Race, Nativity, and Timing of Migration Effects on Disablement in Later Life

• In Event: 1483 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 03. Aging, Health, and Sexuality Among Immigrants

Abstract

This research examines how social contexts across the life course influence late-life disability of immigrant and non-immigrant older adults in the United Sates. This research will explore these life course factors in greater detail to identify how immigrants and non-immigrants move through disablement, with emphasis on how individuals move in and out of different states of disablement. This research also explores deterioration and recovery across different states of disablement. The current older adult population in the United States is not only one of the historically largest older adult populations, but one of the most racially and ethnically diverse, in part due to the growing number of aging immigrants. Despite sharing a racial or ethnic category, the lived experiences of immigrants may diverge from their native-born counterparts. Moreover, with the greater prevalence of disability, it is critical to understand how older populations move through the disablement process. Using longitudinal panel data from the NHATS (2011-2016) this research focuses on nativity differences in recovery and deterioration in late-life disablement between US-born and immigrant older adults living in the US. This research uses hazard models to provide a more nuanced picture of immigrant and non-immigrant old adult disablement, using a multi-stage measure of mobility and self-care disablement from NHATS. Results indicate that nativity differences in both recovery and deterioration in late-life disablement is mediated by early- and mid-life socioeconomic contexts. Additional models suggest that life course timing of migration shapes late-life disablement among immigrant older adults in the US. Developing greater knowledge on this process has implications on costs and possibilities for earlier interventions and the delay of more severe disability in later life for both US-born and immigrant older adults in the US.

Author

• Rebecca Wang, Syracuse University