Social Distancing and Mental Health in Diverse Aging Populations

New Jersey has the 2nd highest number of COVID-19 cases and mortality in the US, especially elderly withvulnerabilities such as Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD). Thus, the local governmentalresponse has drastically altered the daily activities of New Jersey residents, especially through the endorsementand enforcement of social distancing for the general public. While the theoretical benefits of social distancingare clear and it is a likely effective tool in reducing the spread of communicable disease like COVID-19, thereare known consequences of isolation and loneliness for older adults, which has been linked to numerousnegative health outcomes. The practice and impact of social distancing contains multiple facets, including thespaces which it is practiced, the activities it may impact, and the degrees to which it is practiced. NJ residentshave additionally experienced acute racial disparities in relationship to COVID-19 outcomes. The objective of this application is to leverage the infrastructure from the New Jersey Minority AgingCollaborative (R24AG063729) to prospectively quantify the impact of social distancing on mental health inAfrican American, Hispanic, and Asian aging populations, especially those with cognitive impairment, subjectivememory loss, or Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). In its first year, the parent grant has madesignificant progress in implementing its aims through the establishment and expansion of institutional capacityto foster academic-community partnerships. Through this parent project, we have additionally begun responsesto continue and expand community engagement throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Through a study of 600minority older adults (200 African American, 200 Hispanic, and 200 Asian), this administrative supplement aimsto link the infrastructure of the parent grant to understand the practice, experience, and impacts of socialdistancing (currently at its height) on mental health among minority older adults through biweekly/monthlytelephone interviews and weekly self-reported (social distancing practice and psychosocial wellbeing) through amulti-lingual, intuitive, and user friendly survey application. This study aims to: 1) Quantify the factors that leads to the adherence to social distancing amongcommunity-dwelling African American, Hispanic and Asian older adults; 2) Quantify the intended and unintendedconsequences (hygiene, psychological outcomes, social outcomes) of social distancing in above populations;and 3) Quantify the independent and potential joint influence of resilience factors (individual and family level)that might moderate the negative mental health consequences associated with social distancing in abovepopulation of older adults. We will additionally seek to understand the experience of social distancing amongminority older adults with cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) throughadditional analyses. In totality, this administrative supplement will provide critical data and knowledge about thehealth and wellbeing of African American, Hispanic, and Asian older adults during the COVID-19 era.