scholarly journals Older African Americans’ Perspectives on Exposure to Structural Discrimination Across Contexts and the Life Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 689-689
Author(s):  
Sarah LaFave ◽  
Sarah Szanton ◽  
Roland Thorpe
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Older African Americans ◽  
Environmental Toxin ◽  
Development Of Instrument ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Interpersonal Level

Abstract This presentation reports on findings from the first phase of a mixed methods study aimed at developing an instrument to assess older African Americans’ exposure to structural racial discrimination. We conducted semi-structured interviews with older African Americans about their perspectives on and exposure to structural discrimination. Participants (n=20) were community-dwelling African Americans aged fifty and older in Baltimore, MD. Participants described exposure to structural discrimination that had accumulated across the life course and across the contexts of education, employment, healthcare services, criminal justice system, neighborhood factors, media and marketing of unhealthy products, environmental toxin exposures, and income, credit and wealth. In the next phase of the study, we will incorporate these findings into the development of instrument items. Developing and testing a tool to assess exposure to discrimination beyond the interpersonal level is an important step in identifying solutions to mitigate the contribute of discrimination to racial health disparities.

scholarly journals Sex difference in travel is concentrated in adolescence and tracks reproductive interests

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1796) ◽  
pp. 20141476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily J. Miner ◽  
Michael Gurven ◽  
Hillard Kaplan ◽  
Steven J. C. Gaulin
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Travel Behaviour ◽  
Reproductive Rate ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Sexual Competition ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Market Town ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Women's Travel ◽  
The Life Course

Sexual selection theory suggests that the sex with a higher potential reproductive rate will compete more strongly for access to mates. Stronger intra-sexual competition for mates may explain why males travel more extensively than females in many terrestrial vertebrates. A male-bias in lifetime distance travelled is a purported human universal, although this claim is based primarily on anecdotes. Following sexual maturity, motivation to travel outside the natal territory may vary over the life course for both sexes. Here, we test whether travel behaviour among Tsimane forager–horticulturalists is associated with shifting reproductive priorities across the lifespan. Using structured interviews, we find that sex differences in travel peak during adolescence when men and women are most intensively searching for mates. Among married adults, we find that greater offspring dependency load is associated with reduced travel among women, but not men. Married men are more likely to travel alone than women, but only to the nearest market town and not to other Tsimane villages. We conclude that men's and women's travel behaviour reflects differential gains from mate search and parenting across the life course.

scholarly journals Interrelationship of substance use and psychological distress over the life course among a cohort of urban African Americans

2012 ◽  
Vol 123 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 239-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry M. Green ◽  
Katarzyna A. Zebrak ◽  
Judith A. Robertson ◽  
Kate E. Fothergill ◽  
Margaret E. Ensminger
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Life Course ◽  
The Life Course

scholarly journals FEASIBILITY OF A LOW-DOSE FRAILTY PREVENTION INTERVENTION AMONG OLDER AFRICAN AMERICANS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S293-S293
Author(s):  
Heather A Fritz ◽  
Wassim Tarraf ◽  
Pragnesh Patel
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Low Dose ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Primary Care Clinic ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Feasibility Trial ◽  
Care Clinic ◽  
Prevention Intervention ◽  
Older African Americans

Abstract Older African Americans (OAA) are at high risk for becoming frail in later life. Interventions can reverse or delay frailty, yet OAA have largely been excluded from frailty intervention research. Many interventions are also time and resource intensive, making them inaccessible to socially disadvantaged OAA. We present results of a feasibility trial of a low dose frailty prevention intervention among 60 community-dwelling, pre-frail OAA aged 55+ recruited from a primary care clinic between June 1st and October 31st 2018. Using a 2-arm RCT, participants were assigned to the intervention, which was delivered by an occupational therapist (OT) and comprised of four sessions over four months (an OT evaluation, and sessions on healthy dietary practices, increasing physical activity, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle), or enhanced usual care (publicly available information about healthy lifestyle, home safety, and local elder services). Feasibility criteria were set a priori at 75% for participant retention (including attrition due to death/hospitalization), 80% for session engagement, 2 participants/week for mean participant accrual, and 90% for program satisfaction. Participants were 65% female with an average age of 76.58 years, 51.67% of which lived alone and 51.67% lived off of less than 15K per year. Feasibility metrics were met. The study recruited 2.5 participants per week and retained 75% of participants who attended 95% of scheduled sessions. Mean satisfaction scores were 93%. The intervention was feasible to deliver. Qualitative findings from exit interviews suggested changes to the program dose, structure, and content that could improve it for future use.

Stress-Related Biosocial Mechanisms of Discrimination and African American Health Inequities

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridget J. Goosby ◽  
Jacob E. Cheadle ◽  
Colter Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Pain ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Health Trajectories ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
Life Course Health ◽  
The Life Course

This review describes stress-related biological mechanisms linking interpersonal racism to life course health trajectories among African Americans. Interpersonal racism, a form of social exclusion enacted via discrimination, remains a salient issue in the lives of African Americans, and it triggers a cascade of biological processes originating as perceived social exclusion and registering as social pain. Exposure to discrimination increases sympathetic nervous system activation and upregulates the HPA axis, increasing physiological wear and tear and elevating the risks of cardiometabolic conditions. Consequently, discrimination is associated with morbidities including low birth weight, hypertension, abdominal obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Biological measures can provide important analytic tools to study the interactions between social experiences such as racial discrimination and health outcomes over the life course. We make future recommendations for the study of discrimination and health outcomes, including the integration of neuroscience, genomics, and new health technologies; interdisciplinary engagement; and the diversification of scholars engaged in biosocial inequities research.

Racial Differences in Multigenerational Living Arrangements in 1910

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Elman ◽  
Andrew S. London
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Living Arrangement ◽  
Future Research ◽  
European Americans ◽  
Kin Support ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Life Course

We explore racial differences in multigenerational living arrangements in 1910, focusing on trigenerational kin structures. Coresidence across generations represents a public function of the family, and we observe this across different ages or life-course stages through which adults came to be at risk for providing simultaneous household support for multiple generations of kin dependents. Using data from the 1.4 percent 1910 Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample, our comparisons adjust for marital turnover, including widow(er)hood/divorce and remarriage, as rates are known to be historically higher among African Americans in this period. Across subgroups defined by age and sex, we find that African Americans are virtually always as likely as or more likely than European Americans (of both native and foreign parentage) to live as grandparents in trigenerational households. Widow(er)hood/divorce generally increased the likelihood of trigenerational coresidence, while remarriage sometimes increased, sometimes decreased, and sometimes had no association with this living arrangement. Also, we find that the life-course staging of household kin support in 1910 differed across race/generation partly due to different economic and demographic circumstances, suggesting more complexity in kin support than previously considered. We discuss these findings in relation to the histories of African American and European American families as well as their implications for future research.

scholarly journals ”Man får hjälp då man behöver” - äldre närståendevårdtagares vårdval ur ett livsloppsperspektiv

Gerontologia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-114
Author(s):  
Sarah Åkerman ◽  
Fredrica Nyqvist ◽  
Mikael Nygård
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Informal Care ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Demographic Development ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Relationship

Den demografiska utvecklingen leder till omorganiseringar inom den finländska äldreomsorgen. Privatisering, marknadisering och närståendevård ökar med konsekvenser för vårdbehövande och deras anhöriga. Temat för den här artikeln är närståendevård. Tidigare forskning har fokuserat i större utsträckning på vårdarna, trots att också vårdtagaren är en aktiv part i vården. Enligt livsloppsperspektivet ses åldrande som en livslång process. En individs livslopp påverkas av de begränsningar och möjligheter som styr hennes val och handlingar i en specifik historisk och social kontext. I den här studien har sju vårdtagare intervjuats med kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer. Syftet var att studera äldre närståendevårdtagares vårdval ur ett livsloppsperspektiv. Studiens frågeställningar var: hur kan bakgrunden till närståendevårdtagarnas vårdval förstås ur ett livsloppsperspektiv? Vad har vårdtagarna för tankar om framtiden? Resultaten visade att valet av närståendevård påverkades av den personliga bakgrunden och relationen till närståendevårdaren, men även av delvis negativa attityder till formell äldreomsorg. Vårdtagarna oroade sig för framtida vårdarrangemang. ”You receive help when you need it” – older informal care recipients’ care choice from a life course perspective Demographic development leads to increasing privatization, marketization and informal care in Finnish eldercare. The theme for this study is informal care. Previous research has focused on caregivers, even though the recipient is also an active part in care. According to the life course perspective, ageing is a lifelong process that takes place in a historical and social context. Seven older informal care recipients have been interviewed using qualitative semi-structured interviews. The aim was to study older informal care recipients’ care choice from a life course perspective. The research questions were: how can the background of the recipients’ care choice be understood from a life course perspective? What are the recipients’ thoughts on the future? The results showed that the care recipients’ choice was affected by personal reasons and the relationship with the caregiver, but also by partly negative attitudes towards formal eldercare. The care recipients worried about future arrangements.

scholarly journals Transition to Adulthood: Leaving the Parental Home in the Last Soviet and the First Post-Soviet Generation

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-154
Author(s):  
Laura Daukšaitė
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Parental Home ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
Structural Environment ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Leaving The Parental Home

The article presents a research on trajectories of leaving the parental home in the last Soviet and the first post-Soviet generations. It focuses on social transformation of the state during the transition from the Soviet to the post-Soviet and its impact on the life-course of these generations. In our study, we applied a dyadic approach and conducted semi-structured interviews with women of the last Soviet generation (born in 1962–1972) and their children (born in 1992–2002), who represent the first post-Soviet generation. Early changes in and the differentiation of the timetable of transition to adulthood of the last Soviet generation indicated a declining effect of ideologically supported social structures on the life-course of young adults and the growing power of individual decision to leave the parental home or stay within. The rapidly increasing globalization and a transformed economy shaped a new structural environment for the coming of age for the first post-Soviet generation; therefore, we can interpret the further pluralization, de-standardization, and differentiation of the timetable of the transition to adulthood of this generation as a reaction of young people to the emerging risks and insecurities.

Recommendations for ethnic equity in health: A Delphi study from Denmark

2021 ◽  
pp. 140349482110409
Author(s):  
Signe Smith Jervelund ◽  
Kirsten Vinther-Jensen ◽  
Knud Ryom ◽  
Sarah Fredsted Villadsen ◽  
Nana Folmann Hempler
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Delphi Study ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
The Life Course

Aims A key issue in public health is how to approach ethnic inequities. Despite an increased focus on the health of people from ethnic minorities in the last 15 years, significant ethnic health inequities still exist in Denmark. These arise during pregnancy and are exacerbated by higher rates of exposure to health risks during the life course. This study aimed to formulate recommendations on both structural and organisational levels to reduce ethnic health inequities. Methods Nine decision-makers – representing municipalities, regions, the private sector and voluntary organisations in Denmark – participated in the formulation of recommendations inspired by the Delphi method. The consensus process was conducted in three rounds during spring 2020, resulting in eight overall recommendations, including suggestions for action. Results The recommendations address both structural and organisational levels. They aim to strengthen: 1) health policies and strategies related to the needs of people from ethnic minorities, including health literacy, linguistic, cultural and social differences; 2) health-promoting local initiatives developed in co-creation with people from ethnic minorities; 3) health promotion and prevention from a life course perspective with a focus on early intervention; 4) cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaborations that facilitate transitions and coordination; 5) competencies of professionals in terms of cultural knowledge, awareness, reflexivity and skills; 6) access to healthcare services by increasing information and resources; 7) interpreting assistance for, and linguistic accessibility to, healthcare services; 8) documentation and intervention research. Conclusions To reduce ethnic health inequities, it is crucial that Danish welfare institutions, including their strategies, approaches and skills of employees, are adapted to serve an increasingly heterogeneous population.

scholarly journals Self-Reported Sleep in Older African Americans and White Americans

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlener D. Turner ◽  
Andrew S. Lim ◽  
Sue E. Leurgans ◽  
David A. Bennett ◽  
Aron S. Buchman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Apnea ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Sleep Disorders ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Mobility Disability ◽  
Older African Americans ◽  
Impaired Sleep

<p class="Pa7"><strong>Objective: </strong>Assess the relationship of self-reported sleep quality and possible sleep disorders with disability in a racially diverse sample of community-dwelling older adults.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants included 943 non-demented older African Americans (n=452) and Whites (n=491) from two cohort studies, the Minority Aging Research Study (MARS) and the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP). Participants completed a 32-item questionnaire assessing sleep quality and the possible presence of three sleep disorders (sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome [RLS] and REM behavior disorder [RBD]). Disability was assessed with scales that quantified the ability to perform instru­mental activities of daily living (IADL), basic activities of daily living (ADL), and physical mobility activities.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Results: </strong>More than half of the participants reported impaired sleep quality (51%), or the possible presence of at least one sleep disorder (57%; sleep apnea 44%, RLS 25% and RBD 7%). Sleep quality was rated poorer in African Americans, those with advancing age and fewer years of educa­tion (all P&lt;.05). Only sleep apnea risk was associated with age (P&lt;.02). In logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, years of education, and race, both sleep quality and disorders were associated with disability (sleep quality with mobility disabil­ity (P&lt;.001), sleep apnea risk with mobility disability and IADL disability (all P&lt;.001) and RLS symptoms with mobility disability (P&lt;.01).</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Results indicate that self-assessed impaired sleep is common in old age and is associated with disability. <em></em></p><p class="Pa7"><em>Ethn Dis.</em>2016;26(4):521-528; doi:10.18865/ ed.26.4.521</p><strong></strong>

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