Financial Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on U.S. Older Adults: Assessing Pandemic-induced Job and Income Loss

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the economic security of millions of older adults. Job loss and reductions in personal income were significant in 2020 stemming from pandemic-induced shutdowns that temporarily closed large swaths of the U.S. economy. Yet, the specific financial impacts of the pandemic on older adults, including family care partners, are not well understood. To understand the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the health and financial well-being of older adults, we gathered data from the Research via Internet of Technology and Experience (RITE) Study, a longitudinal survey panel providing data from thousands of participants of various ages and backgrounds in the U.S. on their use of healthcare and technology (N=1,365). We measured by population strata including age, sex, and education and other characteristics including caregiver status. Adults between 20-40 years of age experienced the highest rate of job loss and reduction in wages (33%) as a result of the pandemic, while adults aged >70 years experienced the lowest rate (12.5%). However, adults aged 50-60 and 60-70 also experienced relatively high levels of job loss at (28.4% and 25.7%, respectively). Behavior changes and disruptions to typical routines to avoid COVID-19 infections may have contributed to job and personal income loss amongst Individuals aged 50-60 and 60-70. However, these findings suggest potentially high levels of economic insecurity amongst individuals who continue to work into late-life. These results may help policymakers understand how to better tailor interventions and policies to mitigate economic insecurity, particularly for populations disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

interviews.The acceptability was measured by the Senior Technology Acceptance (STA) and semi-structured interviews with 15 participants.The STA consists of four domains with 14 items, and the semi-structured interview includes three main questions related to experiences about balance performance tests, body composition, and activity monitoring.One hundred twenty-four community-dwelling older adults completed the online survey, and 15 older adults participated in the interviews.The majority of participants were female, and 72% had no history of falls.Race and ethnicity were 17% Hispanic, 7% African Americans, and 3% Asian Americans.About 7% had COVID-19 positive, 31% reported fear of COVID, and 14.5% were afraid of losing their life to COVID.The word-of-mouth strategy and key person approach were used and had an incredible impact on the recruitment process.None of the participants had ever had their fall risk and fear of falling assessed before agreeing to participate in this study.The technology-based fall risk assessments were feasible and acceptable.About 78% of participants liked the idea of using technology to assess falls risk, and 79% agreed that using technology would enhance their effectiveness in daily activities.

FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF VIDEOCHAT DURING MEALS IN ADULTS AGING IN PLACE OF AVERAGE AGE 88
Alexa Lyman, and Laura Barre, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States Older adults in the United States prefer to age-in-place.However, living and eating alone are risk factors for malnutrition.Using videochat during mealtimes, i.e., VideoDining, can provide commensality and social facilitation to improve nutritional intake.The objective of this study was to determine if older adults aging-in-place can independently VideoDine with family or friends.We recruited eleven older adults from Full Circle America Steuben, a virtual assisted living program for adults aging-in-place in rural New York.All participants had Amazon EchoShow devices for videochat.Participants were instructed on VideoDining and asked to independently schedule four VideoDine sessions with a family/friend in four weeks.Surveys were collected at baseline, after VideoDine sessions, and end-of-study.Participants were 91% female and 100% white.The average age was 88 years.All participants were widowed and living alone except for one married couple.Overall, 45% of participants VideoDined four times, 36% of participants VideoDined two to three times, and 27% not at all, for an average of 2.7 sessions in a month.Participants VideoDined during all meals, although dinner was most common (66% of meals), and breakfast least common (12% of meals).Average comfort was rated 7.6/10 (1=not comfortable, 10=comfortable), median enjoyment was 9.3/10 (1=not enjoyable, 10=enjoyable), and median ease of VideoDining was 4.1/5 (1=very difficult, 5=very easy).On average, participants rated their VideoDining meal experience a 7.6/10 (1=poor, 10=excellent).With access to videochat technology, older adults can connect with a dining partner and have a favorable experience sharing a meal over videochat.Azita Emami, 1 Gabriella Engström, 2 and Hyejin Kim, 3 1.University of Washington School of Nursing, University of Washington,Washington,United States,2. Dalarna University,Falun,Dalarnas Lan,Sweden,3

. University of Washington School of Nursing, Seattle, Washington, United States
Dementia afflicts affected individuals and their family caregivers worldwide.Although a non-pharmacological intervention has been recommended as a first-line approach to minimize adverse outcomes (e.g., stress) in dementia care dyads (persons with dementia [PWD] and their family caregivers), most evaluations of such interventions have relied on subjective (e.g., self-or proxy-report) rather than objective (e.g., biomarkers) measures.We aimed to explore the feasibility of saliva collection of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) as a non-intrusive method in dementia care dyads.Dementia care dyads living at home were recruited from the memory center in Sweden.Prior to the saliva collection, participants received a one-hour education session with a hands-on demonstration led by a trained study coordinator.Participants were instructed to collect saliva three times (two for morning, one for evening)/ day, five days/week for eight consecutive weeks.Out of 32 care dyads (32 PWD and 32 family caregivers), 24 (75.0%) completed the saliva collection.On average, 105.5 (87.92%) and 105.9 (88.25%) samples were collected from PWD and family caregivers during eight weeks.There were no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) in the average number of saliva samples (i.e., total samples, morning or evening samples) between PWD and family caregivers.The findings of this pilot study showed that saliva collection of cortisol and DHEA-S as a stress measurement was feasible in dementia care dyads living at home.Robust and person-centered procedures, tailored educational materials, and effective communication with dementia care dyads should be considered in future biomarker research on stress in dementia care dyads.The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the economic security of millions of older adults.Job loss and reductions in personal income were significant in 2020 stemming from pandemic-induced shutdowns that temporarily closed large swaths of the U.S. economy.Yet, the specific financial impacts of the pandemic on older adults, including family care partners, are not well understood.To understand the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on the health and financial well-being of older adults, we gathered data from the Research via Internet of Technology and Experience (RITE) Study, a longitudinal survey panel providing data from thousands of participants of various ages and backgrounds in the U.S. on their use of healthcare and technology (N=1,365).We measured by population strata including age, sex, and education and other characteristics including caregiver status.Adults between 20-40 years of age experienced the highest rate of job loss and reduction in wages (33%) as a result of the pandemic, while adults aged >70 years experienced the lowest rate (12.5%).However, adults aged 50-60 and 60-70 also experienced relatively high levels of job loss at (28.4% and 25.7%, respectively).Behavior changes and disruptions to typical routines to avoid COVID-19 infections may have contributed to job and personal income loss amongst Individuals aged 50-60 and 60-70.However, these findings suggest potentially high levels of economic insecurity amongst individuals who continue to work into latelife.These results may help policymakers understand how to better tailor interventions and policies to mitigate economic insecurity, particularly for populations disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

FOCUS GROUP FINDINGS OF TRIAL PARTICIPANTS IN A CAREGIVER PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTION: SAVVY CAREGIVER PROGRAM Maria Aranda, Iris Aguilar, and Rene Maldonado, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States
Previous work highlights the importance of sociobehavioral interventions to address dementia caregiving health and wellbeing outcomes.By empowering caregivers to become objective managers of their loved one's illness, and own self-care, they are less likely to exhibit negative outcomes.We are conducting a mixed-method, randomized trial to test manualized, multi-family psychoeducational group interventions: Savvy Caregiver Express, and Savvy Caregiver Program.This poster describes the qualitative findings of four focus group interviews recently conducted to elucidate the study participation experiences of family caregivers enrolled in the parent study.Twenty-five racially and ethnically diverse participants (21 women, 4 men) caring for a family member with cognitive decline participated in focus group interviews conducted via videoconferencing methods.We captured more nuanced experiences from the perspective of study participants with regards to the caregiver interventions and their research participation.Interviews were conducted by trained research personnel, lasted 60-75 minutes, and followed an open-ended questioning route.Based on thematic analyses, we identified the following themes: 1) Changing one's mindset: Seeing life through their shoes; 2) Getting information in one place; 3) Expanding the personal experience; 4) Fears and vulnerability; 5) Time constraints vs. wanting more; 6) Not everyone is at the same place; 7) Technology: It's going to be part of our lives; and 8) Research: Not always in sync.Our findings indicate high satisfaction with most components of the program while specific recommendations were offered to improve the intervention and study experience such as tailoring materials to stage-specific needs.

GENOMIC SEQUENCING OF SOD1D YEAST THAT ESCAPE SPORE DEATH
Temiloluwa Adanlawo, 1 and Helen Vander Wende, 2 1.Howard University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 2. University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that impacts nerve cells and the spinal cord, which in some cases are linked to mutations in the Superoxide Dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene.Sod1 is an antioxidant within cells that converts reactive oxygen from superoxide into water using a copper and zinc ion to deactivate the oxygen.When the SOD1 gene is deleted, yeast cells are still able to undergo meiotic divisions and generate four spores, but the spores that are produced are inviable.However, we see that randomly, sod1∆ spores can grow on rich media.This leads us to hypothesize that somewhere in the genome, there is a suppressor mutation that allows these cells to grow.We tested this hypothesis by preparing samples for whole genome sequencing.By comparing the genomic sequences from our suppressor mutants to wild-type controls, we're able to identify a single point mutation within a gene called NCA2, which codes for a protein that regulates expression of Fo-F1 ATP synthase subunits 6 and 8. Given this result, we are now working to try and understand the relationship between the sod1∆ spore death phenotype and the modulation of ATP synthase activity.In summary, the results from our work have the potential to further help us understand what role Sod1 plays in yeast meiosis and may be able to give us a deeper understanding for ALS cases that are linked to Sod1.

GOALS OF CARE CONVERSATIONS IN NURSING HOME AND ASSISTED LIVING CARE PLAN MEETINGS
Gail Towsley, 1 Djin Tay, 2 and Linda Edelman, 1 1.University of Utah College of Nursing, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, 2. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States Me & My Wishes is a novel systematic approach for long-term care residents living with dementia to record videos about their care preferences that can be shared with staff and families in care plan meetings.To understand how the videos were utilized in Goals of Care (GOC) conversations, we coded and analyzed transcripts of recorded care plan meetings at the time of sharing the video using a priori codes derived from GOC conversation elements.Coding discrepancies were resolved in team meetings; finalized codes were summarized to derive themes.Thirty-four care plan meeting conversations between residents (n=34), family members (n=29) and staff (n=35) were analyzed.Residents appreciated sharing personal histories and preferences via video, while staff members appreciated deeper understanding of residents' care preferences.Two themes described care plan meeting conversations: Everyday Care -a checklist-style assessment of the resident's daily care (e.g., help with activities of daily living), activities engaged in and satisfaction with care; and Clarifying Care Goals -checking the resident's treatment preference (e.g., pain management, CPR), explaining hospice, or confirming the resident's contact person.Several elements of GOC were not discussed (e.g., disease progression) and conversations lacked depth and comfort evidenced by apologetic language and abrupt transitions of topics rather than exploring alignment of goals with care preferences.Me & My Wishes videos are a mechanism for residents to voice preferences.Standardized guidance, which is lacking in long-term care, is needed to help care teams engage in meaningful conversations to ensure alignment of goals and treatment preferences.