Session: Examining Risk and Protective Factors That Influence the Health and Wellbeing of Older Adults and Caregivers to Advance Health Equity (Society for Social Work and Research 30th Annual Conference Anniversary)

This symposium features research from members of the SSWR Health Equity & Families special interest group. The goal of this symposium is to examine risk and protective factors that influence health outcomes of older adults and caregivers, with particular attention to racially minoritized populations, as well as social and psychological resources and constraints. The first paper shares findings from a systematic scoping review of literature investigating self-neglect among racial minority older adults. A search for peer-reviewed articles in four databases (AgeLine, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO) yielded 17 articles for inclusion. Findings included four key themes that elucidate risk and protective factors as associated with self-harm, as well as prevalence and consequences of self-neglect. In addition, this systematic scoping review also identified key gaps in research to be addressed in order to better meet the needs of specific racial minority subgroups and inform intervention strategies to support this population. The second paper reports the findings of a study comparing health outcomes for dementia and non-dementia caregivers. This research examines differences in coping resources and sleep health between these two groups of caregivers using data from the National Study of Caregiving. Resilience functioned as a protective factor associated with better sleep among dementia caregivers but not non-dementia caregivers. Conversely, perceived caregiving gains were associated with worse sleep among dementia caregivers (only), perhaps due to increased sense of responsibility/desire for involvement. This suggests a nuanced view of coping resources such as resilience and perceived caregiving gains is warranted. The third paper uses data from the Health and Retirement Study to investigate associations between family types and depressive symptoms, and whether gender and social participation influence observed associations. Individuals were categorized into four different family types, including individuals without a spouse/partner or children (sometimes referred to as "kinless"). Findings revealed two family types at risk for more depressive symptoms. Specifically, older adults with children (only) and those who were kinless had more depressive symptoms than their counterparts. Similarities and differences were seen by gender; for example, social participation appeared to be a protective factor for men but not women. The fourth paper examines the effects of everyday discrimination and major racial discrimination on molecular stress among a community sample of Black Americans and the potential moderating role of cultural mistrust. Results indicated more everyday discrimination was associated with increased molecular stress; similar effects were seen for major racial discrimination. Cultural mistrust was found to be a protective factor: high levels of discrimination and mistrust (i.e., less trust in Whites) was associated with lower levels of stress, while high levels of discrimination and low levels of mistrust (i.e., more trust in Whites) was associated with higher levels of stress. Taken together, this symposium spotlights timely and rigorous studies investigating important risk and protective factors that influence older adults' and caregivers' well-being. The presenters will discuss implications for social work research and practice in our sociocultural context, setting the stage for a rich dialogue about advancing health equity and improving health outcomes for individuals and families.