Previous research shows that minoritized (i.e. Black and Hispanic) older workers are more likely to work in jobs subject to employment disruptions and negative economic outcomes, including job and wage loss.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFew studies examined the social network structures within multicultural volunteer programs for low-income diverse older adults, making it unclear how diverse older adults establish social connections beyond their co-ethnic community. This study aims to identify the social network structures within a Senior Companion Program (SCP), a multicultural low-income volunteer program in a Midwestern Metropolitan area in the United States. Data were collected through surveys during a SCP monthly in-service training in October 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOlder adults' engagement in age-friendly community (AFC) initiatives is considered an essential element of community transformation. However, research on older adults' experiences of engaging in AFC initiatives remains nascent. Based on qualitative interviews with 23 older adult participants from 15 AFC initiatives across four states in the United States (U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There are multiple, reliable, and authoritative federally managed data sources for understanding the incidence and prevalence of substance use disorder (SUD) and its sequela. However, there remains a gap in metrics representing the need and capacity for treatment and related supports within local communities. To address this challenge, Calculating an Adequate System Tool (CAST) was developed in 2016 by an interdisciplinary group of researchers at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality to assess the capacity of the SUD care system within a defined geographic area.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVolunteering has been associated with increased social interactions and reduced feelings of loneliness among older adults. However, a growing number of social network analyses (SNA) conducted in the general population outside of volunteering contexts suggest that lonely individuals tended to interact with other lonely individuals in the network, reinforcing loneliness through peer associations. To better understand the psychosocial impact of peer interactions among older adults within volunteer programs, this study examines how older adults' loneliness is correlated with their peers' loneliness within the Senior Companions Program (SCP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough volunteering has been associated with numerous social benefits for diverse older adults, there is little information on how they establish relationships within a multicultural volunteering program outside of their co-ethnic communities. This convergent mixed-method social network study adopts the bonding and bridging social capital theory to explore the and of social interactions within a multicultural volunteer program. Low-income Russian, Khmer, Somali, Nepali, and English-speaking older volunteers in the Senior Companions Program (SCP) in a Midwest metropolitan ( = 83) participated in the surveys and focus groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHaving viable alternative transportation options could help individuals stop driving when appropriate. This study employs the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to understand the barriers and facilitators of alternative transportation among a sample of adults aged 55 and older ( = 32). Using a daily transportation data collection app, , the research team asked participants questions structured around environmental, individual, and behavioral factors as outlined in the SCT framework.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Social networks transmit knowledge, influence, and resources. These relationships among patients, professionals, and organizations can shape how innovations are disseminated, adopted, implemented, and sustained. Network alteration interventions-interventions that change or rewire social networks-have the potential to be used as implementation strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Trust in physicians (TIP) plays a critical role in the health care utilization (HCU) of minority older adults and older immigrants. Although previous studies suggested that TIP was positively associated with primary care visits, negatively associated with Emergency Room (ER) visits and hospitalization among African Americans in the United States (U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Worldwide mandates for social distancing and home-quarantine have contributed to loneliness and social isolation. We conducted a systematic scoping review to identify network-building interventions that address loneliness and isolation, describe their components and impact on network structure, and consider their application in the wake of COVID19.
Methods: We performed forward and backward citation tracking of three seminal publications on network interventions and Bibliographic search of Web of Science and SCOPUS.
Volunteering is often considered an important component of productive and active aging. Although there is a rich body of literature on the predictors and outcomes of volunteering among the general older adults in the United States (U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo examine the effect of access to outdoor space and buildings and social or community events on elders' perceived disconnectedness. Data were from a representative survey conducted as part of an age-friendly community initiative in a large midwestern city in the United States. Hierarchical logistic regression was employed to examine the relationships between environment, engagement, and connection.
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