Program Area: Behavioral and Social Sciences
Catherine Garcia, PhD (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
Human Development and Family Science
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York, United States
.jpg "Su-I Hou, DrPH, CPH, MCHES, RN, CDP, FACHE photo")
Su-I Hou, DrPH, CPH, MCHES, RN, CDP, FACHE
Professor & Founding School Director
School of Global Health Management and Informatics
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida, United States
Karen Kopera-Frye, PhD, MPA, FGSA, FAGHE
Professor, Public Health Sciences/Gerontology
Public Health Sciences
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States
Manka Nkimbeng, PhD (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
School of Public Health
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Jielu Lin, PhD
Staff Scientist
National Human Genome Research Institute
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Lan Ðoàn, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Population Health, Section for Health Equity
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
New York, New York, United States
Racially and ethnically minoritized older adults constitute the fastest-growing demographic in the United States. Yet, they are largely underrepresented in population-based studies of aging despite NIH policies encouraging inclusion since the mid-1980s. The resulting and continued exclusion of racially and ethnically diverse populations in aging research limits efforts to elucidate and better understand the determinants of health and healthy aging to improve the lives of minoritized older adults, their families, and/or communities. To enhance the inclusion of racially and ethnically minoritized older adults in recruitment, survey development, analysis, and dissemination efforts, this symposium focuses on leveraging community-based knowledge that centers the lived experiences of community members that are needed to improve health outcomes and equitable changes, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The first paper in this symposium highlights how Community-Based Participatory Advocacy is used in the Dine community, which includes working with indigenous older adults and decolonizing methodologies to facilitate community healing. The second paper focuses on developing culturally informed instruments to collect data on dementia care needs and resources among African immigrants. A third paper focuses on critical lessons learned in Project RAMA that provided crucial insights for a new initiative focused on Hispanic immigrant families affected by rheumatoid arthritis in Washington, DC, including recruiting through embedded community clinics and integrating community needs into the study design. The final paper discusses the meaningful inclusion of Asian American older adults regarding their demographic diversity and prioritizing engagement of community members and community-based organizations in the survey research process.
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Karen Kopera-Frye, PhD, MPA, FGSA, FAGHE – New Mexico State University
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Manka Nkimbeng, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of Minnesota
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Jielu Lin, PhD – National Institutes of Health
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Lan N. Ðoàn, PhD, MPH – NYU Grossman School of Medicine