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In recent years, various authorities launched projects that aim to make their cities more age-friendly. Designing age-friendly cities is a complex and context-dependent process that requires clear implementation guidelines for policy makers. As one of the eight domains of age-friendly cities, transportation is a critical component of making our cities more liveable for older adults and their families. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the travel behaviour of older adults with a focus on the factors that lead to sustainable mobility patterns. Our empirical analysis is based on survey data collected from 1,221 older adults as part of the Age-Friendly Columbus project in Columbus, Ohio in the United States of America. We develop multinomial logistic regression models to investigate the travel mode choices of older adults (auto only, non-auto options only and multimodal (auto and at least one non-auto option)). We include age and built environment characteristics as the key variables, with lifestyle-related factors and socio-demographics as controls in our analysis. We find older respondents were more likely to use autos only compared to younger respondents. Our analysis also reveals significant associations between built environment characteristics and travel mode choices. Interaction effects show that the relationships between built environment characteristics and travel preferences differed by age cohorts among older individuals. The primary contribution of this study is that it provides evidence on what built environmental improvements help to promote sustainable travel among older adults in mid-sized and auto-dependent metropolitan cities. We argue that these improvements contribute to older adults' sustainable mobility, as well as out-of-home activity behaviour, social engagement and individual health. The results of this study may especially benefit non-driver older adults who lack reliable non-auto alternatives for their daily travel.

Morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 have unduly affected older adults from racial and ethnic minority groups. In this article, we highlight the experiences and vulnerabilities of diverse older adults with complex health and social needs when their access to vital, but overlooked, community-based adult day service centers (ADSCs) was abruptly cut off during a pandemic. Pandemic-related ADSC closures left vulnerable older adults and their care partners without essential daily support and services, such as health monitoring and socialization. However, the magnitude of the impact of ADSC closures on well-being, particularly among members of racial/ethnic minority groups, has yet to be measured with any form of “big data” because large-scale, nationally representative data sets consisting of participant-level information and outcomes associated with ADSC participation do not yet exist. Unmet needs of older adults resulting from pandemic-related ADSC closures are underrecognized because of a lack of systematic data collection, undermining efforts to achieve health equity. We call on ADSCs to link rigorous collection of racial and ethnic data to quality measures of access to equitable “age-friendly” care as a means of better supporting diverse community-dwelling older adults beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(10):1421–1428. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306968 )

COVID-19 has shone a harsh light on the inequities of health care in the United States, particularly in how we care for older people. We summarize some of the effects of lockdown orders on clients, family caregivers, and staff of adult day service programs throughout the United States, which may serve as a counterpoint to scientific evidence suggesting a lack of efficacy of these programs. Given the ramifications of state lockdown orders for users and staff of the long-term services and support system, we provide recommendations to better support community-based programs and those they serve. Specifically, (1) adult day programs should be classified as essential, (2) a focus on the value of adult day and similar programs is needed, and (3) an exploration of new ways to finance home and community-based services is warranted. Such advances in policy and science would help to integrate adult day services more effectively into the broader health care landscape.

Having viable alternative transportation options could help individuals stop driving when appropriate. This study employs the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to understand the barriers and facilitators of alternative transportation among a sample of adults aged 55 and older ( N = 32). Using a daily transportation data collection app, MyAmble, the research team asked participants questions structured around environmental, individual, and behavioral factors as outlined in the SCT framework. Responses were analyzed using directed content analysis. Findings suggest a substantial reliance on motor vehicles and it was evident that many participants had never seriously considered what they would do if they could no longer drive. We posit that SCT principles may be applied to help older adults build self-efficacy to transition to driving cessation when needed.

Aging in place is a goal for many older adults. As many older adults own their homes, strategies designed to promote aging in place must account for threats to the financial sustainability of ownership and occupancy later in life. One such threat is property taxes, which have risen substantially in many metropolitan areas over the last decade as home values soar. Property tax relief programs offered by state and local governments are designed to ease the housing cost burden of older adults. Yet, recent research indicates that such programs do little to ensure affordability for low-income homeowners. This study reviewed local property tax relief programs and interviewed local older adult homeowners and housing professionals to understand the circumstances of older adult homeowners in one growing U.S. County. Four major themes emerged from the interviews: housing market dynamics, personal finances, local housing resources, and wellbeing. Results indicate that unaffordability is a growing concern among older adult homeowners and services providers alike. Current property tax relief programs are thought to do little to reduce the cost burden posed by property taxes. Implications for social policy include expanding eligibility criteria and indexing the benefit to a local economic metric so that the relief remains relevant in areas with dynamic markets. Implications for practitioners include understanding the property tax relief programs in one’s area and referring clients when appropriate.

Although the health benefits of volunteering among older adults are well established in gerontology, older migrants’ abilities and interests in social participation are hardly recognized. To address the gap, we collected focus groups and survey information in Russian, Khmer, Somali, Nepali, and English to understand the volunteering experiences, social networks, and feelings of loneliness among low-income diverse volunteers in the Senior Companions Program (SCP) in Columbus, Ohio (N=41). The grounded theory approach informed the qualitative analysis. Exponential Random Graph Modeling (ERGM) was utilized to identify statistically significant structural features in the volunteers’ network. Five major themes emerged from the focus groups: (1) Expanding and strengthening social networks through volunteering; (2) Experiencing and coping with loneliness; (3) Experiencing and managing the social impact of COVID; (4) Exploring and loving the program; (5) Social connections outside of the program. Graphs and preliminary ERGM results demonstrate that participants tend to form homophily-based relationships with other volunteers of the same gender (β=2.45, p< 0.001) and from the same country (β=4.86, p< 0.001). However, participants tend to form friendships with people from different racial (β= -1.12, p< 0.001) and different educational backgrounds (β = -0.88, p< 0.001). The tendency to reciprocate (β= 0.96, p< 0.001) and to form triads (β= 9.90, p< 0.001) are both positively significant in the networks. Findings imply that practitioners should attend to within- and cross-cultural relationships in programs for diverse older adults. Addressing language barriers and other sources of homophily may facilitate cross-cultural friendships.

Background and Objectives Prolonged working life is not necessarily associated with good mental health. Despite the importance of healthy working life in later years, little research has been conducted on predictors of mental health in the workplace among older workers. This study aimed to investigate how personal (self-efficacy) and team (leader equity) factors are associated with older workers’ mental health through work engagement. Research Design and Methods We analyzed responses of 508 U.S. workers aged 50 years and older from the Age and Generations Study data using structural equation modeling. Results Results showed that perceived self-efficacy was a strong predictor of mental health. Also, work engagement was a powerful mechanism for promoting older adults’ mental health; engagement partially mediated the relationship between perceived self-efficacy and mental health, and fully mediated the relationship between team leader equity and mental health. Discussion and Implications The findings highlight how important it is for employers to invest in human capital development, suggesting human resource programs should focus on strategies that target older adults’ engagement through tailored self-efficacy programs and inclusive leadership training programs. Such attempts would contribute to enhancing the mental health of older workers.

Safe and affordable transportation has a positive impact on the health and well-being of older adults. What is less understood are which factors influence these outcomes. To examine the impact of trip characteristics on the mood of older adults, residents in three neighborhoods in Franklin County, Ohio (n = 32) were provided tablets and used an app (MyAmble) to document their travel. During a 14-day period, 1,190 trips were recorded; 71% of which were completed by car. Participants reported 72% of the trips improved their mood. Perceived importance of the trip, challenges associated with the trip, and trip destinations to social activities and to employment/education explained 33% of the variance in mood. Challenges associated with the trip was the strongest predictor of impact on mood. Identifying trip characteristics that impact mood provides new insights for the design and implementation of travel interventions for older persons.

There are over five million people in the United States living with dementia. Most live at home and are cared for by family. These family caregivers often assume care responsibilities without education about the disease, skills training, or support, and in turn become at risk for depression, burden, and adverse health outcomes when compared to non-dementia caregivers. Despite over 200 caregiver interventions with proven benefits, many caregivers lack access to these programs. One approach to enhance access is to embed evidence-based caregiver support programs in existing community-based services for people with dementia such as adult day services (ADS). Here we describe the protocol for an embedded pragmatic trial designed to augment standard ADS known as ADS Plus. ADS Plus provides family caregivers with support via education, referrals, and problem-solving techniques over 12 months, and is delivered on-site by existing ADS staff. Embedding a program in ADS requires an understanding of outcomes and implementation processes in that specific context. Thus, we deploy a hybrid design involving a cluster randomized two-group trial to evaluate treatment effects on caregiver wellbeing, ADS utilization, as well as nursing home placement. We describe implementation practices in 30 to 50 geographically and racially/ethnically diverse participating sites. Clinical trial registration #: NCT02927821

Children and older adults are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of food insecurity. Intergenerational strategies often engage youth and elders in shared programming that supports each g...

Informed by social cognitive theory, Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County conducted a community-engaged mixed methods study that examined the needs and utilization of alternative transportation by older residents in three pilot neighborhoods in Franklin County, Ohio (n = 32). Participants were provided tablets and used an app (MyAmble) developed at the University of Texas-Arlington to document their traveling experiences. During a 14-day period, 1,190 trips were recorded by older adults and 71.3% of these trips were completed through driving their own personal vehicles. Participants designated 84.5% of trips as important and 72% of the trips improved their mood. Individual (physical and cognitive functioning, cost, time), environmental (lighting, sidewalk conditions, traffic, location of bus stops, weather), and behavioral (no history of bus use, peer to peer information sharing, tracking led to future planning) barriers and facilitators to alternative transportation use such as riding the bus, walking and biking were identified.

Villages are consumer-driven programs supporting older adults to age in their own homes while staying socially connected through service referrals, coordination, and the organization of social activities. Although previous studies demonstrated an increase of perceived social support among Village members over time, few studies tested how Village membership influence older adults’ loneliness. To address this gap, a total of 112 members from four Village programs in a Midwest Metropolitan area completed a cross-sectional pilot survey on their social well-being between January and March 2020. The age of participants ranged from 51 to 92 years old (M=72.30, SD=8.38), over 74% of participants were female and over 88% of participants identified as White/Caucasian. The relationship between the 20-item UCLA loneliness scale and length of Village membership was roughly linear according to the Loess Curve. The scores of the UCLA scale range from 20-80 and higher scores indicate higher loneliness. The Cronbach’s alpha of the UCLA loneliness scale was 0.86 in the sample, indicating good internal consistency. The average loneliness score of the sample was 38.45, resembling the average of community-living older adults. Regression results suggested that a one-year increase in village membership was associated with approximately two points reduction in loneliness, holding all else constant. Being female, a racial/ethnic minority, retired, a driver, and having higher frequencies of socializing with friends and neighbors were associated with lower levels of loneliness among Village members. This pilot study provides initial support for the social impact of Villages and informs future larger sample longitudinal studies.

Age-friendly community (AFC) leaders engage with community residents, groups, and organizations to enhance social, service, and built environments for aging. Despite the growing number of AFCs, academic research remains in its nascence. During this symposium, U.S. scholars will present research on AFC implementation. The first two papers address promising practices among AFC leaders. The first paper presents results from a content analysis of American AFC progress reports. Results indicate strong evidence of progress achieved and opportunities for improving the evaluation, documentation, and dissemination of accomplishments. The second paper presents findings from a qualitative descriptive study on community events by AFC initiatives in northern New Jersey. Results indicate how age-friendly leaders use community events to enhance older adults’ social participation and inclusion, and as a tactic toward longer-term, multi-domain community change. The third and fourth papers describe the development and testing of innovative technologies to guide AFC implementation. The third paper provides an overview of Safe Routes to Age in Place, a community-engaged mixed methods study using the app MyAmble to examine the needs and utilization of alternative transportation in Franklin County, Ohio. The fourth paper provides a case overview of a university-community partnership to develop a geographical information system (GIS) analytical mapping tool to evaluate the age-friendliness of public amenities in San Antonio, Texas. The symposium will conclude with remarks from AARP Livable Communities leadership about how these studies contribute to building knowledge about AFC implementation and avenues for academic and private partnerships to translate these findings to practice.

Community advisory boards (CABs) have become increasingly common and important in translational research in healthcare, including studies focusing on home and community-based services. CABs are composed of stakeholders who share interest in research projects and typically include patients/clients, practitioners, community members, policy makers, and researchers. CABs advise researchers on issues ranging from research design and recruitment to implementation and dissemination. In this article, the researchers detail their experiences with the CAB for a pragmatic clinical trail of Adult Day Services (ADS) Plus, an education and support intervention for family caregivers of older adults with dementia using adult day services. Lessons learned, guidelines, and best practices are then presented for developing and working with a CAB in healthcare research.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the significant challenges and gaps related to the care of older people in the U.S. were made distressingly apparent. This summary presentation will consider the effects of COVID-19 and associated shutdowns on older persons who use ADS programs, their family caregivers, and programs/staff themselves. Among recommendations to consider are the classification of adult day services and similar community-based long-term care providers as essential (and clarifying their difference from senior centers). In addition, considering new financing approaches and utilizing ADS or similar community-based programs as incubators of evidence-based innovation are options to consider to better align ADS with optimal dementia care.

An Ohio Executive Order forced adult day service providers across the state to close from March 24, 2020 until September 21, 2020 due to COVID, resulting in significant hardship for providers and families. In fact, 65% of programs reported laying off or reducing staff and 83% of directors reported participants had to move to higher and more expensive levels of care such as nursing homes and assisted living. Programs reported that 74% of caregivers had to choose between working and taking care of their family members. Ninety-one percent of ADS program directors in Ohio reported their caregivers were experiencing an increase in stress and anxiety. This paper explores the experiences of Ohio adult day providers during the COVID epidemic, and identifies the challenges and opportunities to coalition building to educate policy makers about day services and the crucial care centers provide.

Adult Day Service (ADS) centers play an important role in community services that help families keep a person living with dementia (PLWD) at home. We interviewed 33 family caregivers about their experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic and the shutdown of the ADS centers where the PLWD attends. All 33 (100%) reported that the ADS center was shut for a period of time (range: 2 weeks – remain closed). Caregivers reported a decline in their physical health (33%,n=11) and mental health (52%,n=17) and an increase in feelings of loneliness (48%,n=16). For the PLWD, the caregivers noted, a decline in physical (48%,n=16) and mental (55%,n=18) health and an increase in behaviors (39%,n=13). The shutdown of most ADS centers across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had implications not only for the ADS sites but for the families that entrust them with the care for a family member.

The Adult Day Service Plus Program (ADS Plus) augments the usual care provided by ADS programs by integrating education, referrals, and problem-solving strategies for family caregivers of persons with dementia. Utilizing a mixed-methods, hybrid effectiveness design, we were in the process of conducting a national evaluation of ADS Plus across xx geographically and culturally diverse programs across the U.S. when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the shutdown of almost all of the programs participating in ADS Plus. Qualitative and quantitative data collected during the evaluation suggested that a more robust incorporation of implementation domains and measures (e.g., organizational readiness to change) may have helped avoid some of the challenges related to staff training, fidelity, and other critical intervention delivery aspects. Incorporating implementation science frameworks and measures as early as possible in intervention design may have helped to overcome some of the challenges experienced in ADS Plus.

Scholars have paid attention to the concept of age-friendly to address aging workforce issues. Although prior research has been conducted to conceptualize age-friendly work environments by investigating older workers’ perspectives, little is known about the practices and conditions that promote organizations to employ older employees longer and theory driving measurement of age-friendly employment (AFE). To address these knowledge gaps, we developed the AFE measurement tool based on the existing measures, focus group data, two-round Delphi study and a pilot test. We collected primary data from human resource professionals working in a large city in the midwestern state and evaluated the reliability and validity of the AFE measurement using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Results supported the hypothesized five-factor structure. We obtained 16 indicators of AFE: 1) accommodation: fewer physical work demands, reduced work hours, mobility and transportation support; 2) development: career advice, a training needs assessment, and training opportunities to employees all ages; 3) maintenance: financial and medical benefits for full-time workers of all ages, and wellness programs benefits for full-time and part-time workers; 4) utilization: move into a different position, involvement in decision making, knowledge or skills transfer). Accommodation, maintenance, and inclusion factors were predicted by organizational size. A major strength of this study was that the AFE measurement was constructed using a lifespan theory (Selection Optimization Compensation model). The findings of the current study enable employers to self-monitor their ability to employ and retain older employees, especially for small organizations with less than 20 employees.

Adult day service centers (ADCs) in the United States are increasingly recognized as an important source of community-based long-term care for older adults. However, awareness, widespread utilization, reimbursements, and access to ADCs have been limited by a lack of evidence on ADCs’ impact. In this interdisciplinary symposium, we explore current research taking place in the realm of adult day services to understand the reach and impact of ADCs. We begin by examining the most current center-level and user-level data from the National Center for Health Statistics, and demonstrate how these data can be used to inform research and policy. We subsequently evaluate survey data from the National Adult Day Services Association that captures clinical data being collected in ADCs (N=250) surrounding users’ clinical outcomes. We then explore the effectiveness of four interventions on ADC users’ health and functional status: board games, cognitive behavioral therapy, aromatherapy and dance. Finally, we examine the association between adult day services use by African American persons with dementia and depressive symptoms in their caregivers. Our findings suggest that ADCs serve a complex population with high rates of poverty and chronic conditions, but ADCs can have a meaningful impact on users’ health and well-being by leveraging innovative programming. We conclude by discussing how standardization of data collection efforts could enable researchers and policymakers to evaluate ADCs’ impact and target funding towards services that maximizes users’ health and well-being.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The goal of this mixed methods project is to develop a comprehensive framework of the personal and care-related needs of informal caregivers of people with dementia. This model can be used to enhance targeted delivery of evidence-based services to caregivers in need. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: To create a model of the personal and care-related needs of family caregivers of people with dementia, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with current caregivers (N = 12) and conducted a content analysis of materials related to government reports and evidence-based interventions (N = 28) and existing measures of dementia caregiver needs (N = 54). Content analysis is a systematic qualitative methodology that is used to distill complex source material into content-related categories and is well-suited for both interview data and document data (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). We identified themes related to caregiver needs through examination of materials within and across source categories. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: We propose a framework of five inter-related need categories: Environmental needs (e.g., transportation, health-care access, financial resources, time), psychological needs (e.g., emotional wellbeing, identity/autonomy, perceived preparedness), social needs (e.g., social support, family dynamics), health-related needs (e.g., health behaviors, sleep), and needs related to the care and functioning of the person with dementia. We also consider how needs and background characteristics transact to influence which services may be of greatest use. In the future, we plan to test this model empirically with a nationally representative sample of caregivers. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Evidence-based services exist to meet the needs of dementia caregivers. A dearth of models clearly defining caregiver needs limits empirically-based plans for dissemination of services. We have identified a framework of the needs of family caregivers from which to create targeted dissemination plans.

Aging is linked to an increased risk of disability. Disabilities that limit major life activities such as seeing, walking, and motor skills impact a person’s ability to drive a car. Low utilization of alternative transportation by older adults may put them at risk for social isolation. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how community-based participatory research (CBPR) was used to engage older residents in the development of alternative transportation options in a metropolitan county in the Midwestern U.S. Older residents worked as co-investigators to develop, use and evaluate alternative transportation options including walking, biking, fixed route busing, senior circulator, ride sharing, and transit training. Data were collected through mapping the built environment, an electronic daily transportation diary app called “MyAmble” on tablets, walk audits and focus groups. CBPR approaches led by interdisciplinary teams resulted in community engagement and more equitable strategies for transportation planning and utilization.

Transportation plays an important role in social connectedness and quality of life among older adults. Despite the increasing number of diverse older adults in the U.S., few studies have explored the barriers and facilitators of transportation among this group. We conducted eight 90-minute focus groups in six languages (English, Nepali, Khmer, Somali, Russian and Mandarin) with older volunteers (N=70) in a large Midwestern metropolitan city. Using the Rapid and Rigorous Qualitative Data Analysis (RADaR) technique, four transportation determinants emerged: (1) Service: affordability, accessibility, availability, and reliability, lack of options, and service coordination (2) Built environment: safety and walkability; (3) Social environment: language barriers and lack of information, neighborhood cohesion; and (4) Individual determinants: ability to drive, walk, and family support system. Results reveal the interconnectedness of multi-level determinants and the need for a systematic approach to improve transportation access among diverse older adults.

The psychosocial stress process model (Pearlin et al., 1990) remains a dominant theoretical framework characterizing the transactions between factors affecting outcomes of informal caregivers of people with dementia (PWD). Despite widespread agreement that the model provides an important framework for understanding caregiver experiences and predicting caregiver outcomes, it is not sufficient to clarify the needs of caregivers. Needs are conceptualized as the skills and resources that could be used to ameliorate the negative impacts of caregiving and promote quality of life (Gitlin & Hodgson, 2015). Determining caregiver needs requires appreciation of the complex background, contextual, and stress-related variables described in the stress process model and requires empirically- and theoretically-driven understanding of the diverse resources, materials, and skills that individuals require for global health and functioning. In this study, we conducted a content analysis of existing measures of dementia caregiver needs (N = 54), content analysis of materials related to evidence-based dementia caregiver interventions and government reports and documents (N = 28), and semi-structured in-depth interviews with current caregivers of PWD (N = 12) to identify the personal and care-related needs of family caregivers of PWD. We propose a framework of five inter-related need categories (Health-related needs, environmental needs, psychological needs, social needs, and needs related to the care and functioning of the PWD) that transact with the factors described in the stress process model, ultimately influencing functioning. In the future, we plan to test this model empirically with a nationally representative sample of caregivers.

Prior research has documented that individuals with fewer financial resources report lower self-rated health. The relationship between financial status and health is important to understand among older adults, for whom income is often fixed, and who face unique health stressors. In this study, we examined whether physical activity, connection to community, and access to information, variables which have demonstrated associations with financial resources and health in previous studies, accounted for unique variance in the association between income and self-rated health. We conducted a secondary data analysis of a community sample of 184 adults over the age of 50 in a large, Mid-western city. We tested a mediation model, entering income as a predictor of self-rated health with frequency of physical activity, feelings of being disconnectedness, and ability to find information about needed services as hypothesized mediators, controlling for the effects of race, education, and gender. Access to information about needed services, ab = .08, 95% CI [03, .15] accounted for unique variance in self-rated health scores beyond the direct effect of income, c’ = .38, p < .0001, 95% CI [.22, .53]. These findings suggest that higher perceived access to information about needed services may partially explain the association between income and self-rated health. Future researchers should track these variables across time to establish causal associations between access to information and health. Additionally, further study of perceived access to information and objective measures of access to information is warranted, as the role of health literacy in this study is unclear.

On average in the United States, older adults outlive their ability to drive by seven years. Having safe, affordable and accessible alternative transportation options is critical to supporting the well-being of older adults and their ability to age in community. This symposium will provide evidence for utilizing community-engaged research strategies with diverse populations to identify the opportunities and barriers for the development and utilization of alternative transportation. The presentations will include up-to-date examples of innovative alternative transportation solutions and evaluation data. The first presentation will illustrate how community-based participatory research (CBPR) strategies were used to develop, use and evaluate alternative transportation options including walking, biking, fixed route busing, senior circulator, ride sharing and transit training in an age-friendly community. Data were collected through mapping the built environment, an electronic daily transportation diary app called “MyAmble” on tablets, walk audits and focus groups. The second presentation uses an environmental justice (EJ) framework to present the findings of a qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis (QIMS) about older adults’ experiences with outdoor spaces and buildings and transportation as part of the World Health Organization’s age-friendly network assessment. The third paper explores the barriers and facilitators of transportation among diverse older adults (English, Nepali, Khmer, Somali, Russian and Mandarin Chinese) using Rapid and Rigorous Qualitative Data Analysis (RADaR) technique. The final paper examines the challenges of rural transportation services supported by senior centers. The symposium will conclude with a critical reflection on the empirical contributions needed to advance scholarship on alternative transportation for older adults.

Despite efforts to develop cities to be more livable, older adults continue to struggle with social disconnectedness. Inclusive environments can help older adults develop a sense of belonging to others and the community. Using the Age-Friendly Columbus survey data (n=346), this study examined whether perceptions of an age-friendliness can be predicted by factors affecting social identity and if racial and economic disparities influence older adults’ perceptions of social identity. A lack of opportunities to socialize with different generations and feeling disconnected from the community were associated with an increased likelihood of negative perceptions of age-friendliness of the city. The oldest old, compared to the young old, were more likely to agree with the lack of opportunities for intergenerational engagement, and lower income older adults were more likely to agree with feeling disconnected from the community. GIS mapping revealed age segregation in the city, in relationship to racial and economic disparities.

ADS Plus is a complex, applied research initiative that involves a delicate dance between the researchers and the adult day centers that recruit participants, implement the intervention, and collect and report the data. In this session, the researchers present and analyze taped video interviews with administrators at both intervention and treatment sites to explore their perspectives on participating in the ADS Plus initiative. The researchers structured this exploration upon the five major domains of the Consolidated Framework for Intervention Research (CFIR): (a) the intervention; (b) the inner setting; (c) the outer setting; (d) the individuals involved; and the process by which implementation was accomplished (Damschroder et al., 2009). Results indicate that all five factors played a role in administrators’ experiences in implementing the ADS Plus initiative. Researchers may benefit from these findings as they anticipate and address the many challenges of conducting applied intervention research within pragmatic trial designs.

World Health Organization’s Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities calls for meaningful engagement of older adults in making communities more livable. Community-based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) provides a helpful framework to meet this objective. This presentation will describe how Age-Friendly Columbus employed Isreal’s (1998) CBPAR principles by engaging 125 stakeholders through a 50+ Residents Council, Advisory Council and domain-specific Committees. Efforts resulted in older adults, government leaders, service providers and academics acknowledging the community as a unit of identity, building on strengths and resources within the community, facilitating collaborative, equitable partnerships, fostering co-learning and capacity building among partners, integrating and balancing knowledge generation and intervention for mutual benefit, focusing on multiple determinants of health, utilizing a cyclical and iterative process, disseminating results, and committing to a long-term process and sustainability. Specific action steps taken will be presented allowing for this approach to be adapted and replicated in other communities.

Translational Advisory Boards (TABs) are select groups of researchers, practitioners, and, in some cases, service recipients (e.g., patients, caregivers) that convene regularly to advise researchers on ongoing studies. TABs provide direction and support, knowledge and insight, alternative points of view, and suggestions for overcoming obstacles and improving research functions. TABs are especially valuable in applied research in which “real world” conditions create challenges ranging from the anticipated (e.g., participant drop out) to the unanticipated (e.g., government shutdown). In this presentation, the researchers evaluate one TAB involved with an ongoing pragmatic research trial of Adult Day Services Plus (ADS Plus), an intervention for family caregivers to persons with dementia. Including individuals with diverse points of view was critical in the composition of the TAB. The TAB consisted of four seasoned researchers, four ADS industry professionals, and six program directors from the ADS Plus treatment and control groups. Creating meetings that were productive was imperative. TAB sessions were held bi-annually and had highly structured agendas soliciting guidance on specific issues. Qualitative analysis of the TAB sessions revealed three themes: assistance with recruitment; fidelity of the intervention; and sustainability of the intervention. This guidance helped the researchers to shift directions in recruitment and to consider further refinement of the intervention to increase sustainability. In looking at costs, the annual research personnel, TAB personnel, and overhead expenses were estimated at $2,500-$3,000 and $4,000-$5,500, respectively. In conclusion, TABs can be an effective tool to support research and should be considered for use in large-scale projects.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how care recipients’ vulnerability and family caregivers’ financial hardship mediate the relationship between informal care provided by non-white family caregivers and the caregiver’s self-rated health.

Many researchers have attempted to find alternative ways to address the challenges of the aging workforce. Applying the concept of age-friendly to work settings may be a promising strategy to promote older adults’ well-being in the workplace. However, age-friendly employment is an abstract concept, and empirical research identifying its features is lacking. Also, few studies adequately represented the diverse characteristics of different industries and stakeholder’s perceptions of age-friendly work environments. This study used focus group data and the Delphi method, along with existing literature to create an instrument to measure age-friendliness in diverse work environments. In partnership with a senior employment organization serving central Ohio, six human resources (HR) professionals participated in a focus group discussion and 10 HR professionals participated in a two-round Delphi study. In the focus group discussion, HR professionals identified flexibility, mobility, ergonomics, health benefits, and respect as age-friendly aspects in the workplace. We developed 37 items within five subcategories: accommodation, development, maintenance, utilization, and inclusion. In the first round, HR professionals assessed the importance of each item, presenting training opportunities for employees of all ages as the most important practice; four weeks later they examined the revised 33 items in regard to the feasibility of their real-world implementation, showing 100% agreements among experts in career advice, opportunities for promotion, involving decision making, educating age discrimination, and formal acknowledgment. The second phase of this study will include scale evaluation to confirm its reliability and validity with a broader number of HR professionals and older adults.

Many older Americans have decided to remain in the labor market beyond the traditional retirement age, suggesting the need for companies to consider human resource initiatives to retain and support the aging workforce. Applying active aging concepts, which emphasize older adults’ active roles through participation in social and economic activities for healthy later life, to the workplace could be helpful for developing programs that enhance the health, well-being, and work outcomes of older workers. Despite the expected benefits of active aging at work for older workers’ overall well-being, little research has been conducted on what personal and team factors impact on outcomes of active aging at work; what mechanism exists in the links between factors and outcomes in the contemporary workplace. The current study tested the validity of an active aging framework using the Age and Generations Study data. We analyzed responses of 508 American workers aged 50 and older using structural equation modeling. Results showed that perceived self-efficacy was a strong predictor of engagement, mental health, and performance, whereas perceived leader equity predicted only engagement. Also, work engagement was powerful mechanism for promoting older adults’ mental health; engagement mediated the relationship between perceived self-efficacy and the relationship between leader equity and mental health. The findings highlight how important it is for employers to invest in human capital, suggesting human resource programs should focus on strategies that target older adults’ engagement through tailored self-efficacy programs and diversity leadership training programs. Such attempts would contribute to the well-being of older workers.

Participation in active transportation by older persons has been associated with higher quality of life and longevity. Efforts across the United States to increase active transportation (walking, biking and fixed route transportation) by older adults have lacked meaningful input by older adults, are non-theoretical and have had inconclusive results. This paper describes the findings from Phase 1 of the Safe Routes to Age in Place project, a collaboration between Age-Friendly Franklin County, The Ohio State University (OSU) and the University of Texas-Arlington (UT-A), funded by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The aim of the study is to increase the options and safe utilization of active transportation by older persons in three pilot neighborhoods in Franklin County, Ohio utilizing community-based participatory action research strategies with a customized data collection app, MyAmble. The purpose of Phase 1 was to engage city and regional planning students, government officials and older adults to identify “hot spots” in the three pilot neighborhoods. Heat mapping of community data including locations of densely-populated vulnerable older adults, fixed transportation routes, bus stop signage and benches, shared bike stations, bike routes, paratransit routes and pedestrian crash data was completed. Maps were used to identify areas of focus and discussions with municipal leaders and older adult residents further refined target areas to be used in the second phase of the study. Older residents completed walk audits using the MyAmble app and identified issues with sidewalks, crosswalk timers and bus stops. Implications related to age-friendly communities and active transportation are offered.

Older adults living with disabilities are at risk of depression and anxiety, yet they are less likely to access psychotherapy then people of younger ages. Animal assisted therapy provides an opportunity to support the mental health of older persons, perhaps without the stigma of traditional psychotherapy. The purpose of this study was to develop and test the influence of a six-week EAGALA model equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP) on mood and behavior of older adults with functional limitations. EAGALA model EAP uses a team of mental health professionals with equine specialists to provide therapy with horses through ground work. We recruited participants (N = 22) from an adult day center (ADC) and employed a randomized pretest-posttest crossover design. The comparison group received usual services at the ADC. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed in a concurrent triangulation design. Linear mixed effect modeling showed that intervention participants experienced a decrease of negative/disruptive behaviors and an increase in positive mood (p

Purpose: Past research has demonstrated the importance of civic engagement for older adults, yet previous studies have not focused specifically on the potential benefits of civic engagement for older adults with functional limitations. This pilot study explored the feasibility and effectiveness of an intervention designed to promote civic engagement in this growing and often overlooked population. Design and Methods: A convenience sample was recruited from 2 adult day health centers (N = 43). A multicomponent intervention was implemented comprising education, service, and recognition phases. Using a nonequivalent switching replications design, researchers compared participants receiving the civic engagement intervention with participants receiving treatment as usual. Results: In terms of feasibility, the intervention was unproblematic and amenable to this population; however, challenges existed in data collection. Participants receiving the intervention reported higher, yet nonsignificant, levels of purpose in life, self-esteem, and perceived physical health when compared with those in the control group. However, 5 weeks following the withdrawal of the intervention, participants reported a significant decrease in self-esteem and perceived physical health. Implications: Civic engagement interventions appear to be quite feasible and possibly beneficial for older adults with physical and cogni tive limitations, such as those enrolled in adult day health programs. Future studies should examine the nature and amount of engagement needed to maximize the benefits of such interventions.