Creating a Public Data Resource: The HRS-O*NET Linkage

Abstract Few longitudinal studies provide detailed information about the characteristics of the jobs older workers engage in, limiting the ability to evaluate the potential consequences of extended working lives. In this session, we introduce a new project linking the 2019 O*NET taxonomy and corresponding data to the Health and Retirement Study for public use. We describe the procedures taken to develop an O*NET linkage to be released to HRS users in the form of a publicly available data file, allowing aging researchers to evaluate detailed aspects of occupations in the 50+ population. We explain the types of variables that will be made available in the O*NET-HRS occupation project, and provide examples for how the measures can be used in longitudinal HRS studies.


USABILITY EVALUATION METHODS USED TO ENSURE THE USABILITY OF THE MEDSREM-2 SYSTEM
Timothy Hale, 1 Carson Smith, 2 Mimi Trinh, 2 and Wendy Rogers, 2 1. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois Illinois,United States,2

. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, United States
A key objective of the MEDSReM-2 study is to promote medication taking decisions and improve adherence to hypertensive medications for older adults. New functionalities include enhanced decision-support algorithms for missed medications, automated entry of blood pressure measurements, improved data visualizations, and an easyto-use online web portal. In support of these enhancements, the User Testing subteam is tasked with providing ongoing evaluation and feedback on the usability of early design concepts, prototypes, beta software, wireless blood pressure monitors, and instructional materials. The overall project comprises multiple working teams, whose efforts must be coordinated. We will describe the challenges of working with these interdisciplinary teams and the usability evaluation methods used to support the needs of each team in creating the enhanced MEDSReM-2 system that is easy-to-use and effective in helping older adults improve their hypertension medication adherence. These processes inform the research and design efforts of other technology interventions.

Session 2370 (Symposium)
BUILDING AND USING DATA RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH ON JOB CHARACTERISTICS, HEALTH, AND RETIREMENT Chair: Amanda Sonnega Discussant: Gwen Fisher A growing literature seeks to understand the relationship between the experience of work and important later-life outcomes. Rich longitudinal measurement of both sides of this equation in datasets such as the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) have made this research possible. These data take the form of self-reported experiences of work (such as physical demands, job flexibility, job satisfaction etc.). Increasingly, researchers are looking to add potentially complementary information on the work environment available in the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database through a linkage using occupation and industry codes in the survey data. The session talks will describe research conducted using O*NET linked with HRS data as well as ongoing work to create a new data resource that will allow other researchers to undertake research with O*NET-HRS linked data. Each presentation will include some discussion of both the value and limits of using the linkage to O*NET. Carpenter will provide a detailed description a new project linking the 2019 O*NET data to the HRS for public use.This presentation explains the types of variables that will be made available in the O*NET-HRS occupation project and will provide examples for how the measures can be used in longitudinal HRS studies. Using O*NET-HRS linked data, Carr will present on work examining the role of preretirement job complexity in alternative retirement paths and cognitive performance. Helppie-McFall will used the linked data to discuss the role of mismatch between demands of work and workers' ability to meet those demands in retirement decisions. Few longitudinal studies provide detailed information about the characteristics of the jobs older workers engage in, limiting the ability to evaluate the potential consequences of extended working lives. In this session, we introduce a new project linking the 2019 O*NET taxonomy and corresponding data to the Health and Retirement Study for public use. We describe the procedures taken to develop an O*NET linkage to be released to HRS users in the form of a publicly Innovation in Aging, 2021, Vol. 5, No. S1 available data file, allowing aging researchers to evaluate detailed aspects of occupations in the 50+ population. We explain the types of variables that will be made available in the O*NET-HRS occupation project, and provide examples for how the measures can be used in longitudinal HRS studies.

USING O*NET LINKAGES TO ADVANCE RESEARCH: AN EXAMPLE EVALUATING COGNITIVE FUNCTION AND WORK TRANSITIONS Dawn Carr, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States
The type of work older adults engage in has potential to play a key role in shaping health and wellbeing. In this presentation, using data drawn from an O*NET crosswalk linked with the Health and Retirement Study, I show how different types of transitions out of the workforce shapes cognitive function differently for individuals retiring from different types of occupations. Based on a factor analysis of 36 job-related abilities, activities, and contexts, this paper shows that retirement has a more significant consequence for cognitive function for those who retire from jobs with low levels of cognitive complexity, but no significant consequences for those who retire from jobs with high levels of cognitive complexity. I discuss these results in the context of the ways in which O*NET classifications of jobs can provide critical insights into the potential influence of changing retirement trajectories on wellbeing in later life. Mismatch between demands of work and workers' ability to meet those demands may play an important role in retirement decisions. This presentation extends earlier work using Health and Retirement Study data linked to O*NET to develop measures of discrepancy between individual's own reports of physical and mental abilities and 1) their perceptions of the physical and mental demands of their jobs and 2) O*NET ratings of the physical and mental demands of their jobs. In particular, we utilize newly available linked information using 2010 Census codes and 2019 O*NET ratings that reflect more current jobs. We then examine the impact of each type of mismatch (subjective and objective) on retirement timing. Overall, we find a stronger connection between subjective mismatch relative to objective mismatch. We discuss implications of this finding in terms of the value of the O*NET linkage and potential interventions aimed at extending working lives for positive aging.

ACTIVITY ENGAGEMENT PATTERNS AMONG OLDER CHINESE IMMIGRANTS
Fengyan Tang, and Mary Rauktis, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Activity engagement is a major component of well-being in later life. However, very few studies have focused on older immigrants who are often at risk for social isolation and psychological distress. We aim to map the pattern of activity engagement and examine its variations in relation to immigration-related factors and social aspects of neighborhoods in a representative sample of older Chinese immigrants. We used data from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (PINE), a population-based epidemiological study of US Chinese older adults that were conducted between 2011 and 2013 (N=3,157). Latent class analysis and multinominal regression analysis were conducted to identify activity engagement patterns and examine the associated factors. Four patterns of activity engagement were identified: restricted (15%), diverse (31%), informal social (32%), and community-based social (21%). Acculturation and family-oriented immigration differentiated the restricted from the diverse class membership. Positive attributes of social environment measured by social network size, positive social support, neighborhood cohesion, and sense of community were associated with the probabilities of class membership relative to the restricted class. Findings point to the importance of positive attributes of social environment in enhancing engagement with life among older Chinese immigrants. Efforts are needed to assist the vulnerable restricted group and recent older immigrants while meeting the demands of older immigrants who are less educated and less acculturated. Creating a supportive environment is important to provide information, access, and resources needed for activity engagement in the marginalized minority aging populations

AGING OF A MODEL MINORITY: A DIACHRONIC ANALYSIS OF TWO QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH STUDIES ON AGING OF JAPANESE IN NEW YORK
Itsuko Toyama, 1 and Taeko Nakashima, 2 1. St. Andrew's University, Kyoto,Japan,2. Nihon Fukushi University,Aichi,Japan This is a diachronic analysis of two quantitative research studies on the aging of Japanese and Japanese Americans living in Greater New York. How have older Japanese individuals, who once have been referred as "model minority," lived and aged in Greater New York? All the data in this paper are based on the first research study conducted in 2006 and the second in 2018 (Ethical approval reference number 6, 2018). This paper reveals both the social transitoriness and the cultural immutability of the Japanese elderly community in Greater New York. The following is a summary of the findings: (1) a growing Japanese American community with US citizenship, higher academic qualification, and better communication competency has been observed. (2) The allowable range of private expense to hire personal caregivers has been widened. (3) Not only the concerns and anxieties for later lives but also the plans and preparations for aging are much the same. (4) The elderly are provided with culturally specific care (with regard to language, food, and concept of care)-even allowed to live with other Japanese peopleand the needs of caregivers who can understand Japanese culture are satiated. (5) Almost half of those in the community find it difficult to eliminate the possibility of returning to Japan, and some of them have already chosen to migrate back to Japan.