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Imagining a Personalized Scenario Selectively Increases Perceived Risk of Viral Transmission for Older Adults.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Sinclair, AH; Stanley, ML; Hakimi, S; Cabeza, R; Adcock, RA; Samanez-Larkin, GR
Published in: Nat Aging
August 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a serious and prolonged public-health emergency. Older adults have been at substantially greater risk of hospitalization, ICU admission, and death due to COVID-19; as of February 2021, over 81% of COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S. occurred for people over the age of 651,2. Converging evidence from around the world suggests that age is the greatest risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness and for the experience of adverse health outcomes3,4. Therefore, effectively communicating health-related risk information requires tailoring interventions to older adults' needs5. Using a novel informational intervention with a nationally-representative sample of 546 U.S. residents, we found that older adults reported increased perceived risk of COVID-19 transmission after imagining a personalized scenario with social consequences. Although older adults tended to forget numerical information over time, the personalized simulations elicited increases in perceived risk that persisted over a 1-3 week delay. Overall, our results bear broad implications for communicating information about health risks to older adults, and they suggest new strategies to combat annual influenza outbreaks.

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Published In

Nat Aging

DOI

EISSN

2662-8465

Publication Date

August 2021

Volume

1

Issue

8

Start / End Page

677 / 683

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Risk Factors
  • Pandemics
  • Humans
  • COVID-19
  • Aged
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Sinclair, A. H., Stanley, M. L., Hakimi, S., Cabeza, R., Adcock, R. A., & Samanez-Larkin, G. R. (2021). Imagining a Personalized Scenario Selectively Increases Perceived Risk of Viral Transmission for Older Adults. Nat Aging, 1(8), 677–683. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00095-7
Sinclair, Alyssa H., Matthew L. Stanley, Shabnam Hakimi, Roberto Cabeza, R Alison Adcock, and Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin. “Imagining a Personalized Scenario Selectively Increases Perceived Risk of Viral Transmission for Older Adults.Nat Aging 1, no. 8 (August 2021): 677–83. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00095-7.
Sinclair AH, Stanley ML, Hakimi S, Cabeza R, Adcock RA, Samanez-Larkin GR. Imagining a Personalized Scenario Selectively Increases Perceived Risk of Viral Transmission for Older Adults. Nat Aging. 2021 Aug;1(8):677–83.
Sinclair, Alyssa H., et al. “Imagining a Personalized Scenario Selectively Increases Perceived Risk of Viral Transmission for Older Adults.Nat Aging, vol. 1, no. 8, Aug. 2021, pp. 677–83. Pubmed, doi:10.1038/s43587-021-00095-7.
Sinclair AH, Stanley ML, Hakimi S, Cabeza R, Adcock RA, Samanez-Larkin GR. Imagining a Personalized Scenario Selectively Increases Perceived Risk of Viral Transmission for Older Adults. Nat Aging. 2021 Aug;1(8):677–683.

Published In

Nat Aging

DOI

EISSN

2662-8465

Publication Date

August 2021

Volume

1

Issue

8

Start / End Page

677 / 683

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Risk Factors
  • Pandemics
  • Humans
  • COVID-19
  • Aged
  • 3202 Clinical sciences