Title: Loneliness, Chronic Pain and Cognitive Functioning in Racially Diverse Older Adults: Examining the Role of Minority Stress
Investigators: David Camacho PhD, MSW, MSG; Cary Reid, PhD, MD; Elaine Wethington, PhD
Overview: This project is received support from the Columbia Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Alzheimer’s Disease Disparities and the Cornell Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life. It aims to use quantitative and qualitative approaches to gain a deeper understanding of loneliness, chronic pain, and cognitive functioning among older Whites, Latinos and African Americans. Our aims include: 1) Assess the impact of loneliness and chronic pain on cognitive functioning and to determine whether such effects vary by racial group; 2) Examine if “perceived stress” moderates the impact of loneliness and/or chronic pain on cognitive functioning across all racial groups and 3) Conduct in-depth narrative interviews with older Latinos to determine how culture and minority stress factors influence experiences of loneliness, chronic pain, overall stress and cognitive functioning.