Online Program

Oral

The numbers and proportion of older adults are increasing nationally and internationally, with those aged 80 years or older being the fastest-growing segment of the total population in the United States. This shift in demographics offers opportunities and challenges to the public community. The session highlights an array of research projects addressing older adults’ health and social media behaviors, as well as providing descriptions of programs and strategies aimed at promoting the health and well-being of older adults in United States. For example, presentations will describe community-based health promotion programs being implemented across the country to promote the health and well-being of older adults. As part of the process of implementing and maintaining such initiatives, a host of factors need to be considered, such as those that help facilitate or inhibit participation and completion rates and those that effect health outcomes. Three presenters will describe the role of specific factors among subgroups, such as gender, race/ethnicity, language, physical activity and health, and their potential to influence activity and program participation. Presenters will describe the implications for tailored strategies to increase older adults’ engagement and completion. Another presenter will describe the findings of a study examining the effects of these enclaves on diabetes rates and the role of social networks. Finally, findings will be presented from two studies examining whether computer and internet training influences low-income older adults’ modes of communication and social connectedness and the impacts of social media on older adults mental health. Each of these presentations will describe the implications of the finding for public health outreach, programming, and future research.

Session Objectives: Identify factors and strategies affecting older adults’ participation in physical activity and evidence-based health promotion programs Explain ethnic enclaves and the potential to impact older adult social networking Articulate how computer and internet skills and social media may influence subgroups of older adults’ communication modes and social connectedness and mental health, respectively

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)