Understanding Racial and Rural Disparities in the Relationship between Social Isolation and Social Technology Use

Abstract Social isolation is characterized by lack of social contacts and high degrees of loneliness. Feelings of loneliness and social isolation are linked to declines in cognitive functioning and increased risk of dementia. Previous research suggests that loneliness is more prevalent among Black and rural older adults compared to White and urban-dwelling older adults. Given these disparities, it is important to identify methods that reduce social isolation and loneliness among this population. Social technology, such as Facebook and Skype, is one possible way to connect with others. This study uses the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) dataset to examine racial and rural disparities in the relationship between social technology use and social isolation, loneliness, and social support among individuals age 50 and older. The overarching hypotheses are that (1) rural-dwelling older adults and older Blacks will report less social technology use compared to urban-dwelling and older White adults, and (2) there will be a negative relationship between loneliness and social technology use, and (3) a positive relationship between perceived positive social support and social technology use. Racial or rural disparities in these latter potential relationships are exploratory. Multiple linear regression analysis will be performed to assess these relationships. Preliminary correlational results indicate that, consistent with prior work, greater use of social technology was associated with higher social support (N=6,029; r=.29, p<.001). However, contrary to our hypothesis, greater self-reported loneliness was associated with greater social technology (r=.09, p<.001). Examination of potential racial and rural disparities in these relationships are currently underway.

The purpose of this study was to identify the types of exercise motivation and examine the association between the types of exercise motivation and social presence about exercise-related gerontechnology among Korean young-olds.In this study, social presence about gerontechnology implies the degree of perception of a robot that helps exercise functions as human-like socially interacting entities (Heerink, 2010).Online survey data collected from the Korean older adults over the age of 65 in February 2021 was used, and the subjects of this study were 154 young-olds aged 65 to 74 who exercise regularly.Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to classify the types of exercise motivation, followed by multiple regression analysis.As a result of LCA, the types of exercise motivation was classified with two groups.These groups were named 'for pleasure and leisure (PL, 77.2%)' and 'for maintenance of health (MH, 22.8%)', respectively.The result of multiple regression showed that compared to the second group (MH), the social presence about gerontechnology was high for the first group (PL) after controlling age, gender, education level, marital status, household income and chronic disease.These results indicate the Korean youngolds' exercise motivation may vary and expectations for social presence toward exercise-related gerontechnology differ depending on the exercise motivation.To date, the importance of social presence in gerontechnology has tended to be emphasized mainly in the care field.This study suggests that exercise-related gerontechnology devices also need to consider the aspect of social presence especially for young-olds who exercise for pleasure and leisure.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN INTERGENERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM FOR OLDER ADULTS:
A PILOT STUDY Dolapo Adeniji, 1 Margaret Adamek, 2 and Sally Catlin, 3 1.IUPUI,Avon,Indiana,United States,2. Indiana University,INDIANAPOLIS,Indiana,United States,3. Indiana University IUPUI,Indianpolis,Indiana,United States While an increasing number of services and opportunities are available through technology devices such as smartphones and iPad, older adults often lack the technology skills and know-how to access such services.The use of social media, email, and texting can also lessen social isolation of older adults.In this project, nine undergraduate Computer Information Technology students enrolled in a servicelearning course served as mentors for older adults.A total of 33 older adults (MAge= 77.9 SDAge= 8.62) participated in a 14 weeks intergenerational technology education at two community senior centers in an urban Midwest city.Fourteen participants completed both pre-and post-surveys.Significant improvement was found between pre-and postsurveys outcomes in technology anxiety and social engagement of the older adults.Findings from our qualitative data revealed that intergenerational program enables older adult to benefit from individual and group learning, make new friends among peers, experience intergenerational interactions, and have confidence in technology use.However, the intergenerational technology program helped to decrease technology anxiety and improve the participants' social engagement.Engaging technology students in mentoring older adults in small group at a community center proved to be mutually beneficial to both the students and the older adults.The program boosted older adults' comfort with technology use as well as encouraging social engagement with peers, mentors, and the virtual world.

UNDERSTANDING RACIAL AND RURAL DISPARITIES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL ISOLATION AND SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY USE
Kaileigh Byrne, Reza Ghaiumy Anaraky, Hannah Barfield, and Summerlin Nickel, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States Social isolation is characterized by lack of social contacts and high degrees of loneliness.Feelings of loneliness and social isolation are linked to declines in cognitive functioning and increased risk of dementia.Previous research suggests that loneliness is more prevalent among Black and rural older adults compared to White and urban-dwelling older adults.Given these disparities, it is important to identify methods that reduce social isolation and loneliness among this population.Social technology, such as Facebook and Skype, is one possible way to connect with others.This study uses the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) dataset to examine racial and rural disparities in the relationship between social technology use and social isolation, loneliness, and social support among individuals age 50 and older.The overarching hypotheses are that (1) rural-dwelling older adults and older Blacks will report less social technology use compared to urban-dwelling and older White adults, and (2) there will be a negative relationship between loneliness and social technology use, and (3) a positive relationship between perceived positive social support and social technology use.Racial or rural disparities in these latter potential relationships are exploratory.Multiple linear regression analysis will be performed to assess these relationships.Preliminary correlational results indicate that, consistent with prior work, greater use of social technology was associated with higher social support (N=6,029; r=.29, p<.001).However, contrary to our hypothesis, greater self-reported loneliness was associated with greater social technology (r=.09, p<.001).Examination of potential racial and rural disparities in these relationships are currently underway.

A DIGITAL INTERVENTION TO ALLEVIATE LONELINESS AND DEPRESSION AMONG OLDER PERSONS DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK
Ella Cohn-Schwartz, 1 Stav Shapira, 2 Daphna Yeshua-Katz, 3 Limor Aharonson-Daniel, 4 A. Mark Clarfield, 3 and Orly Sarid, 3 1.Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, HaDarom, Israel, 2. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, HaDarom, Israel, 3. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Beer Sheva,HaDarom,Israel,Beer Shave,HaDarom,Israel Social distancing has been proven to be effective in reducing infections but may cause ill effects on the mental health of older adults.We evaluated the effects of a short-term virtual group intervention that provided tools to promote better coping, and mitigate adverse mental health effects during the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic.A Randomized controlled trial tested the effects of a guided intervention comprised of seven online group sessions in which cognitivebehavioral techniques targeting maladaptive beliefs and appraisals were learned and practiced via ZOOM.A total of 82 community-dwelling adults from Israel, aged between 65 -90 were randomized to either an intervention group (n=64) or a wait-list control group (n=18).Loneliness (UCLA loneliness scale) and depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) were measured pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at 1-month follow-up.The findings showed a significant decrease in loneliness and depression scores in the intervention group with results maintained at 1-month follow-up.There were no significant changes in the wait-list control group.In addition, ten participants (16%) from the intervention group demonstrated a clinically meaningful decrease in depression between baseline and post-intervention, and this was maintained among 7 participants (10%) at 1-month follow-up, compared to only 1 participant (5%) in the control group.Our intervention presents a simple and easy-to-implement tool.Its relevance extends beyond the current pandemic as the skills acquired can be applied in other forms of social crises and during routine life, in order to promote the mental health of older adults who live alone and/or reside in remote areas.

A FAT-PROMOTING PLANT EXTRACT FROM ARTEMISIA SCOPARIA EXERTS GEROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS ON C. ELEGANS HEALTH & LIFESPAN
Bhaswati Ghosh, Hayden Guidry, Maxwell Johnston, and Adam Bohnert, Louisiana State University, BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, United States Like other biological processes, aging is not random, but subject to molecular control.Natural products that act on conserved metabolic pathways may provide entry points to extend animal lifespan and promote healthy aging.Here, we show that a botanical extract from Artemisia scoparia (SCO), which promotes fat storage and metabolic resiliency in mice, exerts pro-longevity effects on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, even when administered in mid-adulthood.SCOtreated worms exhibit significantly higher levels of fat compared to controls but live up to 40% longer, with signs of improved stress resistance in late age.Molecularly, SCO links elevated fat to enhanced longevity and stress resistance via activation of the transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO and upregulation of DAF-16-targeted Δ9 desaturases, lifespanextending metabolic enzymes that oversee the biosynthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids.These findings identify SCO as a natural product that can modify fat regulation for longevity benefit and add to growing evidence indicating that elevated fat can be pro-longevity in some circumstances.

A META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF TAILOR ACTIVITY PROGRAM (TAP) FOR PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA
Jiin Jeong, 1 Eun-Young Yoo, 2 Byoung-Ho Kang, 1 and Yae-Na Ha, 1 1.Graduate school, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea, Kangwon-do, Republic of Korea, 2. College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea, Kangwon-do, Republic of Korea Ninety eight percent of people with dementia are accompanied by neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS).NPS is an important predictor of the negative prognosis of dementia.It also increases the burden on caregivers and lowers the quality of life.The tailored activity program (TAP), which is occupation-based intervention, have a positive effect on reducing NPS through meaningful activities.The aim of this study was to provide an integrated effectiveness of the TAP on NPS in people with dementia and caregiver burden through meta-analysis.We searched for studies that indicated the effectiveness of TAP through Embase, ProQuest, Pubmed, and RISS.We included a total of seven TAP studies written in Korean and English.Of these seven study designs, five were randomized control trials (RCTs) and two were