CORRELATES OF SOCIAL COHESION AMONG COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER PERSONS IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract Existing research shows that older persons prefer to ‘Age in Place’ in their homes or community for as long as possible and are attached to both the physical space as well as the social environment. Despite growing attention to the relationship between social cohesion and health outcomes, few studies have focused on its correlates, especially in low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria. This study identified the factors related to neighbourhood social cohesion among older adults aged >60years dwelling in a selected rural and urban community in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria. Data were collected using a semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire and analysed using Stata version 15. Overall, 1180 (588 rural and 592 urban) respondents were interviewed (mean age 74.2 ± 9.5 years). Over half (55.3%) of the respondents had an adequate level of social cohesion. In the rural environment, positive predictors of social cohesion were male gender [OR: 1.73 (95%CI: 1.10-2.73)], formal education [OR:2.70 (95%CI: 1.52-4.81)] being employed [OR:3.68 (95%CI: 2.50-5.42)], homeownership [OR: 1.82 (95%CI: 1.22-2.71)] and good self-rated health (SRH) [OR:2.73 (95%CI: 1.78-4.20)]. Among the urban respondents, factors predictive of good social cohesion were male sex [OR:1.68 (95%CI: 1.06-2.68)], being employed [OR:2.38 (95%CI: 1.67-3.41) and reporting good SRH [OR:2.13 (95%CI: 1.45-3.11)]. Older respondents were less likely to have good social cohesion compared with the younger respondents in the rural [OR:0.54 (95%CI: 0.35-0.84)] and urban setting [OR:0.68 (95%CI: 0.47-1.00)]. The study findings underscore the importance of socio-economic status and homeownership on older adults’ social cohesion and areas for targeted policy and intervention

This presentation will discuss how studying sources of stress across multiple levels of analyses, including neighborhoods and interpersonal interactions, and the timing and duration of these experiences is needed.Further, addressing within group heterogeneity and shifting from between group comparison will enrich our understanding of risk-factors.Theoretical and empirical support for these propositions will be discussed, particularly as they relate to how neighborhood contexts and experiences with discrimination are associated with reduced cognitive health across multiple timescales.Rooted in the person-environment-fit theory, home modification has been tested as an intervention to support older adults to age safely at home by improving functioning and reducing fall risks.Home modification is often a complex process, involving multiple steps and various stakeholders.As such, proper implementation is important to its effectiveness.However, limited research has focused on how to implement home modification from a comprehensive perspective.To advance the implementation science of home modification for older adults and achieve a better understanding of promising practices, we conducted a scoping analysis of review articles, referred to as umbrella review, to identify strategies that have been found effective in implementing home modification.Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P), after performing a thorough literature search from six electronic databases, including MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Cochrane Review, we identified 16 highly relevant review articles from 1,310 articles retrieved.From these, we derived a set of practical strategies for service delivery professionals and developed an implementation matrix with the strategies clustered under two dimensions:

SESSION 3900 (PAPER)
(1) types of home modification based on demands of effort and level of evidence, including evidence-based practices, best practices, emerging practices; and (2) the critical stages of home modification, including preparation, home assessment, installation, follow-up visit.Our findings highlight the importance of maintaining cohesion between different stages of home modification and sustaining consensus among service delivery professionals and residents when implementing home modification for older adults.

CORRELATES OF SOCIAL COHESION AMONG COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER PERSONS IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA
Eniola Cadmus 1 , Lawrence Adebusoye 2 , and Eme Owoaje 3 , 1. College of Medicine/ University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria, 2. Chief Tony Anenih Geriatric Centre, University College Hospital, Ibadan,Oyo,Nigeria,3. University of Ibadan,Ibadan,Oyo,Nigeria Existing research shows that older persons prefer to 'Age in Place' in their homes or community for as long as possible and are attached to both the physical space as well as the social environment.Despite growing attention to the relationship between social cohesion and health outcomes, few studies have focused on its correlates, especially in low-and middle-income countries, including Nigeria.This study identified the factors related to neighbourhood social cohesion among older adults aged >60years dwelling in a selected rural and urban community in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria.Data were collected using a semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire and analysed using Stata version 15.Overall, 1180 (588 rural and 592 urban) respondents were interviewed (mean age 74.2 ± 9.5 years).Over half (55.3%) of the respondents had an adequate level of social cohesion.In the rural environment, positive predictors of social cohesion were male gender [OR: 1.73 (95%CI: 1.10-2.73)],formal education [OR:2.70 (95%CI: 1.52-4.81)]being employed [OR:3.68(95%CI: 2.50-5.42)],homeownership [OR: 1.82 (95%CI: 1.22-2.71)]and good self-rated health (SRH) [OR:2.73(95%CI: 1.78-4.20)].Among the urban respondents, factors predictive of good social cohesion were male sex [OR:1.68(95%CI: 1.06-2.68)],being employed [OR:2.38 (95%CI: 1.67-3.41)and reporting good SRH [OR:2.13(95%CI: 1.45-3.11)].Older respondents were less likely to have good social cohesion compared with the younger respondents in the rural [OR:0.54(95%CI: 0.35-0.84)]and urban setting [OR:0.68(95%CI: 0.47-1.00)].The study findings underscore the importance of socio-economic status and homeownership on older adults' social cohesion and areas for targeted policy and intervention

HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION AND THE RESILIENCE OF OLDER ADULTS AGING IN COMMUNITY DURING COVID-19
Samara Scheckler, Jennifer Molinsky, and Christopher Herbert, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Household composition impacts older adults' financial needs, earnings capacity, and benefits eligibility.It is also related to formal and informal LTSS access and may be associated with disparities between racial and ethnic groups since Black and Hispanic older adults are more likely than white older adults to live in multigenerational homes.The relationship between household composition and community-based aging is highly salient as multigenerational households and older people living alone are expected to increase in both number and share in coming years.This research framed the pandemic period as a stress-test to detect differences in resilience, defined as financial and LTSS stability and number of hardships, associated with older adults living alone, with partner, or with family or unrelated coresidents.Using the state-identified Health and Retirement Study (HRS), researchers developed a pre-pandemic profile of financial resources and public benefit utilization, informal and professional LTSS, and a vector of wellbeing measures by household composition type.Researchers then conducted two analyses to identify different pandemic experiences by composition type.First, wave over wave variation was regressed by household composition, noting any increased rates of instability in the 2020 wave.Researchers then used the HRS COVID-19 supplemental survey to describe pandemic hardships by household composition.About a third of HRS respondents lived in each household type.Findings, which offer a profile of resources by housing composition type and two analyses of resilience associated with composition, suggest complex relationships between household composition and resilience, but overall, residents living alone appear more vulnerable to instability.

UNDERSTANDING THE USE OF FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS AMONG OLDER INFORMAL CAREGIVERS
Shanika Koreshi, and Fiona Alpass, Massey University, Palmerston North, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand The increasing provision of informal caregiving and the extension of working lives will result in many older workers combining paid work and informal caregiving responsibilities.Specific flexible work arrangement policies have been enacted in many countries to support working caregivers.Flexibility in the workplace has been suggested to promote prolonged employment among older workers.This study primarily focuses on the question of whether use of flexible work arrangements differs between caregivers and non-caregivers and how potential differences can be explained.Participants were 296 carers and 1611 non-carers (aged 55-70 years) who completed wave 8 of the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement survey.The use of flexible work arrangements was analyzed based on five categories; Flexibility in number of work hours, flexible schedule, flexible place, options for time off, and other options.Hierarchical regressions were used to investigate caregiving as an independent predictor of use of flexible work arrangements after controlling for demographic and work characteristics.Results indicate that the studied informal caregivers on average used more workplace flexible arrangements than non-caregivers, both in flexible work hours, flexible schedules, and time off.The caregiver status difference in use of the three significant categories of flexible work arrangements can be explained by differences in socio-demographic and work characteristics.This difference in use of FWAs among older caregivers and non-caregivers warrants attention in discussions about prolonged employment and reconciliation of care and paid work.

SESSION 3910 (SYMPOSIUM)
REIMAGINING THE FUTURE OF ASSISTED LIVING TO PROMOTE QUALITY Chair: Sheryl Zimmerman Assisted living (AL) has existed in the U.S. for decades, evolving in response to older adults' need for supportive care and distaste for nursing homes and older models of congregate care.Today, AL is the largest provider of residential long-term care in the country, with more than 996,000 AL beds in almost 29,000 AL communities.Unfortunately, that growth has spawned notable concern, with a recent report concluding that the initial key constructs of AL have become mired under key tensions such that "the current model of AL

ADVANCING THE IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE OF HOME MODIFICATION FOR OLDER ADULTS: AN UMBRELLA REVIEW PROGRAMS, POLICIES, AND SERVICES TO FACILITATE AGING IN PLACE Mengzhao
Yan, Emily Nabors, and Jon Pynoos, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States