The present study examines whether age of second language acquisition, duration of exposure to that language, and chronological age determine vocabulary knowledge in 214 Russian–Hebrew bilinguals (ages 19–80, immigration ages 1–46, and exposure duration 7–63 years). Participants reported their language background and completed a multiple-choice vocabulary test in Hebrew, alongside other objective tests of Russian and Hebrew proficiency. While vocabulary scores were below age-matched norms for native Hebrew speakers, they were similar to those of younger native speakers matching in exposure duration. Raw vocabulary scores were similar whether participants immigrated up to age 15 or after that age, although results indicated a negative association between age of immigration and vocabulary scores. A positive association emerged between exposure duration and vocabulary scores, and when analyzing all measures together, age of immigration did not predict vocabulary scores, whereas exposure duration was its main determinant. We suggest that bilingualism itself does not cause a vocabulary gap, and that bilinguals’ vocabulary knowledge in their second language improves with exposure, as it does in native speakers throughout adulthood. The study emphasizes that learning a foreign language requires extensive exposure and that vocabulary learning is a lifelong process.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged older adults’ health behaviours, making it even more difficult to engage in healthy diets and physical activity than it had been prepandemic. A resource to promote these could be social support. This study uses data from 136 older adults (Mage = 71.39 years, SD = 5.15, range: 63–87) who reported their daily fruit and vegetable consumption, steps, and health-behaviour-specific support from a close other every evening for up to 10 consecutive days. Findings show that on days when participants reported more emotional support than usual, fruit and vegetable consumption and step counts were higher. Daily instrumental support was positively associated with step counts, only. Participants receiving more overall emotional support across the study period consumed more fruit and vegetables; no parallel person-level association was found for overall steps. There were no significant interactions between dyad type and support links for our outcomes.

Developing effective, sustainable strategies that promote social inclusion, reduce isolation, and support older adults’ wellbeing continues to be important to aging communities in Canada. One strategy that targets community-living older adults involves identifying naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs) and supporting them through supportive service programs (NORC-SSPs). This qualitative descriptive study utilized semi-structured interviews to explore how older adults living in a NORC supported by an SSP, sought to build, and maintain, a sense of community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis revealed how changes in context prompted changes in the program and community, and how despite lack of in-person opportunities participants continued to be together and do occupations together in creative ways that supported their sense of community. NORC-SSPs, like Oasis, play an important role in supporting older adults’ capacity to build strong, resilient communities that support wellbeing, during a global pandemic and in non-pandemic times.

Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between Willis-Ekbom Disease/Restless Legs Syndrome and iron deficiency anemia in older people with dementia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 70 older people diagnosed with dementia and restless leg syndrome in a Psychogeriatric outpatient clinic in a city in the interior of São Paulo, Brazil. The older people filled in instruments of sociodemographic characterization, measures to evaluate the Restless Legs Syndrome, neuropsychiatric symptoms, sleep quality, sleepiness and cognition. Blood data were also collected levels of creatinine, ferritin, red blood cells, hemoglobin and hematocrit, the latter collected in the patients’ medical records.

Results: The sample consists mostly of older people with mixed dementia (i.e., Alzheimer’s disease + Vascular Dementia), with 39% of female patients and mean age of 77.80 years (9.36). This study identified a frequency of 15.7% of Restless Legs Syndrome. Patients with the syndrome present more frequency of neuropsychiatric symptoms, worse sleep quality, higher index of body mass and lower levels of ferritin (p < .05).

Conclusions: A frequency of 15.7% was identified for restless leg syndrome among patients with dementia. In addition, patients with the syndrome have ferritin deficiency.

Objectives: Low- and middle-income countries face increasing burden of noncommunicable chronic diseases due to rapid population aging. The Objectives of this study is to estimate the association of co-occurring depression and diabetes with healthcare services utilization in the Brazilian population aged 50 years andolder.

Methods: This is an analysis using baseline data of the ELSI-Brazil study. Measurements used were self-reported previous diagnosis for diabetes and a cut-off point of 4 on the CES-D-8 score for depression. Any medical consultations, specialist consultations and hospitalizations in the previous 12 months were assessed for measuring health services use. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association of having depression, diabetes, or both, compared to having none of the conditions with healthcare services utilization.

Results: In a final sample of 8303 participants, the adjusted odds ratios (95%CI) in the depression only group (27.9%), in the diabetes only group (9.7%), and in the depression and diabetes group (5.8%), for any medical consultations were 1.2 (1.01-1.42), 3.39 (2.4-4.79) and 3.12 (1.82-5.35); for specialist consultations, 1.05 (0.91-1.21), 1.34 (1.07-1.68) and 1.13 (0.86-1.49); and for hospitalizations, 1.42 (1.1-1.84), 1.42 (1.02-1.96) and 3.1 (2.12-4.54), respectively. All models were adjusted for sex, age, education, marital status, insufficient physical activity, current drinking and smoking, obesity and number of other diseases and conditions.

Conclusions: Those with diabetes seemed more likely to have any or specialized medical consultations. However, those with the depression and diabetes comorbidity were more likely than any other group to have been admitted to a hospital in the last year, which is distressing and costly. Screening for depression could be incorporated into diabetes usual care to reduce related complications and hospitalizations.

Funding: This study did not receive any funding. Authors: Ferri and Lima-Costa are recipient of CNPq research productive fellowship.

Aging is an inevitable biological process accompanied by various physiological changes, and researchers have long sought interventions to promote healthy aging. This article explores the effects of four natural compounds—Omega-3 fatty acids, Coenzyme Q10, Gingerol, and Curcumin—on the aging process. We delve into the scientific literature to examine the potential benefits and mechanisms behind these substances in mitigating age-related conditions. Omega-3's anti-inflammatory properties, Coenzyme Q10's cellular energy support, Gingerol’s antioxidant effects, and Curcumin’s anti-aging properties are all discussed. By shedding light on the impact of these compounds, this review aims to contribute to a better understanding of how natural substances may play a role in promoting longevity and enhancing the quality of life during the aging journey.

To improve transitions in care, a new patient navigation (PN) program was introduced to support older adults with complex care needs transition from hospital to home. The patient navigator is a community social worker embedded in the hospital’s care teams. A cohort observational design was used to conduct the study by analysing the patient navigator’s clinical notes and hospital’s administrative data to describe the characteristics of patients, scope of the patient navigator’s activities, and patient outcomes. Ninety patients were assigned to the patient navigator’s caseload (November 2019–November 2021) in which the average age was 78.9 (range 55–95). The most frequent PN intervention types were referrals to community services (66%, n = 59) and discharge planning (61%, n = 55). The patient navigator supported 66% patients (n = 59) in returning home and provided follow-up care for 74 days (average). This study provides important insights into the patient navigator’s role to guide decision makers in implementing PN programs for older adults in a hospital setting.

This study provides researchers, practitioners, and policy makers with a profile of older adults’ travel behaviour and the older adult population that reports unmet travel needs. In addition, we quantified associations between reporting an unmet travel need and measures of health and social connectedness. Data came from the second follow-up survey of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, collected from 2018 to 2021 (n = 14,167). Nine in ten (90.2%) older adults aged 65 years and older indicated that driving is the main way they get around. Older adults with an unmet travel need were more likely to be women, have lower household incomes and education levels, and have a mobility limitation. People with an unmet travel need had 2.7 times the odds of reporting fair or poor general health (OR = 2.66, 95% CI: 2.19, 3.22) and 3.1 times the odds of feeling socially isolated (OR = 3.10, 95% CI: 2.57, 3.72) compared to those without an unmet need.

Age-related changes can affect mental health, but aging-focused mental health research is limited. The objective was to identify the top 10 unanswered research questions on aging and mental health according to what matters most to aging Canadians. A steering group of experts-by-experience (e.g., older adults, caregivers, health and social care providers) guided three phases of a modified James Lind Alliance priority-setting partnership: (1) a broad national survey (n = 305) and a rapid literature scan; (2) a follow-up national survey (n = 703); and (3) four online workshops (n = 52) with a nominal group technique. Forty-two unique questions on aging and mental health resulted, of which 18 were determined to be answered by existing evidence. Of the 25 partially and unanswered questions, 10 were ranked as top priority. Findings can be used to prioritize future research, knowledge mobilization, and funding decisions, and to promote and support collaboration between longstanding siloed research and care fields.

As Western society becomes increasingly digitally dependent and many older adults actively engage in the online world, understanding the experiences of those who largely do not use digital technology in their daily lives is crucial. Individual interviews were conducted (pre-pandemic) with 23 older adults who, based on self-identification, did not regularly use digital technology, exploring how their experiences as limited digital technology users may have impacted their daily lives. An iterative collaborative qualitative analysis demonstrated three main themes: internet concerns, frustrations with digital technology, and conflicting motivators to use digital technology. Findings suggest that addressing digital concerns and providing effective digital skill learning opportunities may encourage some older adults to become more digitally engaged. However, as people, including older adults, can be uninterested in using these technologies, organizations and institutions should work to offer ways to support people of all ages who are not engaged online.

Functional decline following hospitalization remains an important problem in health care, especially for frail older adults. Modifiable factors related to reduction in harms of hospitalization are not well described. One particularly pervasive factor is emergency department (ED) boarding time; time waiting from decision to admit, until transfer to an in-patient medical unit. We sought to investigate how the functional status of frail older adults correlated with the length of time spent boarded in the ED. We found that patients who waited for 24 hours or more exhibited functional decline in both the Barthel Index and Hierarchical Assessment of Balance and Mobility and an increase in the Clinical Frailty Scale from discharge to 6 months post discharge. In conclusion, there is a need for additional investigation into ED focused interventions to reduce ED boarding time for this population or to improve access to specialized geriatric services within the ED.

As increasing proportions of our global population age, transgender people are experiencing higher rates of dementia, and many are afraid to enter long-term care. Structural interventions such as advance directives may help mitigate fears around entering long-term care by managing specific anxieties that transgender people may have about dementia, loss of decision-making capacity, and discrimination in long-term care settings.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented numerous challenges to older adults in Canada, including the ability to volunteer. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of the social context surrounding volunteering in Canada, by (a) determining changes in associations between human, social, and cultural capital and volunteering among older adults; and (b) examining the relationship between ethnic minority status and volunteering, using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), collected prior to and during the pandemic. This study utilized data from 24,306 CLSA Baseline, Follow-up 1 (FUP1), and COVID-19 Baseline Survey participants (aged 55+). Results confirm a decrease in volunteering during the early stages of the pandemic. Compared to pre-pandemic associations, volunteers during the early stages of the pandemic were more likely to be young–old, male, employed, and not involved in religious activities. Findings provide evidence of pandemic effects on volunteering among older adults in Canada.

This study tested the hypothesis that within older Barbadian adults, sex, education, and occupation type lessen age-related cognitive decline. The analyses used a cross-sectional data set from 1325 people collected in the 2006 SABE Study (Health, Well-being, and Aging). Cognition was assessed as scores in each subdomain of the Mini-Mental State Exam. The loss of a single point in each subdomain was predicted by sex, years of education, job type, and their interactions with age. Results demonstrated that age and protective factors affect each cognitive domain differently. High education combined with mentally complex employment helped maintain cognitive performance in later life. Beneficial lifetime exposures are additive, providing combined benefits. Findings provide insight into public policy aiming to minimize the number of adults with cognitive decline and dementia in Barbados and the Caribbean.