scholarly journals TOWARD A NETWORK OF CHANGE: PROMOTING AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES FROM THE INSIDE OUT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S25-S25
Author(s):  
Shellae Versey ◽  
Emily Greenfield
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
State Level ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Geographic Scale ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Sociocultural Resources

Abstract The experience of aging is often framed by the communities in which we live, work and play. At the same time, these communities are also impacted by individuals as they age in place. This symposium presents research using community-partnered methods to highlight the agency of local actors—including older residents themselves—as they work to change their local communities. At the broadest level of geographic scale, Black illustrates how information from population surveys with older adults can be leveraged to mobilize public-private partnerships from the local to state level to advance policy and practice on housing and transportation to support aging in place. Focusing regionally in New Jersey, Greenfield and Reyes analyze longitudinal, qualitative interview data from leaders of age-friendly community initiatives to develop empirically-grounded theory on the range of roles of older adults in aging-friendly community change processes. The final two papers present depth in understanding how older adults actively construct their own sense of community vis-à-vis more micro-social processes. Yeh uses Photovoice methodology to understand how older adults aging in place manage the societal trends of urbanization and social inequalities as they manifest within their own city. Versey examines how older adults aging in place in the context of neighborhood gentrification mobilize networks to preserve a community “sense of place” when sociocultural resources are displaced. Consistent with a community gerontology framework, the presentations demonstrate how community-level dynamics around aging are shaped not only by macro-social influences, but also micro-social interactions including, and sometimes initiated by, older residents themselves.

Characterising older adults’ engagement in age-friendly community initiatives: perspectives from core group leaders in the Northeast United States of America

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Emily A. Greenfield ◽  
Laurent Reyes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Core Group ◽  
The Core ◽  
Group Members

Abstract Researchers and programme champions alike have identified older adults as key contributors to age-friendly community change efforts. There has been very little scholarship, however, to characterise the nature of older adults’ engagement in age-friendly community initiatives (AFCIs). To help address this gap, we drew on five waves of data from semi-structured interviews with core group members of eight AFCIs in a Northeast region of the United States of America. Interviews were conducted as part of a multi-year, community-engaged study on the development of philanthropically supported AFCIs. We iteratively coded segments of the interviews in which core group members described the involvement of older adults, as well as their efforts to engage older adults in the initiatives. This analysis resulted in an inductive-analytic typology with five qualitatively distinct categories, including older adults as: (a) consumers (receiving information, goods and services through the AFCI), (b) informants (sharing perspectives on ageing in the community with the core group), (c) task assistants (assisting with project-oriented tasks under the direction of the core group), (d) champions (contributing ideas and implementing action on their own initiative), and (e) core group members (holding primary responsibility for driving the work of the AFCI forward). We discuss implications of the typology for research on AFCI implementation and evaluation, as well as opportunities for AFCIs to enhance the engagement of older adults from historically marginalised groups.

scholarly journals PROMOTING AGING IN PLACE VIA RESEARCH, POLICY, AND PRACTICE IN AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S26-S26
Author(s):  
Kathy Black
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Professional Groups ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Community Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Age

Abstract The majority of Americans overwhelmingly prefer to age in place and in the communities in which they reside. Age-friendly communities support aging in place by focusing attention on features both inside and outside of the home. The global age-friendly community model provides a framework that requires assessing community-based older adults’ needs and preferences about, and developing subsequent action towards, features of the social, service and built environment including housing and transportation which are considered essential to aging successfully at home. This presentation discusses the intersect between research, policy and practice in an age-friendly community which utilized micro-level findings from older adults (n = 1, 172) to enact macro-level collaborations across local and statewide government and professional groups to facilitate aging in place across the domains of housing and transportation.

scholarly journals DOING AGING IN PLACE IN AN AGE-FRIENDLY CITY: AN APERTURE TO THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF OLDER SAN FRANCISCANS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S26-S26
Author(s):  
Jarmin C Yeh
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Distribution Of Resources

Abstract Aging in place finds meaning through the quotidian. The mundanity of this work is the crux of its poignancy. This phenomenological study utilizes photovoice to explore how older adults manage to age in place in an age-friendly city. By interrogating micro- and macro-level realities, this study elicits the strategies seventeen informants use, including how their multiple identities and positionalities become implicated in the process of negotiating and navigating everyday environs, their acts of resistance and resilience, their articulations of hope or pressure to manage the future, as well as the risks and opportunities they encounter and the conditions shaping them, such as urbanization, discrimination, and distribution of resources between generations and groups. To "see" how informants do the “doing” of aging in place has implications for age-friendly community initiatives. It helps to capture the sociality of aging and demonstrates the way the materiality of inequality is sown through lived experience.

scholarly journals AGING-FRIENDLY COMMUNITY INITIATIVES: HARNESSING NETWORKS FOR CHANGE FROM THE LOCAL TO THE GLOBAL

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S539-S539
Author(s):  
Emily Greenfield ◽  
Laurent Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Population Aging ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Built Environments ◽  
Community Life ◽  
Geographic Scale ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
The Past ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Multiple Domains

Abstract Aging-friendly community initiatives (AFCIs) represent multi-sectorial efforts to systematically make localities better for long lives. AFCIs typically work toward progress in multiple domains of community life, focusing both on social and built environments. Despite tremendous growth in AFCIs worldwide over the past decade, there has been little empirical research on how they develop and work toward their aspirational goals. This paper presents findings from a community-partnered study on the development of nine philanthropically supported AFCIs in northern New Jersey. Drawing on fives waves of in-depth interview data collected with leaders over three years, the paper addresses the role of the leaders’ interpersonal and interorganizational networks as they work toward aging-friendly community change. Findings on the centrality of networks across various levels of geographic scale for the development of AFCIs has implications for program theory, as well as broader issues concerning inclusion and equity within community-level responses to population aging.

scholarly journals Medically Treated Opioid Overdoses Among the U.S. Elderly: Trends and Correlates

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 54-54
Author(s):  
Peter Treitler ◽  
Stephen Crystal ◽  
Richard Hermida ◽  
Jennifer Miles
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Medicare Beneficiaries ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract High rates of opioid prescribing and comorbid medical conditions increase risk of overdose among older adults. As the US population ages and the rates of opioid use disorder (OUD) increase in the elderly population, there is a need to characterize trends and correlates of overdose in order to more effectively target policy and practice. Using a ~40% random sample of 2015-2017 Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older with Part D pharmacy coverage, this study examined medically treated opioid overdoses among US older adults. The sample included 13-14 million beneficiaries per year. The rate of medically treated opioid overdoses among elderly Medicare beneficiaries increased by 15% from 6 per 10,000 in 2015 to 6.9 per 10,000 in 2017. Those with overdose were disproportionately female (63%), non-Hispanic white (83%), with diagnoses of pain conditions (96%), with diagnoses of major depression (63%), and with high rates of conditions that decrease respiratory reserve such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 13% had co-occurring diagnosed alcohol use disorder, 36% were diagnosed with opioid dependence or abuse, and 12% were diagnosed with hepatitis C. Older individuals with overdose represent a complex mix of risk factors; identifying those most at risk (as well as those who have very low risk, whose pain management may be compromised by overly-rigid interpretation of opioid use guidelines) is key in order to address multiple risks, balancing risk reduction with appropriate pain management.

scholarly journals Older Adults as Citizen Scientists and Policy and Planning Voices in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 547-547
Author(s):  
Lenard Kaye ◽  
Sarah Burby
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older Adult ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Community Based Participatory Research ◽  
Retirement Communities ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
University Policy ◽  
Adult Participation ◽  
Life Education ◽  
Older Citizens

Abstract The University of Maine is embarking on achieving AFU status. In addition to maximizing older adult participation in all facets of campus life (education, recreation, culture, etc.), their presence in nontraditional sectors of university activity will be emphasized. Building on the principles of community-based, participatory research, focal points of UMaine’s AFU strategy will be to ensure that age-specific, engagement mechanisms are created and maintained that ensure older citizens play an influential role in guiding and interpreting academic research and development and curricula innovation across multiple professions and disciplines. Using a state-wide, older adult research registry, and co-design, community test-beds in partnership with continuing care retirement communities, older adults will serve as citizen scientists. Other empowerment strategies for maximizing elder voice include expanding the number of departments that incorporate life span perspectives in their mission statements and expanding the number of older adult advisory bodies that inform university policy and practice.

scholarly journals A City Too Busy to Remember? Aging, Structural Violence, and the Politics of Forgetting in Atlanta’s Gentrification

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 393-393
Author(s):  
John Pothen ◽  
Keland Yip ◽  
Ellen Idler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Structural Violence ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
The Past ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
Property Owners ◽  
Ongoing Development ◽  
The City ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Can forgotten stories from the past inform a city’s future? As older adults continue to live longer and comprise more of the population than ever before, the suitability of gentrifying spaces for older adults aging in place is increasingly important. Critical theories of gentrification argue that remembering the experiences of older adults in this context - experiences of suffering, resilience, and structural violence - is essential to promote changes in support aging in place. In this study, we tell a story of individual experiences, structural violence, and aging in the ongoing gentrification of one neighborhood in southwest Atlanta. We construct this narrative through a qualitative analysis of 1,500 local newspaper articles from 1950 to the present day and 10 in-depth interviews with ex-residents of the neighborhood aged 65-87. Drawing on the theory of planetary rent gaps, we frame gentrification as a class struggle between property-owners and working class residents. We highlight the city government’s role as a facilitator for property-owners through projects including the Model City initiative, preparation for the 1996 Olympics, and ongoing development surrounding the Atlanta BeltLine. We show how these projects have affected the prospects for aging in place in general and, specifically, by affecting access to healthcare services. We share this story in an effort to combat the politics of forgetting and to inform a richer, more inclusive, and more equitable future for gentrifying spaces.

scholarly journals Visualization approaches to support healthy aging: A systematic review

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uba Backonja ◽  
Nai-Ching Chi ◽  
Yong Choi ◽  
Amanda K Hall ◽  
Thai Le ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Data Visualizations ◽  
Informatics Tools

Background: Health technologies have the potential to support the growing number of older adults who are aging in place. Many tools include visualizations (data visualizations, visualizations of physical representations). However, the role of visualizations in supporting aging in place remains largely unexplored.Objective: To synthesize and identify gaps in the literature evaluating visualizations (data visualizations and visualizations of physical representations), for informatics tools to support healthy aging.Methods: We conducted a search in CINAHL, Embase, Engineering Village, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science using a priori defined terms for publications in English describing community-based studies evaluating visualizations used by adults aged ≥65 years.Results: Six out of the identified 251 publications were eligible. Most studies were user studies and varied methodological quality. Three visualizations of virtual representations supported performing at-home exercises. Participants found visual representations either (a) helpful, motivational, and supported their understanding of their health behaviors or (b) not an improvement over alternatives. Three data visualizations supported understanding of one’s health. Participants were able to interpret data visualizations that used precise data and encodings that were more concrete better than those that did not provide precision or were abstract. Participants found data visualizations helpful in understanding their overall health and granular data.Conclusions: Studies we identified used visualizations to promote engagement in exercises or understandings of one’s health. Future research could overcome methodological limitations of studies we identified to develop visualizations that older adults could use with ease and accuracy to support their health behaviors and decision-making.

scholarly journals Transforming Cultural Ideas of Aging and Disability to Improve Policy and Practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 645-645
Author(s):  
Anne Ordway
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Quality Of Health Care ◽  
Real World ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Full Participation

Abstract Aging and disability are normative processes that extend across the lifespan. However, ageism and ableism are incorporated into many of our practices, programs, and policies—devaluing the lives of older adults and people aging with disabilities and ultimately preventing their full participation in society. Ageism and ableism are closely connected. For example, both systems identify impairment as an individual and social liability. As recent studies have demonstrated, this has real world implications for the quantity and quality of health care requested, delivered, and received by both older adults and people with disabilities. In this session, we discuss the connections between these two forms of oppression and present recent work by researchers in both fields and the FrameWorks Institute that shows how to transform our cultural ideas of aging and disability and development more inclusive policies and services. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Lifelong Disabilities Interest Group.

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