Age of Migration and Cognitive Life Expectancies Among Older Latinos: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study

Abstract This study used data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2014) to estimate Sullivan-based life tables of cognitively intact, cognitively impaired/no dementia (CIND), and dementia life expectancies by nativity, age of migration, and sex for older Latinos residing in the United States. Results show foreign-born Latinos, regardless of age of migration or sex, spend a greater number of years after age 50 with CIND compared to U.S.-born Latinos. Furthermore, we document an advantage in total life expectancy and cognitively intact life expectancy among mid-life immigrant men relative to their U.S.-born counterparts. The robust relationship between nativity, age of migration, and cognitive health suggests that the foreign-born may place particularly serious burdens on families and the government. This issue merits special attention in the development of community-based long-term care programs to appropriately target the specific needs of different subgroups of older Latinos who are entering into their last decades of life.

The relationship between cognitive function, diabetes and disability among the oldest-old remains largely unexplored, particularly in the Latino population. This study examines dementia risk and diabetes status in a Mexican-origin older adult sample. The data are drawn from eight waves (1993 -2013) of the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE; N=3,039, mean age at base-line=73.6 (±6.8)). We use multivariable Cox proportional hazards models to predict the relation between diabetes and time to incident dementia (MMSE<24, 1+ IADL), with risk adjustment for age of migration, socioeconomic status, acculturation, and health. Diabetes prevalence at baseline was 27.8 %. Diabetes was associated with a higher risk of developing dementia (HR)=1.22, p<0.001). Foreign-born older adults who migrated at ages 20-49 had a higher survival probability of being dementia-free (HR=0.84, p=0.001). Our results further highlight the importance of evaluating differences in the cognitive outcomes of Mexican origin older adults. This study examines sources of vulnerabilities to dementia in low resource populations in two specific contexts-Mexico and the United States. Data are drawn from comparable waves of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) and the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (H-EPESE) in 2012, which include representative samples of the oldest-old (82 and over), the fastest growing segment of the populations worldwide. Likely dementia prevalence is 30.9% (±0.46SD) for Mexicans in Mexico and 36.3% (±0.48SD) for Mexicans in the U.S. Odds of likely dementia in both populations were increased by age, living in extended households, depressive symptoms, and Seguro Popular and Medicaid receipt. Being female and having comorbid cardiovascular conditions were also associated with likely dementia but only for older Mexicans. There is a need to strengthen the caregiving capacity of memory care services in low resource communities in Mexico and the U.S.

COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE: WHY AGE MATTERS
Chair: Alison Chasteen Co-Chair: Sali Tagliamonte In line with this year's 75th anniversary theme, we will show why aging matters for communication and language. Specifically, in this symposium we will show how aging affects communication and language across a variety of social contexts, social roles, and cognitive abilities. Pabst & Tagliamonte discuss the effects of aging on language use by examining an individual's daily diary entries over 30 years, including the onset and progression of dementia. Saunders considers language and communication in the context of social interaction among persons with dementia living in a long-term care setting. Savundranayagam et al. test the efficacy of a communication intervention for personal support workers who work with persons with dementia. Chasteen & Tagliamonte consider how ageism is communicated to middle-aged and older adults in everyday life. Taken together, these presentations will provide a multidimensional lens to understanding language and communication in later life.

AGEIST COMMUNICATION EXPERIENCED BY MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER ADULTS
Alison Chasteen, and Sali Tagliamonte, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Despite the prevalence of ageism, relatively little is known about specific aspects of ageism experiences. In the present study, middle-aged and older adults described their experiences of ageism as part of an interview. Their descriptions were coded for the domain in which the ageist act occurred, the perpetrator of the act, and what type of ageist act occurred. A majority of participants indicated that they had been the target of an ageist act, with those acts occurring most commonly in the public sphere. Consistent with this finding, perpetrators of ageist acts were most often strangers. Ageist comments most often involved age-based social or physical assumptions about the target. Together, these findings suggest that there is a lack of norms prohibiting ageist communication in public spheres.

A DIARY-BASED STUDY OF LANGUAGE USE DURING COGNITIVE DECLINE Katharina Pabst, and Sali Tagliamonte, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Although the effects of dementia on language have been examined in a variety of ways, there is relatively little data available showing longitudinal effects. In the present study, we examined the effect of cognitive decline on an individual's language use over time (from age 60-91) by assessing daily diary entries. We focused on a linguistic phenomenon commonly associated with diaries and other informal registers, i.e. subject omission, as in "∅ Made cranberry muffins." Quantitative analysis revealed a drastic decline in the use of this feature, which is correlated with the stages of the individual's cognitive decline. We argue that the patterns reflect a systematic reduction in complexity that affects a writing style based on literacy and acquired at a later stage than more basic writing. This corroborates previous findings, showing later-acquired linguistic features are disproportionately affected in cognitive decline and highlights the importance of linguistic analysis in aging research.

SOCIOLINGUISTIC MARKERS OF FRIENDSHIP AMONG PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA IN LONG-TERM CARE Pamela Saunders, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Sociolinguistics and discourse analysis provide tools through which to examine how friendship is socially constructed through language and communication. Research on social isolation and loneliness reveals the importance of social interaction on the psychological and physical health of older adults. Given that linguistic, communicative, and functional abilities decline as dementia progresses, it is challenging to identify markers of friendship. The Friendship Project is an ethnographic study of social interaction among persons with dementia living in a long-term care setting. The data are from transcripts and field-notes of social interactions among residents with a range of cognitive impairments over a six-month time period. Results reveal that persons with dementia employ specific linguistic features such as narrative, evaluation, evidentials, and pronominal reference to make meaning and create relationships over time. Practical implications will be discussed.

IMPACT OF BE EPIC ON PERSON-CENTERED COMMUNICATION
Marie Savundranayagam, 1 Kristine Williams, 2 Shalane Basque, 1 Joseph Orange, 1 Marita Kloseck, 1 Karen Johnson, 3 and Vicki Schmall, 4 1. Western University,London,Ontario,Canada,2. University of Kansas,Lawrence,Kansas,United States,3. McCormick Dementia Services,London,Ontario,Canada,4. Aging Concerns,West Linn,Oregon,United States This study assessed the impact of Be EPIC, a dementiafocused, person-centered communication intervention for personal support workers (PSWs). Video-recorded conversations between PSWs and simulated persons with dementia assessed whether Be EPIC participants (n=13) (versus a wait-list control group, n=8) reported a greater proportion of personcentered communication utterances (recognition, negotiation, facilitation, validation). We used linear mixed model analysis to investigate if Be EPIC influenced PSWs' person-centered communication. Group (Be EPIC versus control group), time (pre-, post-, and 3-months) and their interaction were included in the model. There was a significant group by time interaction. Follow-up tests showed that participants who took Be EPIC showed significant increases in person-centered utterances from pre-to post-training and pre-training to 3 months later. Participants in the control group showed no changes in person-centered communication. These findings show that Be EPIC enhanced person-centered communication, which is essential for quality of care.

CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF COGNITIVE AGING Chair: Gizem Hueluer Discussant: Elizabeth A L Stine-Morrow
Cognitive aging research is gaining societal and practical importance because of population aging. Current research is focused on describing age differences and age-related changes in cognitive performance, understanding potential causes underlying these differences and changes, and identifying factors that promote maintenance of cognitive functioning in old age. The goal of this research group is to showcase new