Senior Center Service Utilization: Do Social Ties Affect Participation Patterns?

PURPOSE: A better understanding of service utilization patterns at senior service centers can improve program development and constituent usage. THEORY: This research examines whether participation in senior center activities is a function of senior socialization that reinforces and supports existing social ties by selecting specific activities in senior centers. METHODS: A total of 924 participants of senior centers in a municipality in the Southwest were surveyed. RESULTS: We find that having closer friends influences participation in certain senior center services. We also find that gender, race, ethnicity, and income also explain different usage rates beyond age. CONCLUSION: Opportunities to foster social interaction to grow and reduce barriers to participation and market to a broader range of current and potential participants are discussed.

Older Adults' Mental Health Through Leisure Activities During COVID-19: A Scoping Review.

Older adults are at high risk for mental health distress due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. This scoping review aimed to map emerging evidence on the types of leisure and recreation activities (LRA) adults, 60 years and older, are engaged in for their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We identified 10 studies on LRA for mental health by older adults with COVID-19 mitigation from a search of the following databases: Medline/PubMed, Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, JBI Evidence Synthesis, and Epistemonicos. A narrative synthesis of the data revealed age cohorts of young-old (60-69 years) and middle-old (70-79 years) engaging mainly in online LRA for mental health compared to the older-old adults (80 years and older). The middle-old (70-79 years) and older-old adults (80-89 years) engaged in more physical LRA for mental health compared to the younger-old adults. Across age cohorts, the older adults engaged in social connectedness LRA for mental health wellbeing. COVID-19-safe LRA mental health support interventions for older adults should be tailored to their age cohort predispositions for optimal benefit.

Trending the evidence on opioid use disorder (OUD) continuum of care among rural American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) tribes: A systematic scoping review.

BACKGROUND: American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) communities are second only to White Americans in mortality from opioid use disorder (OUD), while the smallest racial/ethnic minority population group in the USA. Those in rural communities experience significant health care disparities, including poorer treatment access for substance use disorder. This systematic scoping review aimed to trend the emerging evidence on opioid use disorder (OUD) management among rural AI/AN communities as well as workforce training needs. METHOD: We searched the Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, SSCI, and Digital theses databases for empirical study publications on OUD management among AI/AN rural communities across the continuum of prevention, treatment and care. Eight studies met the following criteria: (a) focused on OUD; (b) sampled rural AI/AN members; (c) investigated prevention, treatment and/or care perspectives and/or practices or health provider preparation; and (d) published during the period 2009-2020. Included studies met the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) quality control standards. FINDINGS: Six of eight of the studies (75%) were surveys with community members and other stakeholders on OUD management within rural AI/AN communities rather than active interventions within this population. Moreover, five of eight of the studies (63%) reported a preference for culturally grounded health and wellness interventions with rural AI/AN, involving families, and community interventionists, utilizing community reinforcement approaches. Three of eight studies (37.5%) reported need for the cultural adaption of medication-assisted treatments (MAT) and use of culturally informed recovery care approaches. One of eight studies (12.5%) proposed to use culturally adapted contingency management behavioral approaches for OUD treatment and recovery care. CONCLUSION: The evidence is trending to endorse culturally adapted OUD management with rural AI/AN communities, prioritizing prevention education, and use of MAT with cultural adaptation and whole person approaches to sustainable recovery care. Mental health care should be a part OUD prevention, treatment and recovery care in rural AI/AN rural communities.

Adherence to Exercise Programs in Older Adults: Informative Report.

This informative report focuses on filling information gaps regarding adherence to physical activity and exercise in the health care spectrum of older adults (OA) and an overview of the benefits of physical activity for OA. Healthy People 2000, 2010, and 2020 are public health programs from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that set national goals and objectives for promoting health and preventing disease. The programs include 10 leading health indicators that reflect major health problems, which concern OA. Exercise and physical activity are among the most important factors affecting health and longevity, but exercise adherence is a significant hindrance in achieving health goals in the OA. Exercise adherence in OA is a multifactorial problem encompassing many biopsychosocial factors. Factors affecting adherence in the OA include socioeconomic status, education level, living arrangements, health status, pacemakers, physical fitness, and depression. Improving adherence could have a significant impact on longevity, quality of life, and health care costs.