delay this process for overall health benefits. Macrophages are crucial in ovarian functions like folliculogenesis, ovulation, and corpus luteum formation. Ovarian macrophages have two origins: tissue-resident macrophages (TRMs) from yolk sac and fetal liver progenitors, and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) from bone marrow. In this study, we examined the transcriptomic profiles of ovarian TRMs in young (5-6 months) and older (12-14 months) Cx3cr1-NuTRAP mice. This mouse model uses a tamoxifen-inducible, cre-lox system to label nuclei and ribosomes, enabling DNA/RNA isolation without cell sorting. Flow cytometry confirmed the identity of eGFP-labeled cells, and translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) was used to assess age-related transcriptomic changes in TRMs. We found that TRMs exhibit inflammatory (e.g., IL1B) and senescent (e.g., CDKN2A) transcriptomic signatures, likely contributing to aging hallmarks such as T cell accumulation, multinucleated giant cell formation, and fibrosis. Translatability was established by comparing our data with publicly available human data. These findings suggest that ovarian TRMs play a critical role in ovarian aging, warranting future mechanistic studies.
BUILDING RESEARCH AND EVALUATION CAPACITY OF INTERGENERATIONAL INITIATIVES: EXAMPLES FROM THE FIELD
Authors: Halvorsen Cal 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Conducting evaluations to assess the impact of projects, services, and programs is often a daunting task for nonprofit and grassroots organizations. More so, developing research projects that document the need for the work of these social-purpose organizations can be difficult for staff and volunteers busy with day-to-day responsibilities. This presentation will showcase an ongoing academic-organizational partnership created to increase the research and evaluation capacity of a national nonprofit organization and its network of nascent and established grantees bringing older and younger people together to work on major social and environmental issues. Topics addressed will be establishing and cultivating trusting and transparent relationships, developing a scope of work, using an organization-centric research capacity-building approach, engaging students in these efforts, and more. Further, specific examples of products from these research and evaluation projects will be shown to illustrate how to navigate the conflicting needs of academics on the tenure-track with those of community-based organizations. The primary implications of this academic-organization partnership are twofold: First, this model, piloted with an organization focused on fostering new intergenerational initiatives, can be used by gerontological researchers in a variety of fields to benefit the community while aligning with established academic expectations; and second, leaders within these nascent intergenerational initiatives have now learned how to conduct basic program evaluations within their own organizations, which should ultimately lead to the strengthening of programs that bring the generations together.
BRAIN HEALTH IN COMMUNITY: INVOLVING AND COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITIES YIELDED UNEXPECTED INNOVATIONS
Authors: Gan Daniel , Wang Claire , Woronko Susan Liu 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Funded by university-community engagement initiatives, this research aimed to understand and meet gaps in cognitive health promotion in diverse communities. The research team started with CONSULTATIVE conversations with activity providers and partnered older adults for analytic model specification and interpretation. As the focus groups progressed, the engagement fluidly progressed into an INVOLVEMENT marked by mutual respect for the distinct expertise of both parties and quick successions of knowledge exchanges, which led to two unintended innovations. Due to the trust built with key informants, older adults openly shared their unmet needs for a space to find meaning amid the challenges of aging. In response, a novel mindful discussion program was COLLABORATIVELY piloted with community organizations. Moreover, trust from older adults begot trust from activity providers and their sharing led to a simple eMental Health solution for closed-loop social prescribing. These insights on trust, engagement levels, and innovations are gained only in retrospect. Referencing these experiences, we reflect on the importance trust built with older adults as a catalyst for deeper engagements with service providers. Low-intensity consultations were more manageable at the start of the researcher-community relationship. More extensive engagements with older adults led to greater trust and mutual empowerment, and incidentally provided access to implicit knowledge held by activity providers which was crucial for innovation. Pivotal moments of knowledge spillovers were part of everyday activities in the community as researchers became embedded in relationality. Our experience underscores fluid engagement approaches that defy our best-planned intentions as lessons in decolonial knowledge cultivation.