HEALTH ACROSS BORDERS: A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON OF IMMIGRANT HEALTH IN EUROPE

Abstract Although older immigrants are a growing share of the total population in many countries, evidence regarding health differentials by nativity in older adulthood remains underdeveloped. We examine whether foreign-born adults 50 and older in Europe are disadvantaged in terms of multiple health domains, what drives the potential immigrant health disadvantage, and whether such differences are contextually dependent or a general feature of the immigrant experience in Europe. We use the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to estimate physical, mental, and social health of middle age and older adults by nativity in 19 countries. We examine whether nativity-based health disparities can be attributed to demographic composition, socioeconomic factors, family and social support, and life course timing of migration. Last, we examine regional differences in nativity-based health disparities. We find that immigrants aged 50 and above in Europe are more likely to report fair/poor physical health, score worse on EURO-D depression scale, and are more likely to be lonely than the native-born. Socioeconomic status and age at migration partially explain these health differences, although immigrant health disparities remain after accounting for these and other factors. We document some contextual variation within Europe. Immigrants in Eastern, Western and Northern Europe are disadvantaged compared to native-born adults in those regions, while immigrants in Southern Europe are in comparable health to their native-born peers. This article offers new insights into the ways that aging immigrant populations will reshape older adult health profiles in a diverse array of countries.

the 2001 cohort, respectively. Men and women in 2018 had on average 2.34 and 1.83 more years of education than men and women in 2001, respectively. The percentage of women with no main job and men who worked in agriculture were lower in 2018 than 2001 (women: 27.0% vs. 34.6%; men: 23.3% vs. 30.4%). The 2018 cohort had lower odds for cognitive impairment when adjusting for age, sex, marital status, and living in a rural/urban community (OR=0.67 95% CI=0.56-0.81). This difference was reduced after adjusting for childhood socioeconomic measures (OR=0.76 95% CI=0.67-0.86) and was no longer statistically significant after adding midlife socioeconomic measures (OR=0.98 95% CI=0.86-1.12). These findings suggest that improved early-life socioeconomic conditions in Mexico contribute to birth-cohort differences in late-life cognitive impairment. Maria Brown, and Miriam Mutambudzi, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States Objective: To better understand life course influences affecting cognitive function and decline in later life, we explored sex and race/ethnicity differentials in the relationship between a history of psychiatric, emotional, or nervous problems and cognitive functioning in later life, while accounting for early life disadvantage and relevant covariates.
Results: A history of psychiatric, emotional, or nervous problems was significantly related to cognition scores and rates of decline. Hispanic and Black participants had significantly lower cognition scores at age 75 and steeper rates of decline than White females, and Black race and the Hispanic race-sex interaction erased the protective effects of being female.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that members of minority groups with a history of psychiatric problems evidence lower cognitive function in later life, and as a result, have a greater need for community-based long-term care than their peers without this history. Future research should include longitudinal analyses of different components of cognitive function, specific psychiatric diagnoses, and life history data that capture socioeconomic and psychosocial experiences throughout the life course. Population level findings as reported here, along with aggregate findings from similar studies, can inform interventions and policies regarding support for populations that are vulnerable to mental illness and to subsequent cognitive decline.
Although older immigrants are a growing share of the total population in many countries, evidence regarding health differentials by nativity in older adulthood remains underdeveloped. We examine whether foreign-born adults 50 and older in Europe are disadvantaged in terms of multiple health domains, what drives the potential immigrant health disadvantage, and whether such differences are contextually dependent or a general feature of the immigrant experience in Europe. We use the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to estimate physical, mental, and social health of middle age and older adults by nativity in 19 countries. We examine whether nativity-based health disparities can be attributed to demographic composition, socioeconomic factors, family and social support, and life course timing of migration. Last, we examine regional differences in nativity-based health disparities. We find that immigrants aged 50 and above in Europe are more likely to report fair/poor physical health, score worse on EURO-D depression scale, and are more likely to be lonely than the nativeborn. Socioeconomic status and age at migration partially explain these health differences, although immigrant health disparities remain after accounting for these and other factors. We document some contextual variation within Europe. Immigrants in Eastern, Western and Northern Europe are disadvantaged compared to native-born adults in those regions, while immigrants in Southern Europe are in comparable health to their native-born peers. This article offers new insights into the ways that aging immigrant populations will reshape older adult health profiles in a diverse array of countries. By approximately 70-years-old, two out of three Americans experience some cognitive impairment (Hale et al., 2020). Cognitive abilities that often decline with age include working and short-term memory (Cohen, 2019), both important for encoding and retaining information (Alloway & Copello, 2013). Depending on severity, affected individuals may face difficulties performing daily tasks. Beyond biological mechanisms, Self-Life Acceptance (Resilience; Wagnild & Young, 1993) and personality (i.e., Neuroticism, Openness; BFI-2-XS; John & Soto, 2017) may relate to variations in cognitive status. We collected measures of Self-Life Acceptance, Neuroticism, and Openness to investigate their relations to older adults' cognitive status (i.e., working and short-term memory; TICS;Brandt et al., 1988). The sample was comprised of older adults clearly experiencing memory difficulties (N = 49, Mage = 76.12). In a hierarchical regression, the interaction between Self-Life Acceptance and Neuroticism predicted higher cognitive status. Deconstructing this effect, for older people with low-to-moderate Neuroticism, having worse cognitive status was related to greater feelings of Self-Life Acceptance. These individuals show resilience; when cognitive status is worse, acceptance of oneself and life appears to 'kick in' allowing individuals to maintain well-being in the face of memory difficulties. Self-Life Acceptance, however, is not present for those high in Neuroticism. In a second regression, less Self-Life Acceptance and higher Openness were also related to better cognitive status. Our findings show psychosocial factors can predict variations in cognitive status. This work provides a window into how older individuals with different personality traits and varying capacity for resilience cope with memory loss. Older adults aging with cognitive impairments face a variety of challenges related to their memory, thinking, and concentration in their everyday activities. Understanding their lived experiences s critical to inform the development of technology and supports that can help everyday activities and improve quality of life. We have designed an in-depth interview study to explore the everyday challenges of older adults with cognitive impairments and their response strategies. We will present two case studies to illustrate the richness of the data and its value for guiding intervention design:

UNDERSTANDING CHALLENGES OF PERSONS WITH COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS THROUGH THEIR LIVED EXPERIENCES
(1) one older adult with a post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) and (2) one older adult with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). As expected, these individuals reported challenges in different functional activities and described varying solution strategies. The older adult with PSCI noted challenges with completing steps and remembering things when engaging with technology-mediated social activities. This individual reported responding to these challenges by having their own method, such as writing things down or receiving assistance from others. Challenges the older adult with MCI experienced when engaging with technology-mediated social activities, long-distance travel, and caregiving were planning, completing steps, remembering things, and experiencing emotions. This individual responded to their challenges by developing visualizations, methods, routine, and receiving assistance from others. These initial insights about the range of challenges with everyday activities and response strategies highlight the value of qualitative needs assessments in understanding the needs of those aging with cognitive impairment to guide future technology and support.

EXPLORING CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AS A RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION TOOL FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN Joyce Ogunrinde, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States
Physical activity (PA) is associated with lower cognitive decline and incident dementia for older adults. Yet, PA data (interventions) on older African American (AA) women, a population disproportionately affected by premature aging, are lacking. This limitation reduces the efficacy of PA to reduce cognitive decline, particularly for people of color and more so