LEVERAGING COMMUNITY-BASED KNOWLEDGE TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF OLDER ADULTS FROM RACIAL/ETHNIC MINORITY POPULATIONS

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Abstract Racially and ethnically minoritized older adults constitute the fastest-growing demographic in the United States. Yet, they are largely underrepresented in population-based studies of aging despite NIH policies encouraging inclusion since the mid-1980s. The resulting and continued exclusion of racially and ethnically diverse populations in aging research limits efforts to elucidate and better understand the determinants of health and healthy aging to improve the lives of minoritized older adults, their families, and/or communities. To enhance the inclusion of racially and ethnically minoritized older adults in recruitment, survey development, analysis, and dissemination efforts, this symposium focuses on leveraging community-based knowledge that centers the lived experiences of community members that are needed to improve health outcomes and equitable changes, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The first paper in this symposium highlights how Community-Based Participatory Advocacy is used in the Dine community, which includes working with indigenous older adults and decolonizing methodologies to facilitate community healing. The second paper focuses on developing culturally informed instruments to collect data on dementia care needs and resources among African immigrants. A third paper focuses on critical lessons learned in Project RAMA that provided crucial insights for a new initiative focused on Hispanic immigrant families affected by rheumatoid arthritis in Washington, DC, including recruiting through embedded community clinics and integrating community needs into the study design. The final paper discusses the meaningful inclusion of Asian American older adults regarding their demographic diversity and prioritizing engagement of community members and community-based organizations in the survey research process.