Building Global Perspectives in a Diverse World

Abstract There is a growing emphasis on diversity and its impact on health care. Our research has focused on migrants who are Mandarin speaking Chinese and Puerto Rican. Through a series of focus groups conducted in their native languages we discovered that barriers to service access differ across the two groups. In addition, many of these services are administered by individual states rather than the federal government. The diversity across migrant groups and state policies creates a challenge in using findings to establish national or international standards for best practices with older migrants. How then can we apply lessons about diversity and the impact of programs on a national and international scale? We propose the use of Social Interaction Modeling as a method for understanding patterns of behavior at both national and international levels, while preserving the unique character of each migrant group and the context within which they live.


IMMIGRANT OLDER ADULTS: IS DIVERSITY A CHALLENGE FOR A GLOBAL INITIATIVE? Chair: Noriko Toyokawa Discussant: Vivian Lou
Although the global community has discussed needs for establishing international standards of health care for immigrant older adults for decades, it is challenging for policy makers to consider international standards that could meet diverse needs for older adults from various migrant groups. The purpose of this symposium is to discuss challenges and possible strategies to develop global standards to protect immigrant older adults. There will be four presentations on the topic of various needs of older adults from different migrant groups. Noriko Toyokawa will present a study in diversity in parents' expectations on filial piety among immigrant older adults from different racial/ethnic groups in the Southern California. Weiyu Mao and her colleagues will present their study in the perceived neighborhood cohesion as a protective factor for older Chinese immigrants' oral health. Allen Glicksman and his colleagues will report the diversity across migrant groups and State Policies that create a challenge in using finding to establish global standards for best practices with older migrants based on a series studies on Mandarin speaking Chinese and Puerto Rican older immigrants. Finally, Mika Marumoto will suggest the 'reframing of aging initiative' as a possible means of leading the way of cultivating transformative solutions. Vivian Lou will comment on each presentation, discuss common themes among the presented studies, and address future research directions. With the audience, the presenters will discuss challenges in dealing with diversity issues and suggestions for a global initiative to protect human rights and health care accessibilities for immigrant older adults.

WHO WILL TAKE CARE OF ME?: OLDER PARENTS' PRACTICE AND PLANS FOR THEIR FUTURE Noriko Toyokawa, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, California, United States
The current study investigated older parents' practices and plans to support their own autonomous lives with/ without children's living assistance and how these parents negotiate autonomous lives with their adult children among three racial/ethnic groups. The study participants were older parents who resided in the Southern California who were recruited through local senior centers (N = 15, Mage = 75, SD = 8.7; Caucasians 47%, Mexicans 40%, Filipinos 13%). Content analysis revealed that Caucasian American parents supported their autonomous lives by using friend networks and professional caregivers rather than depending on their children. Parents with Mexican origin emphasized that their children well took care of them and there were no conflicts with their children. Filipino parents planned to migrate to the Philippines where professional services were affordable so that they would not rely on their children's care. Similarities and differences in older parents' need among different racial/ ethnic groups will be discussed.

REFRAMING AGING IN THE SDGS ERA: THE ROLE OF NONPROFITS IN HELPING OLDER PERSONS AND HOLDING GOVERNMENTS TO ACCOUNT Mika Maromoto, HelpAge International, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
With five years gone since the adoption of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, the global community is moving far too slowly toward achieving its 2030 objectives for older persons. Achieving proper rights and wellbeing for older persons requires strategic and concerted action. The WHO Decade of Healthy Ageing initiative is one useful step toward defining the diverse physical, psychological, social and healthcare needs of older persons. But government leadership remains weak, and the nonprofit sector plays the key role spearheading advocacy efforts toward the SDG motto of "leave no one behind." The urgent needs of older persons -whether fighting ageism, upholding the rights of people living with dementia, or promoting lifelong learning and contributions to society -can best be met by societies that "reframe aging" and craft creative and innovative solutions. This presentation showcases NGOs that are leading the way in cultivating such transformative solutions. There is a growing emphasis on diversity and its impact on health care. Our research has focused on migrants who are Mandarin speaking Chinese and Puerto Rican. Through a series of focus groups conducted in their native languages we discovered that barriers to service access differ across the two groups. In addition, many of these services are administered by individual states rather than the federal government. The diversity across migrant groups and state policies creates a challenge in using findings to establish national or GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting Innovation in Aging, 2020, Vol. 4, No. S1 international standards for best practices with older migrants. How then can we apply lessons about diversity and the impact of programs on a national and international scale? We propose the use of Social Interaction Modeling as a method for understanding patterns of behavior at both national and international levels, while preserving the unique character of each migrant group and the context within which they live. The influences of neighborhood characteristics remain understudied in relation to oral health, especially within the context of immigration. Acculturation exerts influences on the oral health of immigrants. This study investigated the relationship between neighborhood cohesion and oral health problems among older Chinese American immigrants and examined the moderating role of acculturation in such a relationship. The working sample included 3,157 older Chinese American immigrants aged 60 years or older from the baseline of the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago. Stepwise logistic regression models with interaction terms were conducted. Individuals experiencing higher levels of neighborhood cohesion reported a lower likelihood of having oral health problems. The protective effect of neighborhood cohesion against having oral health problems was stronger when individuals resided in ethnic enclaves such as Chinatown. To promote optimal oral health, interventions need to account for individuals' perceptions and levels of integration into their neighborhoods and communities.

USER INVOLVEMENT IN RESEARCH ON AGING AND HEALTH: CREATING KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGIES WITH OLDER ADULTS Chair: Sofi Fristedt Co-Chair: Anna Wanka Discussant: Neil Charness
Although, user involvement is largely recognized as instrumental when developing relevant knowledge, services as well as products -aging populations are still likely to be sparsely involved in such processes. Surprisingly, many gerontechnologies are still developed based on a technological perspective rather than a gerontological perspective. Consequently, age-related changes as well as needs, actual use or perceptions of older adults are disregarded or neglected. Similar problems apply to public and private environments with potentially negative implications on accessibility. The present symposium includes four presentations that address user involvement, by capturing older adults' and aging populations' use as well as perceptions of emerging technologies, successful development of gerontechnologies, and a multigenerational mass-experiment on housing accessibility in later life. The first study from Germany captures the everyday situation of smartphone use as well as aspects of user experience, affect and social context among older adults. The second study addresses perceptions and attitudes of three generations in Sweden related to continuous technological advancement of products intended to support active and healthy aging. The third presentation will describe the iterative development process of the 2020 mass-experiment -the Housing Experiment --involving older adults, stakeholders in the housing sector, teachers and pupils in Sweden. The fourth presentation from Canada explores the benefits, challenges, and solutions to support older adult engagement in research that leads to the successful development of technologies for and with older adults. Finally, our discussant will further elaborate on the respective study findings and summarize the symposium.

USER ATTITUDES TOWARD RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES: PERSPECTIVES FROM THREE GENERATIONS
Steven Schmidt, 1 Sofi Fristedt, 2 Charlotte Löfqvist, 1 and Susanne Iwarsson, 1 1. Lund University,Lund,Skane Lan,Sweden,2. Jonkoping University,Lund,Jonkopings Lan,Sweden New technologies are being touted as solutions to many societal challenges not least of which are ageing and health. However, the rapid development of new technologies is proceeding with little input from older adults. This presentation highlights the perceptions and attitudes of three age cohorts related to the continuous technological advancement of products intended to support active and healthy aging. Participants were 30-39 (n= 639), 50-59 (n=703), 70-79 (n=779) yearsold randomly sampled from the Swedish population registry. Results showed both similarities and difference across generations. For example, 24%-35% of older adults would like to use home monitoring devices (e.g. fall sensors, smart home devices) to support active and healthy aging, compared to 35%-56% of younger groups. More than 82% of all groups highlighted the importance of involving intended users in the development process. Results can be used to support the needs and desires of current older adults and future generations.

THE HOUSING EXPERIMENT: CITIZEN SCIENCE ENGAGING OLDER ADULTS AND SCHOOL PUPILS TO ASSESS HOUSING ACCESSIBILITY
Susanne Iwarsson, 1 Fredrik Brounéus, 2 Knut mårtensson, 3 and Marianne Granbom, 4 1. Lund University, Lund, Skane Lan, Sweden,2. Vetenskap & Allmänhet,Stockholm,Stockholms Lan,Sweden,3. miThings,Lund,Skane Lan,Sweden,4. Lund University,Lund,Sweden Citizen science is gaining momentum as an approach in many scientific fields. However, it is scarcely used in aging research. Since 2009 in Sweden, Public & Science (NGO) has coordinated an annual mass-experiment where thousands of school pupils have collected data that would have been impossible for researchers to collect on their own. Designed as a cross-generational endeavour, the 2020 mass-experiment, the Housing Experiment, is based on scientific methodology for data collection on housing accessibility. The aim of this