Hope and healthy lifestyle behaviors in older adulthood.

OBJECTIVES: Hope has been associated with better health and social well-being outcomes, including emotional adjustment, positive affect, life satisfaction, reduced risk of all-cause mortality, and increased physical activity, yet how hope as a construct impacts these health benefits in older adults is not very well-understood. This study examined: (1) the relationship between hope and health behaviors in older adults; (2) how this relationship may differ across different socio-demographic groups; and (3) how hope relates to perceived future selves among older adults. METHODS: The study used cross-sectional data from 711 community-dwelling adults aged ≥55 years (280 men, 431 women). Survey measures included the Snyder Adult Dispositional Hope Scale (ADHS) and the Herth Hope Index (HHI), a health behaviors checklist, self-reported health, and a future self-scale. Data were analyzed using bivariate and multiple regressions. RESULTS: Hope was positively associated with healthy behaviors in older adults. Participants with higher levels of hope also reported more positive future selves and better health. The associations were similar across different racial/ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study fills an important gap in our understanding of hope and its association with health behaviors in community-dwelling older adults. These findings highlight a need to promote hope in older adults in order to enhance their sense of well-being.

Of duty and diaspora: (Re)negotiating the intergenerational contract in South Asian Muslim families.

In recent years, there has been exponential growth in the South Asian Muslim population in the United States. This demographic trend, along with a rapidly aging North American population, implies that very soon, a significant proportion of U.S. adults 65 years and older will identify as South Asian Muslim. Moreover, more than one-half of Muslims (57%) live in a multi-person/multi-generation household where all members identify as Muslim. Despite this evidence, limited research exists on the dynamics of multigenerational living in aging South Asian Muslim households, particularly around intergenerational support exchanges and the nature and strength of affectual bonds between generations. Additionally, research suggests that espoused within internalized cultural norms around filial obligation and duty, kinwork in South Asian families remains highly gendered. Less is known, however, about the gendered nature of kinwork in immigrant South Asian Muslim families. Based on 30 in-depth narrative interviews with three generations of South Asian Muslim women living in the U.S., this paper addresses these gaps, specifically focusing on intersections of faith, culture, gender, age, immigrant status, and age at migration. The findings from this study point to a renegotiation of the intergenerational contract, wherein care and support for a parent or grandparent were understood and enacted within the framework of an overarching Muslim identity, while simultaneously, for their older relatives, it was reinterpreted within shifting local and global realities such as the increasing participation of the middle generation, the daughters and daughters-in-law, in the paid workforce. In addition to providing insights into ethnic and religious-oriented experiences of aging and care, these findings may help inform policymakers and stakeholders (e.g., community service providers and faith leaders such as imams of mosques, researchers, and family members) in culturally congruent ways to support the health and well-being of aging South Asian Muslim families.

Diabetes and Diabetes Care among Nonobese Japanese-Americans: Findings from a Population-Based Study.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to determine the prevalence of diabetes among nonobese Japanese-Americans and to determine the adjusted odds of diabetes among nonobese Japanese-Americans compared to non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs); (2) to identify the risk factors associated with having diabetes in a large sample of nonobese Japanese-Americans; and (3) to determine the prevalence and adjusted odds of diabetes management behaviors among nonobese Japanese-Americans with diabetes in comparison to NHWs with diabetes. METHODS: The combined 2007-2016 waves of the adult California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) were used to analyze a nonobese (BMI<30) sample of 2,295 Japanese-Americans and 119,651 NHWs. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses were performed using Stata. RESULTS: The findings of this representative community study of nonobese Californians indicate that the prevalence of diabetes among Japanese-American respondents was higher than their NHW counterparts (8.0% versus 4.5%). Prevalence increased markedly with age; one-quarter of nonobese Japanese Americans aged 80 and older had diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of diabetes among nonobese Japanese-Americans is significantly higher than that among NHWs. There is an urgent need to develop appropriate intervention and prevention approaches with lifestyle modification specifically targeted towards nonobese Japanese-Americans.