Work Demands and Cognitive Health Inequities by Race and Ethnicity: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This scoping review aimed to chart the scientific literature on the association between workplace demands with cognitive health, and whether race and ethnicity have a direct or indirect relationship between occupational complexity and cognitive health. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: PRISMA scoping review guided this study. Peer-reviewed articles were drawn from 5 databases. Inclusion criteria were populations aged 18 and older, U.S.-based studies, a comprehensive conceptualization of workplace demands, and cognitive health outcomes. All articles were screened by title and abstract; qualifying articles proceeded to full-text review. RESULTS: The majority of studies drew from theories that did not interrogate heterogeneity and minority aging experiences. Consequently, the majority of studies did not include race and ethnicity in their analyses. A small and growing body of research drew from critical perspectives and interrogated cognitive health inequities by race and ethnicity within the context of workplace demands. The association between workplace demands and cognitive health is not linear when race and ethnicity are examined. Emerging evidence suggests interventions to improve substantive complexity among racial and ethnic minorities, and individuals with low education are a promising avenue for intervention research. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: We discuss integrating emerging theories, such as minority stress and revised social determinants of health frameworks, to sharpen the focus and broaden our understanding on racial and ethnic cognitive health inequities in an emerging area of prevention research. This research can advance our basic understanding of preventable health inequities as well as provide important information for interventions.

Acknowledging Systemic Discrimination in the Context of a Pandemic: Advancing an Anti-Racist and Anti-Ageist Movement.

This commentary draws together the confluence of current events - COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustice. Vulnerability to COVID-19 cannot be understood by age alone but within the context of inequity. We first review how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Black and Latinx populations across the life span with the latest data from New York City Department of Health. We then discuss critical race theory and analyze longstanding inequities in health, economic, and social conditions that heighten the risk for vulnerability. We conclude with a discussion for the social work profession on the issues of defunding the police to undoing stereotypes.

Who We Live With and How We Are Feeling: A Study of Household Living Arrangements and Subjective Well-Being Among Older Adults in China.

Using a sample of Chinese adults over the age of 50 from wave 1 of the WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (n = 13,367), we investigated the relationship between living arrangements and subjective well-being (SWB) in regard to life satisfaction, happiness, and control. We also looked at the moderating role of resources, proxied by income and hukou status. Multivariate regression results indicate that living only with a spouse was significantly associated with better SWB. Multigenerational living arrangements may not always promote SWB, particularly when resources are constrained. Yet, results also underscore the importance of daughters and daughters-in-law in promoting SWB among older adults. Older adults in rural areas had better SWB, including greater life satisfaction if living with grandchildren only, compared to their urban peers living with a spouse only. Findings suggest that context matters in the association between living arrangements and older adults' SWB.