Rural older adults' resilience in the context of COVID-19.

Public health and media discourses have often portrayed older adults as a vulnerable group during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, some emerging research is showing that older adults are faring better in terms of their mental health when compared to their younger counterparts. Understanding older adults' mental well-being during the pandemic requires in-depth exploration of the different place-based resources and systems around them. In particular, rural older adults face distinct challenges and opportunities related to accessing valued resources to promote their well-being. Drawing together research on aging and multi-systemic resilience, we explored what strategies, resources, and processes rural older adults valued in the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A series of 51 semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted from May to August 2020 with 26 rural older adults in Manitoba, Canada. Despite adversities, participants drew on and developed resources at the individual, local, community, institutional, and societal level to support their well-being. Specifically, they identified individual strategies (e.g., positivity, acceptance, and gratitude), resources in their immediate environments (e.g., opportunities to keep busy, connect with friends, family and neighbours, and outdoor visits), and community organizations that contributed to their well-being. They also identified broader systems that shaped their resilience processes, such as access to health services, opportunities to volunteer and support others, media stories, reliable information, and public health policies and practices that value older adult lives. Importantly, some resources were less accessible to some participants, highlighting the need to develop strategies that address inequitable resources at different levels. By describing rural older adults' resilience we seek to advance the growing body of research in relation to social ecological resilience that moves beyond a focus on individual characteristics to include understanding of the role of material, social, and cultural contexts.

Exploring the Sustainability of Age-Friendly Initiatives in a Canadian Province.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Based on the World Health Organization Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (AFCC) framework, the government of Manitoba, Canada, launched a province-wide age-friendly initiative in 2008. The objective of this study was to explore the sustainability of the AFCC initiative more than a decade later. The study was guided by conceptualizations of sustainability as multidimensional and dynamic, composed of 4 aspects (continued capacity, institutionalization, continued benefits, and development/adaptation), and an ecologic perspective that highlights the importance of contextual influences, and their change over time, on AFCC activities. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study involved a qualitative, multiple case study design. Semistructured interviews were conducted in 2020 with a key informant from each of 52 AFCC. Interview data were analyzed deductively, guided by the sustainability framework and an ecologic perspective. Census data were used to describe the demographic characteristics of AFCC. RESULTS: We identified 6 groups of AFCC initiatives that varied in degree from the most to the least sustainable: active, in hiatus, reorganized, stalled, discontinued, and never got off the ground. Both local community factors (e.g., lack of capacity) and broader contextual factors, such as demographic changes and provincial legislations, influenced initiatives' sustainability. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: AFCC initiatives can range in their degree of sustainability and can wax or wane over time. Ongoing external support for AFCC (e.g., from provincial or state government) to promote the vision of age-friendliness and to address lack of capacity (e.g., to assist with community assessments) could help with the long-term sustainability of initiatives.

Conversations in Times of Isolation: Exploring Rural-Dwelling Older Adults' Experiences of Isolation and Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Manitoba, Canada.

Older adults have been described as a vulnerable group in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Canada, where this study took place, older adults have been encouraged to self-isolate while the rest of the population has been cautioned against in-person contact with them. Prior to COVID-19, social isolation and loneliness among older adults was considered a serious public health concern. Using a series of semi-structured interviews with 26 community-dwelling older adults (65+) living in rural Manitoba, we explore older adults' experiences of isolation and loneliness in the initial stages of the pandemic between the months of May and July 2020. Participants identified a loss of autonomy, loss of activities and social spaces (e.g., having coffee or eating out, volunteering, and going to church), and lack of meaningful connection at home as factors influencing their sense of isolation and loneliness. Although these loses initially influenced participants' self-reported isolation and loneliness, the majority developed strategies to mitigate isolation and loneliness, such as drawing on past experiences of isolation, engaging in physically distanced visits, connecting remotely, and "keeping busy." Our findings call attention to the role of different environments and resources in supporting older adults social and emotional wellbeing, particularly as they adapt to changes in social contact over time.

Assessing Communities' Age-Friendliness: How Congruent Are Subjective Versus Objective Assessments?

The notion of age-friendliness is gaining increasing attention from policy makers and researchers. In this study, we examine the congruence between two types of age-friendly surveys: subjective assessments by community residents versus objective assessments by municipal officials. The study was based on data from 39 mostly rural communities in Manitoba, Canada, in which a municipal official and residents (M= 25 residents per community) completed a survey to assess age-friendly features in a range of domains, such as transportation and housing. Congruence between the two surveys was generally good, although the municipal official survey consistently overestimated communities' age-friendliness, relative to residents' ratings. The findings suggest that a survey completed by municipal officials can provide a reasonable assessment of age-friendliness that may be useful for certain purposes, such as cross-community comparisons. However, some caution is warranted when using only these surveys for community development, as they may not adequately reflect residents' views.

How Important Is Having Amenities Within Walking Distance to Middle-Aged and Older Adults, and Does the Perceived Importance Relate to Walking?

OBJECTIVE: This study examined how important walking to amenities (e.g., food store, park) is to middle-aged and older adults and whether this relates to walking. The relationship between walking to amenities and overall activity level was also explored. METHOD: The study was based on interviews conducted with 778 individuals aged 45 to 94 years. Overall activity level was measured objectively using pedometers. RESULTS: A large proportion of participants did not think it was very important to have amenities within walking distance, and the majority of participants drove to get there, even among individuals who reported it was very important to have the amenities within walking distance. Self-reported walking to certain amenities (e.g., park) was associated with overall activity. DISCUSSION: The study underscores the impact of a car culture where the tendency to drive is paramount. It suggests the need to promote the importance of walking as part of an active, healthy lifestyle.

Targeting Socially Isolated Older Adults: A Process Evaluation of the Senior Centre Without Walls Social and Educational Program.

The Seniors Centre Without Walls (SCWOW) program provides free social and educational programming for older adults via telephone. The target population for SCWOW is socially isolated older adults, a hard to reach population. The aim of this process evaluation was to examine whether SCWOW was reaching its target population and to gather participant feedback about program implementation and the perceived satisfaction and impact of the program. Telephone interviews were conducted with 26 participants (92% females; aged 57-85 years). Forty-two percent of the sample was socially isolated and more than half reported being lonely. Participants reported having no difficulty using the telephone system. On average, participants were very satisfied with the program and reported that SCWOW had several positive effects (e.g., connecting to the larger community, affecting mental well-being). Importantly, no barriers to participation were identified. The study suggests that telephone-based programs can successfully reach socially isolated older adults.

Predicting stability and change in loneliness in later life.

This study examined potential discriminators of groups of older adults showing different patterns of stability or change in loneliness over 5 years: those who became lonely, overcame loneliness, were persistently lonely, and were persistently not lonely. Discriminant function analysis results showed that the persistently lonely, compared with the persistently not lonely, were more often living alone, widowed, and experiencing poorer health and perceived control. Moreover, changes in living arrangements and perceived control predicted loneliness change. In conclusion, perceiving that one is able to meet social needs is a predictor of loneliness and loneliness change and appears to be more important than people's friendships. Because the predictors were better able to predict entry into loneliness, results point to the promise of prevention approaches to loneliness interventions.

Consequences of loneliness on physical activity and mortality in older adults and the power of positive emotions.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the longitudinal relationships between loneliness, physical activity, and mortality in older adults. This study also tested the implication of Fredrickson's Broaden and Build Theory (1998, 2001) that positive emotions (happiness) might serve to "undo" the detrimental effects of negative emotions (loneliness). METHOD: Participants (n = 228; 62% female; aged 77-96 years) took part in the Aging in Manitoba Study (2001) and the Successful Aging Study (2003). Mortality information was assessed in 2008. RESULTS: Regression analyses showed that loneliness longitudinally predicted perceived physical activity and mortality. Moreover, in support of Fredrickson's theory, happiness moderated these relationships, suggesting that happiness had the power to "undo" the detrimental effects of loneliness on activity and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Loneliness is an independent risk factor for mortality and reduced physical activity among older adults; however, being happy may offset the negative consequences of being lonely. Future interventions could target positive emotions and loneliness as a way of ultimately enhancing the lifespan and wellspan of older adults.