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Principal Investigator: CHRISTINE L WILLIAMS
Organization: FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $944,696
Funding agency: National Institute on Aging
Both social isolation and cognitive decline are urgent threats to public health, as they
predispose persons to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Air pollution and the built
environment are community-based factors that have been shown to adversely affect cognitive
function. Individual factors such as social isolation and economic disadvantage further
contribute to cognitive risk. Rural settings have more limited opportunities for social
engagement, when compared to urban settings. These conditions converge to form a perfect
storm of social isolation and accelerated cognitive decline, yet prior studies have not focused on
rural, disadvantaged, ethnic minority residents. Using a multi-method approach, we propose to
demonstrate how a uniquely vulnerable rural Florida population (N = 1087) are at risk for social
isolation and decline in cognitive function due to the unique characteristics of the physical and
social environment. We will recruit community-dwelling, non-clinical, dementia-free, middle aged
and older adults from 5 communities in the Lake Okeechobee area of Florida for a 5-year study
incorporating time-series individual social and cognitive measures and community-level
measures of the physical and built environment. Apple watches will be used by a subsample of
120 participants representative of 5 communities to continuously monitor sensory data, daily
routine and predefined activities for 2 months. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) will be
used to collect data daily over periods of agricultural burning and no burning.
Using a combination of primary data collection, secondary data analysis, subsample continuous
monitoring and EMA, we will examine the following aims over 36 months among rural,
racially/ethnically, and linguistically diverse underserved community-dwelling adults aged 45
years and older:
Aim 1: Examine the contribution of smoke-related PM2.5 exposures to SI and cognitive
function, through multilevel growth modeling.
Aim 2. Determine the effects of the built (e.g., retail destinations, park space) and social
environment (e.g., crime SES) on social isolation and cognitive function through mixed linear
modeling.
Aim 3. Contextualize social isolation and cognitive function among residents from different
racial/ethnic groups using EMA and sensor-derived behavior models with a subsample of 120
stratified by Lake O communities during burn and non-burn seasons.
Terms: <21+ years old><AD related dementia><ADRD><Acceleration><Accounting><Address><Adult><Adult Human><Affect><African American><African American group><African American individual><African American people><African American population><African Americans><Afro American><Afroamerican><Agriculture><Air><Air Pollutants><Air Pollution><Alzheimer risk factor><Alzheimer's and related dementias><Alzheimer's disease and related dementia><Alzheimer's disease and related disorders><Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia><Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder><Alzheimer's disease or related dementia><Alzheimer's disease related dementia><Alzheimer's disease risk><Amentia><American><Apple watch><Area><Back><Behavior><Black><Black race><Buffers><Burn injury><Burns><Canes><Characteristics><Cognitive><Cognitive Disturbance><Cognitive Impairment><Cognitive decline><Cognitive function abnormal><Communities><Crime><Data><Data Analyses><Data Analysis><Data Collection><Data Sources><Decrease health disparities><Dementia><Destinations><Diabetes Mellitus><Disadvantaged><Disease><Disorder><Disparities><Disparity><Distress><Disturbance in cognition><Dorsum><Drugs><Ecological momentary assessment><Economic Income><Economical Income><Economically Deprived><Economics><Education><Educational Achievement><Educational Status><Educational aspects><Environment><Ethnic Group><Ethnic Origin><Ethnic People><Ethnic Population><Ethnic individual><Ethnicity><Ethnicity People><Ethnicity Population><Exposure to><Face><Farm><Florida><Generalized Growth><Goals><Green space><Growth><Health><Health Inequity><Health behavior><Health disparity mitigation><Health disparity reduction><Healthcare><Hearing Loss><Hispanic><Hispanic Americans><Hispanic Populations><Hispanic group><Hispanic individual><Hispanic people><Hispanics><Housing><Hypertension><Hypoacuses><Hypoacusis><Impaired cognition><Income><Individual><Inequalities in Health><Inequities in Health><Interdisciplinary Research><Interdisciplinary Study><Lead><Linear Models><Linguistic><Linguistics><Link><Longitudinal Studies><Lower health disparities><Measures><Medication><Mental Depression><Methods><Mitigate health disparities><Modeling><Monitor><Moods><Multidisciplinary Collaboration><Multidisciplinary Research><Neighborhoods><Obesity><Outcome><Participant><Particulate Matter><Pb element><Persons><Pharmaceutical Preparations><Physical activity><Physical environment><Population><Population Heterogeneity><Public Health><R-Series Research Projects><R01 Mechanism><R01 Program><Race><Races><Racial Group><Reduce health disparities><Research><Research Grants><Research Project Grants><Research Projects><Risk><Risk Factors><Role><Rural><Rural Community><Rural Population><Rural group><Rural people><Saccharum><Sampling><Seasons><Sensory><Series><Smoke><Smoking><Social Environment><Social isolation><Socialization><Sugarcane><Technology><Testing><Time><Tissue Growth><Trees><Vascular Hypertensive Disease><Vascular Hypertensive Disorder><Walking><Walking Sticks><Woman><Work><adiposity><adulthood><aged><alzheimer risk><applewatch><brain health><built environment><burned><cognitive dysfunction><cognitive function><cognitive loss><community level disadvantage><corpulence><data interpretation><dementia risk><depression><deprivation><design><designing><diabetes><disadvantaged community><diverse populations><drug/agent><dysfunctional hearing><economic><economic disparity><economically disadvantaged><educational level><ethnic diversity><ethnic minority><ethnic subgroup><ethnically diverse><ethnicity group><experience><faces><facial><farm worker><farmworker><greenspace><health care><health determinants><health inequalities><health related behavior><hearing challenged><hearing defect><hearing deficient><hearing deficit><hearing difficulty><hearing dysfunction><hearing impairment><heavy metal Pb><heavy metal lead><heterogeneous population><high blood pressure><high risk><hyperpiesia><hyperpiesis><hypertensive disease><hypertensive disorder><improved><incomes><innovate><innovation><innovative><lack of physical activity><long-term study><longitudinal outcome studies><longterm study><malleable risk><medically under served><medically underserved><meter><mid life><mid-life><middle age><middle aged><midlife><modifiable risk><multidisciplinary><neighborhood barrier><neighborhood disadvantage><neighborhood-level barrier><neighborhood-level disadvantage><neural inflammation><neuroinflammation><neuroinflammatory><older adult><older adulthood><ontogeny><physical inactivity><population diversity><prevent><preventing><programs><public health intervention><public health relevance><racial><racial background><racial diversity><racial origin><racial population><racial subgroup><racially diverse><recruit><risk factor for dementia><risk for dementia><rural dwellers><rural individual><rural locality><rural place><rural resident><rural setting><rural under served><rural underserved><sensor><smart 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