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Neighborhood age composition is an understudied area. Furthermore, existing empirical and conceptual work is conflicting, with some scholarship-indicating neighborhoods with older adults are beneficial and other scholarship suggesting it can be detrimental. Combining data from 7,197 older adults from the first wave (2011) of the National Health & Aging Trends Study and census tract data from the National Neighborhood Change Database, the purposes of our study were to: 1) identify the characteristics of neighborhoods experiencing different types of changes in age composition, and 2) examine the association between neighborhood age composition and self-rated health. Findings indicate that neighborhoods experiencing Concentration (where the number of older adults are declining but their percentage of the total population are increasing), the majority of which are in urban areas, have less aggregate economic resources, more indicators of neighborhood disorder, and less access to services and supports. Regression models also suggest older adults living in Concentration neighborhoods reported lower self-rated health compared to those living in the other three neighborhood types. Findings point to the importance of considering neighborhood age composition when targeting interventions and resources, and the potential consequences of being stuck in place in a neighborhood that does not meet elders' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging in social justice research is a dynamic process as the elimination of oppression and inequality in society is a constant struggle. This reflection paper focuses on the development of a yearlong social justice and social action project informed by police brutality cases such as those involving Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. This paper provided two sets of reflections on this social justice research project: the reflections of the facilitator of the project; and the reflections of the team involved in the process. The project began in January of 2015 with the team identifying concepts and measures related to social justice and using those concepts to design and launch a study that focused on social workers' engagement in social action. The death of Freddie Gray on April 12, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland transformed this project from a social justice research project to a social action initiative. After the death of Freddie Gray, some of us were engaged in peaceful protests, volunteering to clean up communities affected by the protest activities, or providing crisis support to the children and families in the community. Within the community, the language used to describe this social action process shifted from calling it a riot and a protest to calling it an uprising and an awakening. Our reflections reinforced the idea that social justice research, under the right context, can provide a forum for what Paulo Friere called Praxis- reflective action. We expect that the research activities that will emanate from this social action initiative will further invigorate similar social justice research projects in communities around the country and around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]