Beyond Caregiving: Daily Pleasant Activities among Caregivers to Older Adults with and without Dementia.

Objectives: Limited research has explored caregivers' activities beyond caregiving duties, which may offer positive experiences and counterbalance caregiving stress. This study aimed to (a) identify the most pleasant non-caregiving activities, (b) assess time allocation based on activity categories and pleasantness, and (c) investigate the association between activity pleasantness and duration, considering differences between caregivers to older adults with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and those without.

Methods: This study included 2,136 caregivers (33% ADRD) from the 2017 National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) who participated in a time diary interview.

Using Deep Learning Neural Networks to Improve Dementia Detection: Automating Coding of the Clock-Drawing Test.

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) is a growing public health concern. The clock-drawing test (CDT), where subjects draw a clock, typically with hands showing 11:10, has been widely used for ADRD-screening. A limitation of including CDT in large-scale studies is that the CDT requires manual coding, which could result in biases if coders interpret and implement coding rules differently.

Examining Care Network Characteristics in Older Adults' Relocation to Residential Care Settings.

Background And Objectives: When older adults face increasing care needs or limited support, remaining safely and comfortably at home becomes challenging. Extant research has primarily concentrated on characteristics of the older adult or their primary caregiver on nursing home admission. This study examines the risk of older adults transitioning to residential care (e.

Caregiving Trajectories and Unmet Care Needs in Later Life.

Background And Objectives: The evolution of care networks accompanying older adults' changing care needs-and implications for unmet care needs-are not well described.

Research Design And Methods: Using group-based trajectory models, we identify 4 incident care need patterns ("care need trajectory groups") for 1,038 older adults in the 2012-2018 National Health and Aging Trends Study and 5 caregiving patterns ("caregiving trajectory groups") and a transient group among their 4,106 caregivers. We model associations between care need/caregiving trajectory groups and the rate of (approximating the proportion of rounds with) unmet care needs.

Dementia Prevalence, Incidence, and Mortality Trends Among U.S. Adults Ages 72 and Older, 2011-2021.

Background: U.S.-focused studies have reported decreasing dementia prevalence in recent decades, but have not yet focused on the implications of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for trends.

THE EFFECTS OF A TARGETED "EARLY BIRD" INCENTIVE STRATEGY ON RESPONSE RATES, FIELDWORK EFFORT, AND COSTS IN A NATIONAL PANEL STUDY.

Adaptive survey designs are increasingly used by survey practitioners to counteract ongoing declines in household survey response rates and manage rising fieldwork costs. This paper reports findings from an evaluation of an early-bird incentive (EBI) experiment targeting high-effort respondents who participate in the 2019 wave of the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We identified a subgroup of high-effort respondents at risk of nonresponse based on their prior wave fieldwork effort and randomized them to a treatment offering an extra time-delimited monetary incentive for completing their interview within the first month of data collection (treatment group; = 800) or the standard study incentive (control group; = 400).

An Incomplete Model of Disability: Discrepancies Between Performance-Based and Self-Reported Measures of Functioning.

Background: Appropriate conceptualization and measurement of disability are critical for population-focused resource allocation and policy development. Self-reported and performance-based measures of functioning have been used to represent disability. Variation in environmental context or self-perception of ability may influence self-reports; however, performance-based measures that attempt to control environmental context may not accurately capture real-world aspects of functioning.

Public transit stop density is associated with walking for exercise among a national sample of older adults.

Background: Walking is the primary and preferred mode of exercise for older adults. Walking to and from public transit stops may support older adults in achieving exercise goals. This study examined whether density of neighborhood public transit stops was associated with walking for exercise among older adults.

Changes in late-life assistance networks for Black and White older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted older Black Americans. Given that assistance networks play a crucial role in older adults' ability to respond to challenges, we sought to investigate whether older adults' assistance network size changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and differed by race.

Methods: We analyzed data from the 2018-2020 rounds of the U.

Work as Overload or Enhancement for Family Caregivers of Older Adults: Assessment of Experienced Well-Being Over the Day.

Objective: This study examines work and care patterns and their association with experienced well-being over the course of the day and tests a moderating effect of gender.

Background: Many family and unpaid caregivers to older adults face dual responsibilities of work and caregiving. Yet little is known about how working caregivers sequence responsibilities through the day and their implications for well-being.

The Changing Demography of Late-Life Family Caregiving: A Research Agenda to Understand Future Care Networks for an Aging U.S. Population.

Repeated claims that a dwindling supply of potential caregivers is creating a crisis in care for the U.S. aging population have not been well-grounded in empirical research.

COVID-19 pandemic experiences of older adults with dementia in community and residential care settings: Results from a US national survey.

Introduction: Investigations into consequences of the US COVID-19 pandemic for older adults with dementia have been limited.

Methods: We used the National Health and Aging Trends Study to examine self-reported COVID-19 infection; measures taken to limit its spread; social, behavioral, and emotional responses to the pandemic; and changes in health-care use and provider communication. We compared adults aged ≥70 with and without dementia in community and residential care settings.

The devil's in the details: Variation in estimates of late-life activity limitations across national cohort studies.

Background: Assessing activity limitations is central to aging research. However, assessments of activity limitations vary, and this may have implications for the populations identified. We aim to compare measures of activities of daily living (ADLs) and their resulting prevalence and mortality across three nationally-representative cohort studies: the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), and the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS).

Shared Care Networks Assisting Older Adults: New Insights From the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Background And Objectives: Caregiving research often assumes older adults receiving care have a primary caregiver who provides the bulk of care. Consequently, little is known about the extent to which care responsibilities are shared more evenly within a care network, the characteristics associated with sharing, or the consequences for meeting older adults' care needs.

Research Design And Methods: We analyze a sample of U.

The Strength of Parent-Adult Child Ties in Biological Families and Stepfamilies: Evidence From Time Diaries From Older Adults.

We examine older partnered parents' time spent with adult children in biological and step families, treating time together as an indication of relationship strength. Using a unique national sample of U.S.

COVID-19-Related Changes in Assistance Networks for U.S. Older Adults With and Without Dementia.

Objectives: Prepandemic research suggests assistance networks for older adults grow over time and are larger for those living with dementia. We examined how assistance networks of older adults changed in response to the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and whether these changes differed for those with and without dementia.

Methods: We used 3 rounds of the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

A day in the life of caregivers to older adults with and without dementia: Comparisons of care time and emotional health.

Introduction: How care-related time and emotional health over the day differ for those assisting older adults with and without dementia is unclear.

Methods: Using 2134 time diaries from the National Study of Caregiving, we compared emotional health and care time for caregivers of older adults with and without dementia.

Results: Caregivers to older adults with dementia experienced worse (higher scores) on a composite measure of negative emotional health (4.

Care Received and Unmet Care Needs Among Older Parents in Biological and Step Families.

Objectives: Increased likelihood of having step children among more recent cohorts of older adults, alongside lower levels of assistance from step children, has led to concerns about greater unmet needs for older parents in step families. However, few studies have directly examined family structure and unmet needs. We examined the associations between having step children (vs.

Incident Care Trajectories for Older Adults With and Without Dementia.

Objective: Despite cross-sectional evidence that persons living with dementia receive disproportionate hours of care, studies of how care intensity progresses over time and differs for those living with and without dementia have been lacking.

Method: We used the 2011-2018 National Health and Aging Trends Study to estimate growth mixture models to identify incident care hour trajectories ("classes") among older adults (N = 1,780).

Results: We identified 4 incident care hour classes: "Low, stable," "High, increasing," "24/7 then high, stable," and "Low then resolved.

Changes in Older Adults' Social Contact During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objectives: To understand changes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in weekly contact with nonresident family and friends for U.S. adults aged 70 and older in residential care and community settings.