Aging in Place Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic Onset: A Study of Neighborhoods and Cognitive Health Among Older Americans

The COVID-19 pandemic is fundamentally changing neighborhood landscapes and ways of aging in place. This research investigates how neighborhoods affect cognitive health among aging populations before and after the onset of the pandemic. Policymakers, service providers, community groups, older adults, and researchers may use project findings to advance age-friendly community efforts to help prevent cognitive decline and facilitate healthy aging in place. This research addresses a critical knowledge gap and is one of few studies to utilize both qualitative and quantitative data from the nationally-representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS) of US adults aged 51+. Findings will build evidence for a new concept of `cognability’, an innovative theoretical approach to indicate how supportive a geographic area is to cognitive health for aging residents through specific neighborhood resources and amenities.