Health Status Disparities among Older Adults Attending NYC Senior Centers

Background. New York City (NYC), one of the most racially and ethnically diverse cities in the world, provides an opportunity to examine effective strategies to reduce health disparities among older s. Currently, 47% of older s living in NYC belong to racial/ethnic minority groups. With increasing diversity nationwide, reliable information by race/ethnicity is needed to predict and prioritize health and social services most needed by older s. Yet there is a paucity of data that differentiates health status of community-based seniors by race/ethnicity. In particular, it is striking that until now, no data were available regarding the health status of senior citizens who attend senior centers, a vital structural component of today's urban aging policy, serving the needs of older s in over 300 locations in NYC's neighborhoods.

Methods. The research design is cross-sectional. A stratified sample of ten senior centers was selected, representing racial/ethnic diversity across NYC, 2 centers per NYC borough. In-person interviews were conducted using standardized health status assessment instruments. The response rate was 91.8%, with a refusal rate of 4.6%, for a total n=483.

Results. Overall, respondents do not differ significantly from US average physical and mental health scores (SF36), suggesting senior center participants represent the general population of community-based older s. However, important differences by race/ethnicity were found. For instance, 24.2% of Latinos were depressed, compared with 15.1%, 13.3%, and 9.0% (p<.001) among Blacks, Asians, and Whites, respectively. Further results will be presented. Policy options using evidence-based interventions to reduce health disparities will be discussed.