NAVIGATING STREET AND SHELTER LIFE: THE CONSEQUENCES OF FORCED MOBILITY FOR OLDER HOMELESS WOMEN

Abstract Older homeless women have largely been an invisible population. Two co-occurring trends however are bringing them into the public spotlight—the aging and the feminization of the adult homeless population. Yet despite the steep increase in their numbers, relatively little research exists about how gender and age intersect to shape the homeless experience. Such information is critical if we are to transform our nation’s homeless system, which is based largely on a male model of homelessness, to better support women at risk or experiencing homelessness. In this presentation, we therefore share findings from our qualitative study of homeless older urban women. Using a phenomenological approach, we conducted and recorded semi-structured, in depth interviews with fifteen chronically homeless women in their fifties. Our analysis process was inductive and iterative with the culminating phases being the generation and interpretation of themes. Our analysis revealed the links between place, social connection, sense of belonging, and identity. The women’s narratives uncovered how the time-space discontinuity, created through homelessness, shaped the struggles they faced in trying to survive in degraded or threatening environments, altering their identities and impacting self-esteem. Also revealed was that mobility is a key factor to maintaining the place-identity connection. The women’s narratives highlighted how forced mobility with constrained choice not only led to their pathways into homelessness but also dominated their daily navigation of street and shelter life. We conclude by exploring the question of how we might redesign policies and programs to disrupt homelessness for women in later life.

of care, 2=restlessness, 3=exiting behaviors, and 4=hiding/ hoarding.Rejection was associated with a more distant relationship with the caregiver, lower cognitive status, and more negative caregiver communication style.Rejection was predictive of higher levels of caregiver burden.Findings support the argument that rejection is a clinically distinct NPS, and likely requires different nonpharmacological management than agitation.

AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES DEVELOPING AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES: EVIDENCE FROM MULTIPLE CASE STUDIES
Patricia A. Oh 1 , 1. University of Massachusetts, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States The age-friendly community movement is gaining momentum in the United States.More than 325 communities have joined the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities or the WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore what influences municipal decision-making about joining a network and how communities mobilize the resources at their disposal to make agefriendly changes after joining.The conceptual model that guided this exploratory study incorporated Kingdon's policy change model to explore municipal decision-making about joining a formal age-friendly network and resource mobilization theory to explore factors that influence implementation of age-friendly changes after a community joins an age-friendly network.Data was gathered in three in-depth case studies of age-friendly communities in New England--Brookline, Massachusetts; Newport, Vermont; and Ellsworth Maine.In these three cases, the policy entrepreneur was key to municipal decision-making.Kingdon posits that a single problem definition increases the likelihood that a policy is adopted.However, in these cases, the policy entrepreneur used selective framing to advocate with local organizations and municipal government, a departure from Kingdon's model.Implications for age-friendly policy adoption will be discussed.Resource mobilization theory posits that implementation of change is dependent on resources and collaborations.Each case had access to different resources, but partnerships were key to moving the work forward (with or without collaborations).The primary resources utilized were relational and ideological.Material resources were less likely to move the work forward.Implications will be discussed.

NAVIGATING STREET AND SHELTER LIFE: THE CONSEQUENCES OF FORCED MOBILITY FOR OLDER HOMELESS WOMEN Judith G. Gonyea 1 , 1. Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Older homeless women have largely been an invisible population.Two co-occurring trends however are bringing them into the public spotlight-the aging and the feminization of the adult homeless population.Yet despite the steep increase in their numbers, relatively little research exists about how gender and age intersect to shape the homeless experience.Such information is critical if we are to transform our nation's homeless system, which is based largely on a male model of homelessness, to better support women at risk or experiencing homelessness.In this presentation, we therefore share findings from our qualitative study of homeless older urban women.Using a phenomenological approach, we conducted and recorded semi-structured, in depth interviews with fifteen chronically homeless women in their fifties.Our analysis process was inductive and iterative with the culminating phases being the generation and interpretation of themes.Our analysis revealed the links between place, social connection, sense of belonging, and identity.The women's narratives uncovered how the timespace discontinuity, created through homelessness, shaped the struggles they faced in trying to survive in degraded or threatening environments, altering their identities and impacting self-esteem.Also revealed was that mobility is a key factor to maintaining the place-identity connection.The women's narratives highlighted how forced mobility with constrained choice not only led to their pathways into homelessness but also dominated their daily navigation of street and shelter life.We conclude by exploring the question of how we might redesign policies and programs to disrupt homelessness for women in later life.

USING PHOTOVOICE TO EXPLORE THE SALIENCY OF NEIGHBORHOOD LANDMARKS FOR PERSONS LIVING WITH DEMENTIA
Kishore Seetharaman, 1 and Mardelle Shepley 2 , 1. Simon Fraser University,Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada,2. Cornell University,Ithaca,New York,United States This study demonstrates the potential of Photovoice, a participatory action research method involving participant-generated photo-elicitation, to explore how persons living with dementia (PLWDs) perceive neighborhood landmarks.Previous research has highlighted the role of well-designed, stable geographical landmarks in improving the navigability of neighborhoods for PLWDs.However, the specific attributes that render landmarks salient have not yet been sufficiently explored, resulting in inadequate evidence-based environmental design guidelines for dementia-friendly communities (DFCs).To address this gap, a Photovoice study was conducted with five community-dwelling PLWDs and their care partners, as part of a dementia-friendly neighborhood walking program in the city of Seattle, USA.Photovoice facilitated the exploration of saliency of neighborhood landmarks from an emic perspective by empowering PLWDs to identify and take photos of salient landmarks during the group walk and interpret and reflect on attributes that contributed to saliency using the photos as visual aids in a focus group discussion and survey questionnaire.PLWDs associated the saliency of landmarks not only with objective physical attributes, e.g., size, shape, color, texture, but also with subjective factors linked to their past, passions, hobbies, and emotions related to having dementia.Findings suggest that the design of outdoor landmarks should satisfy universal design principles, as well as aspects of familiarity, recognizability, and memorability, to ensure that the neighborhood physical environment provides navigational support to PLWDs.The study proposes using Photovoice to facilitate community engagement in the planning and design of DFCs and mobilize people's lived experience to generate more robust dementia-friendly environmental design guidelines.Research confirms serious and concerning health implications for lonely and socially isolated older adults.Studies consistently demonstrate that older adults who are lonely or socially isolated have higher rates of depression, more health conditions, and greater mortality.AARP Services, Inc. (ASI) and UnitedHealthcare (UHC) are committed to the health and well-being of insureds in AARP® Medicare Supplement Plans insured by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company (for New York certificate holders, UnitedHealthcare of New York), recognizing that health and wellness should be promoted on a holistic level to ensure successful aging.As part of this commitment, a research initiative entitled Aging Strong 2020 has been developed.Its purpose is to impact insureds' personal and social investments in their well-being Thus a related series of interventions are aiming to increase resilience by focusing on enhanced purpose in life, social connectedness, and optimism.This symposium will specifically discuss these efforts related to social connectedness and how they have improved well-being among lonely older adults.First discussed is the prevalence and outcomes of loneliness in a large national survey.Interventions include use of animatronic pets, a telephonic reminiscent memory program, and an online self-compassion mindfulness program.Findings from these initiatives demonstrate that interventions designed to improve loneliness and well-being among lonely older adults can contribute to the holistic model of health.

LIFEBIO: PARTICIPANTS' EXPERIENCES IN A TELEPHONIC-BASED REMINISCENCE PROGRAM
Janella Hudson, 1 Rifky Tkatch, 1 Karen Keown, 2 Michael McGinn, 1 and Ellen Wicker 3 , 1. Optum, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 2. UnitedHealthcare,Minneapolis,Minnesota,United States,3. AARP Services,Inc.,Washington,District of Columbia,United States Older adults facing age-related transitions are at increased risk for depression and loneliness.Reminiscence therapy has demonstrated positive outcomes for older adults, including improved socialization and reduced depression.A program known as LifeBio was designed as a group intervention to engage participants by capturing their life stories to positively impact wellness through reminiscence.This program was adapted to a telephonic format for the Aging Strong 2020 initiative.Semi-structured interviews eliciting feedback about participants' experiences