Social Engagement and Well-Being Among Chinese Older Adults

Abstract Social engagement is increasingly recognized as a protective factor to promote healthy aging. This symposium provides new findings on social participation and social isolation in relation to individuals’ health and well-being among the Chinese populations. Using the 2002¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬–2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, the first study examined the trends of leisure activity engagement among young-old adults aged 65–74 in China over a 16-year period. Findings revealed a general downward trend of engaging in any form of social leisure activity and upward trends for engaging in home-bound and solitary leisure activities. Similarly, the second study examined social participation patterns and individual factors associated with these patterns using three nationally representative data in China, UK, and US. Their findings highlighted several underlying participation patterns across these nations as well as differences in how socio-demographics were associated with these patterns. Using data collected among Chinese older adults in Hawaii, the third study examined the associations of social isolation with psychological well-being. Results showed that social isolation was positively related to psychological distress, and negatively related to life satisfaction and happiness. These associations were partially mediated by resilience. Their findings revealed the detrimental health effects of social isolation. Using the same dataset in Hawaii, the last study examined the associations between neighbourhood conditions and psychological well-being for Chinese older adults. Their findings revealed that both physical and social neighbourhood conditions were associated with psychological well-being, particularly for foreign-born older adults, and psychological resources such as self-management abilities could mediate the associations.

accessibility and overall design features of housing targeted for aging individuals experiencing homelessness.Researchers in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal employed this tool in 2021 to evaluate environmental features in selected promising practices to identify built environment factors that promote aging in the right place.Preliminary findings reveal the following themes across sites: access to communal and recreational spaces encourage social inclusion and meaningful recreation opportunities; barrier-free built environment features foster independence and safety; and access to services and amenities encourage community mobility.Findings demonstrate a need to employ a broader evaluative lens that incorporates psycho-social factors to gain a nuanced understanding of aging in the right place for older adults who have experienced homelessness.

TEMPORARY HOUSING FOR OLDER PEOPLE: ADDRESSING HOUSING INSECURITY TO PROMOTE AGING IN THE RIGHT PLACE
Shreemouna Gurung, 1 Shelby Elkes, 1 Atiya Mahmood, 1 Holly Lemme, 1 Gelareh Modara, 1 Emily Lam, 1 Maria Juanita Mora, 1 Sarah Canham, 2 and Rachel Weldrick, 1 1.Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 2. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States The Aging in the Right Place (AIRP) project is a multiyear, multi-city partnership grant on aging, housing insecurity and homelessness.This paper presents findings from provider/staff interviews (N=5) at a Temporary Housing Program (THP) serving older people experiencing (or at risk of) homelessness (OPEH) in Vancouver, Canada.The researchers sought to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the program, scale-up (i.e., policies) and/or scale out impacts (i.e., on people and communities), as well as how the program promotes housing security and stability for OPEH.Narrative data reveals the program provided housing stability to OPEH by offering increased access to resources (food, pharmaceutical, transportation, social support and engagement).Additionally, through the promotion of client autonomy, privacy and security in their housing unit, the organization and staff work to support and foster AIRP among their clients and help to transform a temporary housing space into a secure home-type setting.

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT AND WELL-BEING AMONG CHINESE OLDER ADULTS
Chair: Wei Zhang Co-Chair: Bei Wu Discussant: Yan Yan Wu Social engagement is increasingly recognized as a protective factor to promote healthy aging.This symposium provides new findings on social participation and social isolation in relation to individuals' health and well-being among the Chinese populations.Using the 2002¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬-2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, the first study examined the trends of leisure activity engagement among young-old adults aged 65-74 in China over a 16-year period.Findings revealed a general downward trend of engaging in any form of social leisure activity and upward trends for engaging in home-bound and solitary leisure activities.Similarly, the second study examined social participation patterns and individual factors associated with these patterns using three nationally representative data in China, UK, and US.Their findings highlighted several underlying participation patterns across these nations as well as differences in how socio-demographics were associated with these patterns.Using data collected among Chinese older adults in Hawaii, the third study examined the associations of social isolation with psychological well-being.Results showed that social isolation was positively related to psychological distress, and negatively related to life satisfaction and happiness.These associations were partially mediated by resilience.Their findings revealed the detrimental health effects of social isolation.Using the same dataset in Hawaii, the last study examined the associations between neighbourhood conditions and psychological well-being for Chinese older adults.Their findings revealed that both physical and social neighbourhood conditions were associated with psychological well-being, particularly for foreign-born older adults, and psychological resources such as self-management abilities could mediate the associations.

TRENDS IN LEISURE-TIME ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION AMONG YOUNG-OLD ADULTS IN CHINA
Wei Zhang, 1 Qiushi Feng, 2 and Huashuai Chen, 3 1.University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, 2. National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, 3. Xiangtan University, Durham, North Carolina, United States Engagement of leisure activities is highly associated with health and wellbeing in later life.In this study, we examined the trends of leisure activity engagement in young-old adults aged 65-74 in China for a 16-year period.Panel data for a nationally representative sample of young-old adults were obtained from the 2002-2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey.Findings revealed that, compared with 2002, young-old adults in subsequent years were less likely to engage in any form of social leisure activity.The odds of participating in social events, regular exercise, and outdoor activities decreased most prominently over time, while downward trends in tourism and joining outdoor activities showed signs of reversal post-2014.In contrast, trends for engaging in home-bound and solitary leisure activities generally increased.The future elderly in China have generally tended towards solitary leisure activities over time and public health interventions are required to reverse such trends.

SOCIAL PARTICIPATION PATTERNS AND WELL-BEING AMONG OLDER ADULTS: FINDINGS FROM THE UNITED STATES, THE UK, AND CHINA
Chenxin Tan, 1 Yun Zhou, 2 and Bei Wu, 1 1.New York University, New York, New York, United States, 2. Department of Sociology, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic) This study used Latent Class Analysis to examine patterns of social participation among older adults in the US, the UK, and China, from the three nationally representative surveys conducted in 2018-2019: The Health and Retirement Study, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.Although the profiles of social participation were distinctively different, several common patterns were found: Comprehensive Participants, Occasional Participants, and Deficient Participants.It was estimated that less than 10% of older adults from these countries were extensively engaged in social participation.Seventy-seven percent of Chinese older adults were shown being "Deficient Participants", and the percentages were 29% and 20% in the US and the UK, respectively.The findings showed positive associations of levels of participation with socioeconomic status and health.The magnitudes of these associations varied across the nations.Actions are needed to promote levels of participation for Chinese older adults.Using data collected in 2018 on 398 older Chinese Americans aged 55+ residing in Hawaii, we examined the associations of social isolation with psychological well-being and the mediating role of resilience.Social isolation was measured by their marital status, living arrangement, contact with children/family/friends, and participation in social activities.Psychological well-being was measured by psychological distress, life satisfaction, and happiness.Results from multivariate linear regressions and ordered logistic regressions showed social isolation was positively associated with psychological distress (β=0.017,p<0.05), and negatively associated with life satisfaction (β=-0.220,p<0.001) and happiness (β=-0.086,p<0.05) .By contrast, resilience was associated with lower psychological distress and higher life satisfaction and happiness.Moreover, mediation analysis showed that resilience contributed to 32% of the association between social isolation and psychological distress, 24.9% of the association between social isolation and life satisfaction, and 16.3% of the association between social isolation and happiness.

SOCIAL ISOLATION, RESILIENCE, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN OLDER CHINESE AMERICANS
Xiang Qi, 1 Wei Zhang, 2 Katherine Wang, 3 Yaolin Pei, 4 and Bei Wu, 4 1.Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York, New York, United States, 2. University of Hawaii at manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, 3. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States, 4. New York University, New York, New York, United States