scholarly journals Racial and Educational Disparities in Dementia and Dementia-Free Life Expectancy

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. e105-e112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateo P Farina ◽  
Mark D Hayward ◽  
Jung Ki Kim ◽  
Eileen M Crimmins
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Life Table ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cognitive Health ◽  
Dementia Prevalence ◽  
Estimate Life Expectancy ◽  
Race And Education ◽  
Education Groups

Abstract Objectives We estimate life expectancy with and without dementia for Americans 65 years and older by education and race to examine how these stratification systems combine to shape disparities in later-life cognitive health. Method Based on the Health and Retirement Study (2000–2014), we use a multivariate, incidence-based life table approach to estimate life expectancy by cognitive health status for race–education groups. The models also simulate group differences in the prevalence of dementia implied by these rates. Results The life table results document notable race–education differences in dementia and dementia-free life expectancy, as well as stark differences in implied dementia prevalence. At each education level, blacks can expect to live more years with dementia and they have significantly higher rates of dementia prevalence. This distribution of disparities in the older population is anchored by 2 groups—blacks without a high school diploma and whites with some college or more. Discussion Dementia experience and dementia burden differ dramatically along race–education lines. Race and education combine to exaggerate disparities and they both have enduring effects. Future research should explicitly consider how race and education combine to influence dementia in the older American population.

scholarly journals Offspring Educational Attainment and Older Parents' Cognition in Mexico

Demography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-109
Author(s):  
Mingming Ma ◽  
Jenjira Yahirun ◽  
Joseph Saenz ◽  
Connor Sheehan
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Parental Health ◽  
Cognitive Health ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Instrumental Variables Approach

Abstract Population-level disparities in later-life cognitive health point to the importance of family resources. Although the bulk of prior work on the topic has established the directional flow of resources from parents to offspring, the linked lives perspective raises the question of how offspring resources could affect parental health as well. This study examines whether adult children's education influences older parents' (aged 50+) cognitive health in Mexico, where schooling reforms have contributed to significant gains in the educational achievements of recent birth cohorts. Harnessing a change in compulsory school laws and applying an instrumental variables approach, we found that each year of offspring schooling was associated with higher overall cognition among parents but was less predictive across different cognitive functioning domains. More offspring schooling improved parents' cognitive abilities in verbal learning, verbal fluency, and orientation, but not in visual scanning, visuospatial ability, or visual memory. The beneficial effects of offspring schooling on those cognitive domains are more salient for mothers than for fathers, suggesting potential gendered effects in the influence of offspring schooling. The results remained robust to controls for parent-child contact and geographic proximity, suggesting other avenues through which offspring education could affect parental health and a pathway for future research. Our findings contribute to growing research stressing the causal influence of familial educational attainment on population health.

scholarly journals The Role of Geographical Differences and Discrimination in the Cognitive Health of Older Blacks

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 881-881
Author(s):  
Kimson Johnson ◽  
Ketlyne Sol ◽  
Briana Sprague ◽  
Tamara Cadet ◽  
Elizabeth Munoz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Geographical Differences ◽  
Cognitive Health ◽  
Everyday Discrimination

Abstract Where you live in old age matters in the United States in terms of access to health care and potential exposure to discrimination. This is especially important for non-Hispanic Blacks. Everyday experiences of discrimination are known to “get under the skin” but to date few studies have examined if associations between discrimination and cognitive health differ by region and urbanicity. This study aims to fill this gap. Data are from the 2012 and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (N =2,347). Non-Hispanic Blacks over age 51 with complete data on the Everyday Discrimination Scale in either 2012 or 2014 and cognition, residential location were included in the analysis. Regression models included covariates for age, gender, education and examined interactive effects of everyday discrimination, region, and urbanicity on episodic memory in a nationally representative sample of non-Hispanic older Black adults in the U.S. Descriptive analyses revealed that the majority lived in Southern regions and in non-urban areas. Respondents also reported experiencing discrimination a few times a year. Regression analyses indicated that experiencing more everyday discrimination was significantly associated with lower episodic memory when living in urban areas. Among Blacks, the discrimination-episodic memory link did not significantly vary across U.S. regional contexts. Findings highlight the importance of socio-environmental factors in shaping how stressful experiences such as everyday discrimination are linked to cognitive health in later life. Future research should focus on the development of focused upstream interventions that are responsive to racial disparities in cognitive health in urban areas.

Images of Aging in the Psychotherapeutic Context

GeroPsych ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva-Marie Kessler ◽  
Catherine E. Bowen
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Aging Process ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Psychotherapeutic Process ◽  
Images Of Aging ◽  
Client Communication

Both psychotherapists and their clients have mental representations of old age and the aging process. In this conceptual review, we draw on available research from gerontology, social and developmental psychology, and communication science to consider how these “images of aging” may affect the psychotherapeutic process with older clients. On the basis of selected empirical findings we hypothesize that such images may affect the pathways to psychotherapy in later life, therapist-client communication, client performance on diagnostic tests as well as how therapists select and apply a therapeutic method. We posit that interventions to help both older clients and therapists to reflect on their own images of aging may increase the likelihood of successful treatment. We conclude by making suggestions for future research.

scholarly journals Changing Educational Gradients in Life Expectancy With and Without Disease Among U.S. Older Adults From 2000 to 2010

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 505-505
Author(s):  
Matthew Farina ◽  
Phillip Cantu ◽  
Mark Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Chronic Diseases ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
Healthy Life Expectancy ◽  
Healthy Life ◽  
Education Group ◽  
Education Groups

Abstract Recent research has documented increasing education inequality in life expectancy among U.S. adults; however, much is unknown about other health status changes. The objective of study is to assess how healthy and unhealthy life expectancies, as classified by common chronic diseases, has changed for older adults across education groups. Data come from the Health and Retirement Study and National Vital Statistics. We created prevalence-based life tables using the Sullivan method to assess sex-specific life expectancies for stroke, heart disease, cancer, and arthritis by education group. In general, unhealthy life expectancy increased with each condition across education groups. However, the increases in unhealthy life expectancy varied greatly. While stroke increased by half a year across education groups, life expectancy with diabetes increased by 3 to 4 years. In contrast, the evidence for healthy life expectancy provides mixed results. Across chronic diseases, healthy life expectancy decreased by 1 to 3 years for respondents without a 4-year degree. Conversely, healthy life expectancy increased for the college educated by .5 to 3 years. While previous research shows increases in life expectancy for the most educated, trends in life expectancy with chronic conditions is less positive: not all additional years are in lived in good health. In addition to documenting life expectancy changes across education groups, research assessing health of older adults should consider the changing inequality across a variety of health conditions, which will have broad implications for population aging and policy intervention.

scholarly journals Disaggregation of official demographic projections in sub-groups by education level: the neglected “composition effect” in the future path of life expectancy

Genus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Ginebri ◽  
Carlo Lallo
Keyword(s):  
High Education ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Composition Effect ◽  
Education Group ◽  
Population Forecasts ◽  
Low Education ◽  
Mortality Differential ◽  
Education Groups

AbstractWe developed an innovative method to break down official population forecasts by educational level. The mortality rates of the high education group and low education group were projected using an iterative procedure, whose starting point was the life tables by education level for Italy, based on the year 2012. We provide a set of different scenarios on the convergence/divergence of the mortality differential between the high and low education groups. In each scenario, the demographic size and the life expectancy of the two sub-groups were projected annually over the period 2018–2065. We compared the life expectancy paths in the whole population and in the sub-groups. We found that in all of our projections, population life expectancy converges to the life expectancy of the high education group. We call this feature of our outcomes the “composition effect”, and we show how highly persistent it is, even in scenarios where the mortality differential between social groups is assumed to decrease over time. In a midway scenario, where the mortality differential is assumed to follow an intermediate path between complete disappearance in year 2065 and stability at the 2012 level, and in all the scenarios with a milder convergence hypothesis, our “composition effect” prevails over the effect of convergence for men and women. For instance, assuming stability in the mortality differential, we estimated a life expectancy increase at age 65 of 2.9 and 2.6 years for men, and 3.2 and 3.1 for women, in the low and high education groups, respectively, over the whole projection period. Over the same period, Italian official projections estimate an increase of 3.7 years in life expectancy at age 65 for the whole population. Our results have relevant implications for retirement and ageing policies, in particular for those European countries that have linked statutory retirement age to variations in population life expectancies. In all the scenarios where the composition effect is not offset by a strong convergence of mortality differentials, we show that the statutory retirement age increases faster than the group-specific life expectancies, and this finding implies that the expected time spent in retirement will shrink for the whole population. This potential future outcome seems to be an unintended consequence of the indexation rule.

scholarly journals Perception of Neighborhood Characteristics During Childhood and Cognitive Health Among Older Adults in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 439-439
Author(s):  
Changmin Peng ◽  
Sae Hwang Han ◽  
Jeffrey Burr
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Neighborhood Characteristics ◽  
Neighborhood Safety ◽  
Cognitive Health ◽  
Childhood Conditions ◽  
Neighborhood Environments

Abstract Neighborhood environments shape the availability of resources for social engagement and social interaction, which are associated with better health outcomes. However, these contextual factors are also considered sources of potential social distress and tension, increasing the risk of subsequent health deficits, including cognitive decline. Our understanding of the linkage between childhood neighborhood environments and cognitive functioning in later life is limited. This study employed three waves of nationally representative data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2015; N = 11,105) to investigate the relationship between self-reported neighborhood social cohesion during childhood (i.e., neighborhood safety, neighbors willing to help, and close-knit neighborhood) and cognitive functioning (Chinese version of TICS). We employed latent growth curve modeling to test hypotheses relating to life course models of childhood conditions and later life cognitive functioning (the long arm of childhood). The results showed that perceptions regarding the willingness of neighbors to help and close-knit neighborhood characteristics during childhood were positively associated with levels of later life cognitive function. Further, growing up in a neighborhood characterized by the willingness of neighbors to help others was negatively associated with the rate of cognitive decline, net of childhood and adulthood covariates. Self-report of neighborhood safety during childhood was unrelated to cognitive function (level and change). These findings underscored the long-term ramifications of childhood conditions as potential risk factors for later-life cognitive health. Social cohesion at the neighborhood level as experienced during childhood may be a protective factor for healthy cognitive aging among older Chinese adults.

scholarly journals Perceived Control and Aging: A Mini-Review and Directions for Future Research

Gerontology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 435-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Robinson ◽  
Margie E. Lachman
Keyword(s):  
Sex Education ◽  
Perceived Control ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Control Beliefs ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
As Stress ◽  
Health And Well Being

This brief review on perceived control and aging is organized according to 3 perspectives of research involving description, explanation, and modification. An extensive body of literature has utilized cross-sectional and correlational methods to describe the sociodemographic variations and outcomes associated with perceived control. This work has focused on differences in perceived control as a function of age, sex, education, socioeconomic status, and culture and has identified positive associations with many aging-related outcomes involving health and well-being. With growing evidence regarding the health benefits of perceived control in the context of a declining sense of control with aging, there has been an increased effort to uncover the mechanisms involved, with the hopes of developing methods to maintain and/or promote adaptive control beliefs throughout adulthood. Through longitudinal and experimental work, researchers are beginning to clarify the directionality and elucidate the mechanisms to explain the associations. Recent evidence from longitudinal studies shows that control beliefs have an impact on subsequent changes in health. Yet, the findings suggest that it is not a unidirectional relationship. A conceptual model suggesting an ongoing reciprocal relationship between perceived control and health and well-being is discussed. Research examining the mechanisms that link perceived control to aging-related outcomes can help to inform and to develop effective interventions that are tailored to the individual's specific barriers and goals. We consider new directions for research, including more attention to intraindividual variability and reactivity to daily challenges, such as stress, with the goal of advancing our understanding of how perceived control contributes to aging-related outcomes. More work is needed to develop strategies to enhance control beliefs in later life. Although it will not always be possible to modify control beliefs, researchers can take these beliefs into account when developing interventions. A personalized approach is recommended as a way to tailor interventions that are compatible with individuals' beliefs about control to facilitate adaptive behavior change. Conclusions focus on selected issues and considerations for future research.

scholarly journals Gaps in social support resources in later life: An adaptational challenge in need of further research

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen S. Rook
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Support Needs ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Support Resources ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Social Support Resources

Gaps in social support resources in later life may arise when older adults lose social network members due to illness, death, or residential relocation. Gaps also may arise when social networks remain intact but are not well suited to meet older adults' intensifying support needs, such as needs for extended or highly personal instrumental support. Significant gaps in support resources are likely to require adaptive responses by older adults. This discussion highlights theoretical perspectives and illustrates empirical findings regarding the nature and effectiveness of older adults' responses to gaps in their social support resources. The literature examining these issues is relatively small and, as a result, is ripe for further development. Promising directions for future research are suggested.

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