scholarly journals LONG-TERM COSTS OF GRANDPARENT CAREGIVING: RESULTS FROM THREE WAVES OF THE MIDLIFE IN THE UNITED STATES STUDY (MIDUS)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S797-S798
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Rickenbach ◽  
Elizabeth H Rickenbach ◽  
Chih-Chien Huang ◽  
Jessica Y Allen ◽  
Kelly E Cichy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Grandparent Caregiving

Abstract Cross-sectional studies reveal the health burden of grandparent caregiving. Still, longitudinal, research is needed to understand how grandparent caregiving compromises grandparents’ long-term health. Using three waves of data from the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS), we examined sociodemographic factors, health and well-being outcomes between caregiving (CG) and non-caregiving (NCG) grandparents. By wave 3, 12.8% (n = 234) were CG. CG were younger, more likely female, and had lower income and education. MANCOVA adjusted for age, gender, education, and number of children revealed CG reported poorer physical and emotional well-being (e.g. higher depression, anxiety, lower life satisfaction, greater morbidity); CG were consistently less healthy than NCG across all three waves. Lower income and less healthy older adults are more likely to become grandparents, and they remain less healthy over time. Policies and resources to assist grandparents, particularly low-income and vulnerable older adults who are caring for grandchildren, are needed.

scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States and Latin America

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 100848
Author(s):  
Ganesh M. Babulal ◽  
Valeria L. Torres ◽  
Daisy Acosta ◽  
Cinthya Agüero ◽  
Sara Aguilar-Navarro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Stand against anti-Asian racial discrimination during COVID-19: A call for action

2020 ◽  
pp. 002087282097061
Author(s):  
Qin Gao ◽  
Xiaofang Liu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Negative Impacts

Racial discrimination against people of Chinese and other Asian ethnicities has risen sharply in number and severity globally amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This rise has been especially rapid and severe in the United States, fueled by xenophobic political rhetoric and racist language on social media. It has endangered the lives of many Asian Americans and is likely to have long-term negative impacts on the economic, social, physical, and psychological well-being of Asian Americans. This essay reviews the prevalence and consequences of anti-Asian racial discrimination during COVID-19 and calls for actions in practice, policy, and research to stand against it.

scholarly journals Food Insecurity in the United States: Identification, Treatment, and Implications

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 772-773
Author(s):  
Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili ◽  
Connie Bales ◽  
Julie Locher
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Clinic ◽  
High Risk Population ◽  
Geriatric Syndrome ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Food insecurity is an under-recognized geriatric syndrome that has extensive implications in the overall health and well-being of older adults. Understanding the impact of food insecurity in older adults is a first step in identifying at-risk populations and provides a framework for potential interventions in both hospital and community-based settings. This symposium will provide an overview of current prevalence rates of food insecurity using large population-based datasets. We will present a summary indicator that expands measurement to include the functional and social support limitations (e.g., community disability, social isolation, frailty, and being homebound), which disproportionately impact older adults, and in turn their rate and experience of food insecurity and inadequate food access. We will illustrate using an example of at-risk seniors the association between sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and function, with rates of food security in the United States. The translational aspect of the symposium will then focus on identification of psychosocial and environmental risk factors including food insecurity in older veterans preparing for surgery within the Veterans Affairs Perioperative Optimization of Senior Health clinic. Gaining insights into the importance of food insecurity will lay the foundation for an intervention for food insecurity in the deep south. Our discussant will provide an overview of the implications of these results from a public health standpoint. By highlighting the importance of food insecurity, such data can potentially become a framework to allow policy makers to expand nutritional programs as a line of defense against hunger in this high-risk population.

Associations of Pain Characteristics with Long-term Trajectories of Physical Capacity among Older Adults in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 589-590
Author(s):  
Kushang Patel ◽  
Zachary Marcum ◽  
Elizabeth Phelan ◽  
Bobby Jones ◽  
Sean Rundell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physical Capacity ◽  
Pain Characteristics

scholarly journals Imagining Her Future: Diversity in Mothers’ Socialization Goals for Their Adolescent Daughters

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ramirez ◽  
Linda Oshin ◽  
Stephanie Milan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Low Income ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Traits ◽  
Socialization Goals ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Q Sort

According to developmental niche theory, members of different cultural and ethnic groups often have distinct ideas about what children need to become well-adapted adults. These beliefs are reflected in parents’ long-term socialization goals for their children. In this study, we test whether specific themes that have been deemed important in literature on diverse families in the United States (e.g., Strong Black Woman [SBW], marianismo, familismo) are evident in mothers’ long-term socialization goals. Participants included 192 mothers of teenage daughters from a low-income city in the United States (58% Latina, 22% African American, and 20% European American [EA]/White). Socialization goals were assessed through a q-sort task on important traits for a woman to possess and content analysis of open-ended responses about what values mothers hoped they would transmit to their daughters as they become adults. Results from ANCOVAs and logistic regression indicate significant racial/ethnic differences on both tasks consistent with hypotheses. On the q-sort task, African American mothers put more importance on women possessing traits such as independence than mothers from other racial/ethnic groups. Similarly, they were more likely to emphasize self-confidence and strength in what they hoped to transmit to their daughters. Contrary to expectation, Latina mothers did not emphasize social traits on the q-sort; however, in open-ended responses, they were more likely to focus on the importance of motherhood, one aspect of marianismo and familismo. Overall, results suggest that these mothers’ long-term socialization goals incorporate culturally relevant values considered important for African American and Latino families.

scholarly journals Urban-rural differences in the prevalence of muscle weakness and slow gait speed: A cross-sectional analysis from the NHANES (2001-2002 and 2011-2014)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
J.J. Aziz ◽  
K.F. Reid ◽  
J.A. Batsis ◽  
R.A. Fielding
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Grip Strength ◽  
Muscle Weakness ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Gait Speed ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Comorbidity Burden ◽  
Urban Rural

Background: Older adults living in rural areas suffer from health inequities compared to their urban counterparts. These include comorbidity burden, poor diet, and physical inactivity, which are also risk factors for sarcopenia, for which muscle weakness and slow gait speed are domains. To date, no study has examined urban-rural differences in the prevalence of muscle weakness and slow gait speed in older adults living in the United States. Objective: To compare the prevalence of grip strength weakness and slow gait speed between urban and rural older adults living in the United States. Design: A cross-sectional, secondary data analysis of two cohorts from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), using gait speed or grip strength data, and urban-rural residency, dietary, examination, questionnaire and demographic data. Participants: 2,923 adults (≥ 60 yrs.). Measures: Grip weakness was defined as either, an absolute grip strength of <35 kg. and <20 kg. or grip strength divided by body mass index (GripBMI) of <1.05 and <0.79 for men and women, respectively. Slow gait speed was defined as a usual gait speed of ≤0.8m/s. Results: The prevalence of GripBMI weakness was significantly higher in urban compared to rural participants (27.4% vs. 19.2%; p=0.001), whereas their absolute grip strength was lower (31.75(±0.45) vs. 33.73(±0.48)). No urban-rural differences in gait speed were observed. Conclusions: Older adults residing in urban regions of the United States were weaker compared to their rural counterparts. This report is the first to describe urban-rural differences in handgrip strength and slow gait speed in older adults living in the United States.

scholarly journals Nature inequity and higher COVID-19 case rates in less-green neighbourhoods in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica N. Spotswood ◽  
Matthew Benjamin ◽  
Lauren Stoneburner ◽  
Megan M. Wheeler ◽  
Erin E. Beller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
The United States ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Urbanized Areas ◽  
Block Groups

AbstractUrban nature—such as greenness and parks—can alleviate distress and provide space for safe recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, nature is often less available in low-income populations and communities of colour—the same communities hardest hit by COVID-19. In analyses of two datasets, we quantified inequity in greenness and park proximity across all urbanized areas in the United States and linked greenness and park access to COVID-19 case rates for ZIP codes in 17 states. Areas with majority persons of colour had both higher case rates and less greenness. Furthermore, when controlling for sociodemographic variables, an increase of 0.1 in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index was associated with a 4.1% decrease in COVID-19 incidence rates (95% confidence interval: 0.9–6.8%). Across the United States, block groups with lower income and majority persons of colour are less green and have fewer parks. Our results demonstrate that the communities most impacted by COVID-19 also have the least nature nearby. Given that urban nature is associated with both human health and biodiversity, these results have far-reaching implications both during and beyond the pandemic.

scholarly journals Sample-Selection Biases and the Industrialization Puzzle

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Bodenhorn ◽  
Timothy W. Guinnane ◽  
Thomas A. Mroz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Selection Bias ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Long Term Changes ◽  
The U.S

Understanding long-term changes in human well-being is central to understanding the consequences of economic development. An extensive anthropometric literature purports to show that heights in the United States declined between the 1830s and the 1890s, which is when the U.S. economy modernized. Most anthropometric research contends that declining heights reflect the negative health consequences of industrialization and urbanization. This interpretation, however, relies on sources subject to selection bias. Our meta-analysis shows that the declining height during industrialization emerges primarily in selected samples. We also develop a parsimonious diagnostic test that reveals, but does not correct for, selection bias in height samples. When applied to four representative height samples, the diagnostic provides compelling evidence of selection.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document