During the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and its variants, older adults remain an age group particularly at-risk for poorer health outcomes, not only related to infection with COVID-19, but also due to disruptions in access to preventive health services, including routine vaccination. In the U.S., older adults have generally had high uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines, but differences persist regionally and between older adults from minority racial backgrounds. The purpose of the following study was to better understand how groups of Black and white-identifying adults ages 65+ described the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their preventive health behavior and healthcare use, including what contributed to their decision to receive or not receive a primary COVID-19 vaccination series. Seventy-five participants were purposively sampled and stratified into virtual focus groups based on their age, racial identity, vaccination status, and relationship to a local community. Findings leverage data from a pre-group questionnaire and focus groups conducted in November 2021. Analyses revealed differences among sub-groups about how the pandemic has impacted their relationship to their local community. Participants described the extent of the pandemic’s disruption to their healthcare access, including modifications to in-person care, use of telehealth, and engagement in new health behaviors. Decision-making related to the COVID-19 vaccine differed among the vaccinated and unvaccinated and white and Black-identifying groups, including factors related to interpersonal and systemic trust, independent research, and bodily autonomy. Implications of this research for public health and practitioners working with older adults will be discussed.
Financial exploitation of older adults has emerged as one of the most common and costly forms of elder abuse. While prior research has examined the risk and protective factors that contribute to older adults’ experiences of being defrauded, less has specifically explored the prevalence of these factors among the 85+ age demographic. This not only includes hearing from the 85+ directly about the factors that have contributed to successful financial exploitation, but also the factors that contributed to their experiences of unsuccessful and ‘near miss’ exploitation. This paper shares findings from a mixed methods study with the MIT AgeLab 85+ Lifestyle Leaders, a U.S.-based panel of octogenarians and nonagenarians. Leveraging an online survey (n=32) and virtual focus groups (n=18) conducted in September 2021, findings distinguish among three categories of experiences with financial fraud – those had been, almost were, or have never been a victim of financial fraud within the past five years. In particular, ‘almost victims’ frequently scored in between ‘have been’ and ‘have never been’ victims with regard to several questionnaire variables. Six perceived risk factors for financial fraud victimization emerged from both data sources, including being older, cognitive decline, misplaced trust and a lack of knowledge, loneliness, technology use, and stereotypes of older adults. The majority of Lifestyle Leaders identified protective factors including, knowledge about protecting oneself from financial scams, a lifetime of experience and one’s social network. These findings will be discussed in further detail along with their implications for multidisciplinary professionals working with older adults.
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