(US) Baby boomers signal shift in what ageing means
As director of Carmichael's Mission Oaks Senior Centre, Terri McAdam has made it her business to become familiar with what motivates the baby boom generation, the eldest of whom begin turning 65 in January. They want to have choices. They want to make an impact on the world around them. But most of all, just right now, they want the centre’s shuffleboard court removed to make way for an updated fitness room. "Shuffleboard was very popular with seniors here 25 years ago," said McAdam. "And there are still a few of them left who like to play, so this is a rough transition for them. But we already have martial arts going into that room."
Link to article: Baby boomers signal shift in what ageing means

(US) Ageing's misunderstood virtues
When I asked Lars Tornstam, a Swedish sociologist, for an example of the state he calls gerotranscendence, he described a hypothetical daughter planning a cocktail party. Her older mother usually attends the affairs and enjoys herself, so the daughter invites her as usual — but this time, the mother declines. Naturally, the daughter worries. Is her mother ill? Depressed? This is not like her. But perhaps there’s nothing wrong, said Dr. Tornstam, who has been investigating aging for more than 25 years. Our values and interests don’t usually remain static from the time we’re 20 years old until the time we’re 45, so why do we expect that sort of consistency in later decades?
Link to article: Ageing's misunderstood virtues

Other News
(IRE) CARDI E-Bulletin: Sept/Oct 2010 
(US) What Does It Feel Like To Be 75? Say Goodbye To Spry

Informed National Strategies and Plans

(IRE) NUI Galway Professor Raises Profile of Research on Ageing
Research on ageing led by Professor Tom Scharf, Director of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology at NUI Galway, has been profiled in a new brochure that seeks to raise the profile of social science research in the UK. Published jointly by the Academy of Social Sciences, the British Society of Gerontology, and Age UK, the brochure was recently launched in the House of Commons, London and is part of the Making the Case for the Social Sciences series. The brochure highlights projects undertaken by researchers on ageing that have had a significant impact on public policy or social behaviour, and helped society to address some of the challenges that are associated with demographic change.
Link to article: NUI Galway Professor Raises Profile of Research on Ageing
Link to brochure:  Making the Case for the Social Sciences: Ageing

(INT) Demographic ‘time bomb’ or demographic ‘dividend’: myths surrounding ageing populations in Asia
This Alert examines the validity of three common concerns associated with growing ageing populations. The first concern addresses predictions made about rising health care costs due to bigger numbers of older persons in society. The second concern addresses warnings about rising pension costs and the third concern addresses the claim of intergenerational solidarity decreasing in the Asian context, where the notion of filial piety is being called into question. Specifically, these concerns are explored within the Japanese, Singaporean and Thai context, with the aim of clarifying whether growing ageing populations in Asia are a demographic ‘time bomb’ or a demographic ‘dividend’.
Link to alert: Demographic ‘time bomb’ or demographic ‘dividend’: myths surrounding ageing populations in Asia

Other News
(AUS) Warning: Prepare for the tsunami

Enjoy an adequate income: Employment, Pensions and Retirement

(UK) Forgotten workforce: older people and their right to decent work
This report is about older people in low- and middle-income countries and the work they do. It discusses the reasons why older people work, the types of work they do, and the challenges they face. The report highlights how millions of older people are denied their right to decent work. In fact, key challenges faced by older workers across the world in their search for decent work includes insecure work, difficulty accessing capital and credit, and age discrimination and violation of rights to land. Furthermore, they suffer from poor limited access to healthcare, low incomes unpaid and unrecognised work, as well as exclusion from skills development and other programmes to support livelihoods.
Link to report: Forgotten workforce: older people and their right to decent work

(US) Financial and Insurance Industries Ahead of Others in Preparing for Ageing Workforce
Despite suffering from low morale following the economic downturn, the US Finance and Insurance sector is potentially better prepared for the aging workforce than other industries. Firms in this sector have greater awareness of employees’ career plans, work preferences, retirement rates, and are further along in developing succession plans, according to a new study by the Sloan Centre on Aging & Work.
Link to article: Financial and Insurance Industries Ahead of Others in Preparing for Ageing Workforce
Link to report:  Talent Pressures and the Aging Workforce: Finance & Insurance Sector

Other News
(US) The New Leading Industries: A Trillion Pension Industry Gold Reserves
(US) Retirement and Social Security: A Time Series Approach Based on Remaining Life Expectancy
(US) The Landscape of Retirement Continues to Change
(AUS) Ageism dead as employers seek older employees

Health

(US) Assessing Frailty Risk in Older People
Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have developed a new assessment tool that provides a reliable and practical way of assessing an older person’s risk for frailty.    Other tools have been available for a number of years but were generally not readily applicable in routine primary care practice. SHARE-FI [Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe Frailty Instrument] seeks to provide community practitioners with a valid and simple tool to measure the level of frailty in individuals older than 50 years.   Many people have been struggling to come up with a definition of frailty and the researchers feel that variables used in SHARE-FI define frailty for the user. Their variables include exhaustion, weight loss, weakness, slowness and low activity.
Link to article: Assessing Frailty Risk in Older People (Please note free registration is required to read this article)

(IRE)  Depression in older people 'not inevitable'
Depression is not an inevitable part of ageing and older people should not be embarrassed to discuss their mental health with their GP, a well-known specialist has said. According to Prof Brian Lawlor, a consultant in old age psychiatry at St James's Hospital in Dublin, depression can affect people of all ages. However while some people may believe it is inevitable as we age, ‘this is certainly not the case'.
"It is important that older people should discuss their mental health and emotional wellbeing with their GP and not feel embarrassed about it. Sometimes we see older people being very stoical and not wanting to admit a weakness, but mental health is as important as physical health and must be maintained," Prof Lawlor said.
Link to article: Depression in older people 'not inevitable'

(US) Why are drug trials in Alzheimer's disease failing?
Last week, semagacestat added itself to the phase 3 scrapheap of other disease-modifying hopefuls for Alzheimer's disease. This drug is a γ-secretase inhibitor of the final step in amyloid-β protein synthesis, aggregates of which form plaques, the hallmark of the disease. A recent review in The Lancet Neurology summarises the problems for drug development in Alzheimer's disease. Other drugs also failed phase 3 trials. Hopes were high for latrepirdine, but its CONNECTION study did not reveal a significant difference from control in March this year. Similarly, tramiprosate and tarenflurbil were abandoned.
Link to article:Why are drug trials in Alzheimer's disease failing?

Other News:
(NI) Alzheimer’s Society survey shows vital need for well-thought out Northern Ireland dementia strategy
(CAN) Report: Caring for Seniors With Alzheimer's Disease and Other Forms of Dementia
(US) Activities for people with dementia
(UK) Older people remember what they said but not who they said it to
(CAN) Fears of ageing baby boomer tsunami overblown, says medical expert
(NZL) 'Wake up' call on hospital care of over-65s
(US) For Lots of People, Getting Older Means Getting Happier
(INT) Falls represent a deadly public health problem, UN warns
(UK) Call to improve care of older people with broken hips
(US) Alzheimer’s trade-off for mentally active older people
(UK) Older people 'being left to go hungry on wards'
(US) Will Moving Later in Life Impact Your Health? It Depends…

Age-friendly communities

(IRE) More older people seek help from ALONE
A charity working with older people has recorded a significant increase in demand for its services but a drop in public donations. ALONE said it has seen a 150% increase in requests for assistance in recent months. The organisation is now a central point of contact for many older people who need help to deal with isolation, housing and other issues.
Link to article: More older people seek help from ALONE

Engagement

(US) Report: Older users flocking to Facebook, Twitter
Nancy Ehrlich was nearing 50 and frustrated, teaching at her small Pennsylvania town's elementary school with colleagues who didn't share her love of technology. Then, last summer, she found Twitter. Now, Ehrlich -- who turns 51 in a few weeks -- barely qualifies for the fastest-growing club on the Web. The number of internet users over 50 who use social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have nearly doubled in the past year, according to a study released Friday.
Link to article: Report: Older users flocking to Facebook, Twitter
Link to report: Older Adults and Social Media
 
(US) Music program has older people, tots jamming
The first Monday of every month this summer at the Old Wilson Schoolhouse Community Centre, kids from Pumpkin Patch Preschool and residents of the River Rock Lodge assisted living facility are forming a bond. Experimenting with sound, rhythm and beats, they’ve found something they can all enjoy in the Music Together of Jackson Hole program. Sixty-nine-year-old John Mannion loves to talk music trivia with program leader Susan Jones. Lois Hungate, an organist for 48 years in Cheyenne, attends because she likes to stay in touch with her passion. Betty Legg enjoys the program’s effect on her.
Link to article: Music program has older people, tots jamming

Other News:
(US) Upgrading a Boomer Dad: Gadgets
(UK) Nine million British adults have never been online, ONS says
(US) Older people enjoy reading negative stories about young

Live in a place like home: Long-term care, independent living and carers

(UK) End of Life Care Strategy: second annual report
In July 2008 the Department of Health published the End of Life Care Strategy - promoting high quality care for all adults at the end of life. This second annual report sets out the continuing progress in implementing the strategy, highlights the need for further work and identifies the action intended for this coming year.
Link to report: End of Life Care Strategy: Second Annual Report

(AUS) Annual survey into the Australian Aged Care Industry
Australia may have a shortage in supply of beds in five to seven years. The lack of access to funding is a key concern for Australian Aged Care residential accommodation providers (Providers) according to a recent survey by Deloitte into the Australian Aged Care industry. The report, "Annual survey into the Australian Aged Care Industry 2010", surveyed members from the national peak industry body, the Aged Care Association Australia, to ascertain their views on debt financing, supply capacity and our growing ageing population. The survey profiled providers in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, accounting for about 700 aged care facilities across Australia representing almost 25% of the number of facilities operating in the industry.
Link to article: Australia may have a shortage in supply of beds in five to seven years
Link to report: Annual survey into the Australian Aged Care Industry 2010

Other News:
(US) The Next Challenge for Baby Boomers is Taking Care of their Parents
(AUS) Is community care the only way forward?

Assistive and Remote Technology Services for Independent Living

(US) Ageing in Place Technology Watch August 2010 Newsletter
August was a bonanza of buzz, buzz, buzz.  Usually August is a snoozer (and a slow news month) in the business world, what with vacations and organizational regrouping. But beginning with the August 3 Intel-GE Joint Venture announcement that fuelled hope and speculation about accelerating intentions, more activity and media tracked right behind. During August, Great Call announced a new Jitterbug medication reminder service, Healthsense received a round of investment led by Radius Ventures, a $1.3 billion M-Health market sizing got Qualcomm and AT&T excited. Or maybe that that was 'mHealth' -- Best Buy (re)surfaced with health-related stuff in stores. Within the general what's-it-all-mean confusion, more press followed last month's NY Times series -- this time NPR offered up a series on aging and technology as well. Never one to shut up, I offered my own 'bah humbug' assessment of the assessment.
Link to article: Ageing in Place Technology Watch August 2010 Newsletter

(US) It's disappointing: tech to prevent wandering in independent or assisted living
I spent the weekend researching various technology offerings that might prevent an 87-year-old able-bodied person with dementia from wandering beyond a specified area in independent or assisted living campuses. I've looked into it -- and I have to say, I am disappointed -- the hype exceeds at least my research reality. That GPS shoe hyped in the press? I just called Foot.com -- it will be out now in the Spring, 2011. Geo-fencing devices like SentryGPS, Alzguard -- require placing a device in the pocket that is easily discarded into the trash by a wandering senior. LoJack, EmFinders, The Alzheimer's ComfortZone, etc. all help find a person who is already lost -- and require involvement of local police departments.  And based on Internet searching of the 'geo-fencing' ideas, the websites and references indicate to me that they aren't that widely deployed.
Link to article: It's disappointing: tech to prevent wandering in independent or assisted living

(UK) Jane Miller: 'I'm not sure I really will die'
In an extract from her new book Crazy Age, the 77-year-old author takes a stark – and very personal – look at the realities of growing old in the 21st century: A statistic from nowhere, or nowhere I remember, but it has the ring of truth: if most of us can look forward to living for about 10 years longer than our parents, we can also expect to spend the equivalent of eight of those years in hospital or doctors' waiting-rooms. When, at nearly 80, Gore Vidal was asked to explain why he had left Italy for California, he spoke of his future as "the hospital years".
Link to article: Jane Miller: 'I'm not sure I really will die'

(US) How Older People Live Now: Six Portraits
For the past few months, 10 journalism fellows at Columbia University have been delving into a subject that readers of this blog know all too well: aging in America. Among their reports, just completed, are six video portraits of older people living in a variety of circumstances — off the grid in the backwoods of Montana, for instance, or under the care of a home health aide in New York. The videos are engaging not just because of their subjects, but also because, taken together, they show something of the diversity, and resilience, with which Americans approach the final chapters of their lives.
Link to videos: How Older People Live Now: Six Portraits

Other News
(IRE) Learning from Call 3 of CARDI's research grants programme
(IRE)  Count on a statistician for a day: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
(IRE) Over 50 and ready for action: Volunteers wanted as part of Age Awareness Week NI

Informed National Strategies and Plans

(IRE) Stocktake of Ageing Public Policy Initiatives in Ireland, North and South
There are currently nearly one million people aged 60 or over living on the island of Ireland. By 2031 it is expected that Northern Ireland’s percentage of people aged 60 or over will increase to 28%. It will take until 2041 to reach a similar level in the Republic of Ireland. The economic, social and political consequences of an ageing population are a challenge for policy makers. Both jurisdictions have begun to address the issue and there is evidence of an increased focus on older people at policy level, as the following initiatives highlight. This updated document aims to provide researchers, policy makers and voluntary and community representatives with an overview of ageing policy initiatives in Ireland, North and South, and at EU and International level.
Link to report: Stocktake of Ageing Public Policy Initiatives in Ireland, North and South

Other News:
(AUS) Brains fest on the ageing population (VIDEO)
(AUS) Australia's real challenge is population ageing

Enjoy an adequate income: Employment, Pensions and Retirement

(NI) Northern Ireland ‘has highest level of OAPs in poverty’
More older people are living in poverty in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the UK. The number struggling is on the increase as the recession bites. Charity Age Northern Ireland said almost a quarter were too poor. The group wants to see benefits like winter fuel payments protected. Anne O’Reilly, Age NI chief executive, said: “If we do not address the needs of the older population today then we risk storing up even greater problems at an even higher cost to the public purse in the future.” A total of 23% of elderly people in Northern Ireland are living in poverty, an increase of 2% on last year's figures, compared to 16% across the rest of the UK. By 2030 more than a quarter of the population will be aged over 60.
Link to article: Northern Ireland ‘has highest level of OAPs in poverty’
Link to report: Households Below Average Income Report 2008-2009

(UK) Raising the state-pension age: When I'm 66 - And the reforms won’t stop there
Not so long ago the right to receive a state pension from the age of 65 seemed inalienable. That threshold had, after all, first been set in 1925. It was lowered to 60 for women in 1940, but was due to be equalised between 2010 and 2020, so that by the end of the decade 65 would apply to all workers. But in 2005 a pensions commission headed by Adair Turner, a troubleshooter who now chairs the Financial Services Authority, shook the status quo. It recommended that the state-pension age should go higher than 65 to make pensions in an ageing society more affordable. Under Tony Blair Labour decided to raise it to 66 between 2024 and 2026, and to 68 by 2046. The coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats now running Britain wants to move faster.
Link to article: Raising the state-pension age: When I'm 66 - And the reforms won’t stop there

(UK) Raise U.K. pension age to 72: Think-tank
A British think-tank said the nation's pension age will have to rise to 72 within the next twenty years in order to curb costs to the government and keep pace with increased life expectancy. British women currently can claim the state pension from age 60, while men can claim it once they reach 65. The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) explained that in 1981 British people normally received the state pension for about 25% of their life. However, due to increased longevity, by 2000, that figure had risen to 30%. By this year, it is estimated that the average Briton will be receiving state benefits for one-third of their lives. Thus, PPI advised that if the Government sought to maintain the amount of time people could claim state pension the same as the 1981 level, it would have to increase the pension age to 72 by the year 2030.
Link to article: Raise U.K. pension age to 72: Think-tank

Other News:
(IRE) Silver surfers
(IND) Pension reforms for an ageing society
(UK) David Cameron's election vow to pensioners to keep benefits may be broken
(UK) Brussels figures show massive growth in pensions for Eurocrats
(AUS) Raising pension age 'will not work'
(NI) Winter fuel payment 'needs urgent review
(UK) Four out of 10 pensioners working
(AUS) Australian businesses embracing older workers
(US) Baby Boomer Bankruptcies on the Rise

Health

(IRE) Recall of hip replacement device
Some Irish patients who have undergone a hip replacement face the possibility of surgery to replace the device after revelations that a faulty product may have been used. Hip replacement recall FAQs
The recall involves the DePuy ASR AX acetabular system launched in 2004. It is distributed in Ireland by PEI. Affected patients may have to undergo MRI scans, blood tests and surgery to remove the product. Problems with the device include the need for repeat surgery due to loosening parts, infections, fractures, dislocation, sensitivity to the metal and pain.
Link to article: Recall of hip replacement device

(UK) The Future of Health
We face a future of more demands on the health service at a time when we already see health inequalities and complaints about the non-acute care which older people receive in hospitals.
This is accompanied by a greater number of older people and a future fiscal regime which is likely to squeeze public sector spending. Although the NHS budget is “ring fenced”, healthcare spending has to increase in real terms just to stand still. Even real term increases in health budgets may not meet the future demands for healthcare when you take into account a growing older population and increased incidence of chronic diseases. This short discussion paper is not intended to answer questions about the future of health. Rather, ILC-UK are publishing this paper as the starting point for a debate on the future of health. This discussion paper begins to explore questions around:
· The impact of an ageing society on healthcare provision and demand over the next 10 years?
· How health provision could change in the future?
· Given the changing landscape of health, how can we fund healthcare in the future?
Link to discussion paper: The Future of Health

(UK) New Alzheimer's Study Seeks To Find Earliest Clues To Disease Progression
Today, 5.3 million Americans are suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD), and every 70 seconds, another person develops this devastating disease. These numbers will continue to increase with our aging population unless new prevention and treatment strategies are discovered. A study funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) may help provide some answers. This two-year, $24 million study -- the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Grand Opportunity (ADNI GO) -- focuses for the first time on people experiencing the very earliest complaints of memory problems that affect their daily activities. ADNI GO expands on the groundbreaking Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and will continue efforts to identify biomarkers that can help build a greater understanding of the progression of AD.
Link to artcle: New Alzheimer’s Study Seeks To Find Earliest Clues To Disease Progression

(UK) Fear of falling 'boosts elderly's fall risk'
Being frightened of falling over is likely to increase an old person's risk of having a fall, researchers have found. The link remained even when they were not actually at a high risk, the study in the British Medical Journal found. The Australian and Belgian researchers said anxieties should be taken into account when assessing someone's risk of falling UK experts said services to help elderly people needed to be improved. Fear of falling is common in older people and is associated with poor balance, anxiety, depression and falls. But the team of researchers from Australia and Belgium said not enough emphasis had been given to the effect of irrational fears on falls.
Link to article: Fear of falling 'boosts elderly's fall risk'

Other News:
(AUS) New model of care for falls patients
(AUS) No seeing old age
(IRE) CARDI Focus On...Nutrition
(UK) Memory loss 'should not be ignored'

Age-friendly communities

(UK) Ageism and Age Discrimination
Ageism and age discrimination are very relevant to the current debates on the future of the state pension, the viability of raising state pension ages, and extending working lives. In essence, the question often asked is: are there ‘discriminatory’ barriers to the employment of older people which could and should be removed? In the last 20 years, there has been a revival of interest in the problem of age
discrimination in employment. It is a revival, rather than a new discovery, because the question of whether the labour market problems of older workers have been caused by discrimination per se or by other factors (notably, economic restructuring) is one that has been debated since at least the 1930s. This recent revival is intriguing, because it has been built upon a combination of ‘social justice’ and ‘economic efficiency’ justifications.
Link to paper: Ageism and Age Discrimination

(AUS) Neville launches 10-year plan to address ageing communities
Initiatives including more local government support to help older Australians living in rural and remote communities will form part of a 10-year plan to address the state’s ageing population, the State Government has announced. Releasing the Brumby Government’s plan Ageing in Victoria: A plan for an age-friendly society 2010-2020, Minister for Senior Victorians Lisa Neville said Australians had one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world. Some of the initiatives to support the plan include: Providing free weekend public transport in Melbourne and regional town centres for Seniors Card holders; and, an extra 2,000 hours of interpreter services to be funded through Home and Community Care; The government will also invest $1 million in expanding Community Registers around the state to ensure local health providers can assist vulnerable seniors during heatwaves; and, develop a ‘Status of Seniors’ report every two years
Link to article: Neville launches 10-year plan to address ageing communities
Link to report: Ageing in Victoria

(US) How Age Friendly is Your Community?
If you haven't seen much yet about "age friendly" communities, you will. Starting next year, 10,000 Baby Boomers a day will turn 65. The cumulative impact of an aging society has moved -- slowly, to be sure -- into the mainstream. What's clear at this point is that there is no single model for making a city, suburb, or even neighborhood age friendly. Even the priorities in pursuing such an objective differ greatly. What doesn't differ so much are the things older residents say would make their community more age friendly: housing that better accommodates older occupants and visitors; public and volunteered transportation that provides affordable, physically accessible, safe. and flexible service; downtown areas and, especially in the suburbs, gathering places that are pedestrian friendly and don't require a car to reach; retailers who "get it" about legible store signage, senior sensitivity in product selections, and accessible store layouts, and, a range of "aging in place" healthcare and social-service supports that help older people lead independent lives and remain in their homes as long as possible.
Link to article: How Age Friendly is Your Community?

(US) Building Homes to Age In
National Public Radio's All Things Considered, in the fourth part of a series, discuss baby boomers who are redesigning their homes with their senior living needs in mind. As Americans live longer than ever, some will find it difficult to stay in their beloved homes: Steep stairs or a slippery shower can pose dangers, and standard houses are not wheelchair accessible. One solution? With 78 million baby boomers about to hit retirement age, some say the time is ripe to overhaul the way homes are designed. This movement is already helping 82-year-old Jim Waggoner.
Link to audio and article: Building Homes to Age In

Other News:
(US) What (Some) Baby Boomers Want in a Retirement Community
(US) Ageing in China – The Role of Volunteers

Engagement

(IRE) Dial "A" for Age-Mobile firms target over 60s
There is a lot of talk about the transformational effect of technology on our lives but its impact is often determined by age. People 65 and older still make up less than 10 per cent of the active internet audience and half of them do not possess a mobile phone. A lazy conclusion is to dismiss the elderly as “technophobes” and blame them, but it can also be viewed as a failure by technologists to reach a massive market that is only going to get bigger as life expectancy increases.
Link to article: Dial "A" for Age-Mobile firms target over 60s

(UK) Call off the intergenerational wars
These days, intergenerational war seems to be all the rage. "It's all the fault of the baby boomers" is the new conservative rallying cry. David Willetts, in his book The Pinch, argues that the baby boomers took the money and ran, leaving the younger generation with nothing. Other new books try a similar pitch, such as Ed Howker and Shiv Malik's Jilted Generation and Francis Beckett's What Did The Baby Boomers Ever Do For Us? Will Hutton seems to agree. Not that the cry is new. In France, Nicolas Sarkozy won the presidency by blaming our troubled times on the lax moral standards and antipatriotic slogans of "les soixante huitards". Before the German elections in 2008, the finance minister, Peer Steinbrück, railed against raising Keynesian-style public borrowing on the grounds that it would saddle future generations with a mountain of debt for which they would never forgive us, a cry parroted only last June by Nick Clegg.
Link to article: Call off the intergenerational wars

Other News:
(NI) Positive support for older people call
(UK) Wales commissioner calls for older people's rights
(UK) Older people 'embracing text and email'
(US) Feeling empowered in later life could make you feel younger
(US) Silver surfers promise golden years for ICT industry
(US) IBM to Develop Mobile Apps for Rural, Ageing Population

Live in a place like home: Long-term care, independent living and carers

(UK) Doctors' Religious Faith Influences End Of Life Care
A new study from the UK suggests that doctors' religious faith strongly influences end of life care, with agnostic and atheist doctors nearly twice as willing to take decisions that speed up end of life for very sick patients compared to their deeply religious peers. Data for the study came from a postal survey of UK doctors working in a range of specialisms where end of life decisions are most likely to occur, such as care of the elderly, palliative care, intensive care, certain hospital specialties, and general practice. The survey asked participants questions about their own faith and religious beliefs, ethnicity, and views on assisted dying and euthanasia. It also asked them a series of questions about the care of their last patient who died (if relevant), including whether they had given them continuous deep sedation until death, and if they had talked to the patient about decisions judged likely to shorten life.
Link to article: Doctors' Religious Faith Influences End Of Life Care

(CAN) Caring for caregivers: one in six informal care providers in distress
One in six people providing informal care to seniors experiences distress, according to a new study released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), and those caring for seniors with moderate to severe cognitive impairment, such as those with Alzheimer’s or other dementia, are most at risk The first of two related studies released today, Supporting Informal Caregivers—The Heart of Home Care looked at more than 130,000 seniors (age 65 and older), including many with complex health conditions, who received publicly funded long-term home care in 2007–2008. Virtually all (98%) of these home care clients also relied on an informal caregiver—a spouse, adult child, friend or neighbour who provided emotional support along with assistance in daily living activities, from shopping, transportation and medication management to bathing, dressing and feeding. About 55% of seniors in the study—and three-quarters of those who were married—received informal care from a spouse, while almost 75% of those who were not married received care from an adult child.
Link to article: Caring for caregivers: one in six informal care providers in distress
Link to report: Supporting Informal Caregivers – The Heart of Home Care

(US) Palliative Care — A Shifting Paradigm
Researchers at Harvard Medical School in the US have found that patients receiving palliative care lived a longer, better life then those not receiving the care. Despite the increasing availability of palliative care services in U.S. hospitals and the body of evidence showing the great distress to patients caused by symptoms of the illness, the burdens on family caregivers, and the overuse of costly, ineffective therapies during advanced chronic illness, the use of palliative care services by physicians for their patients remains low. Physicians tend to perceive palliative care as the alternative to life-prolonging or curative care — what we do when there is nothing more that we can do — rather than as a simultaneously delivered adjunct to disease-focused treatment.
Link to article: Palliative Care — A Shifting Paradigm

(US) 'Granny Pods' Keep Elderly Close, At Safe Distance
Of all the elderly people he's visited, the Rev. Kenneth Dupin remembers a woman named Katie in particular. Katie had a houseful of treasured memorabilia, and she loved to regale him with stories of Washington high society in the 1950s. But after she was moved to a nursing home, "she started crying," Dupin says. "I went over to her, and she pulled me down to where I could hear her, and she said, 'Please take me home.'" She never did go back home, but after she died, her memory stayed with Dupin. He tells NPR's Audie Cornish that it got him wondering if there was a way to keep people like Katie out of nursing homes and closer to their families. His idea might seem strange, but "granny pods" are catching on. The granny pod's real name is the MEDCottage, and it's basically a mini mobile home that rents for about $2,000 a month. You park one in the backyard, hook it up to your water and electricity, and it becomes a free-standing spare room for Grandma and Grandpa.
Link to article: 'Granny Pods' Keep Elderly Close, At Safe Distance

Other News:
(US) Commonwealth Fund looks at Long-Term Care
(US) Demographics & Asset Markets: Who will take care of the baby boomers?

Assistive and Remote Technology Services for Independent Living

(US) The Hype and Hope of “mHealth”
Another day, another flyer arrives for a seminar on “mHealth.” One that showed up in my mailbox this week is typical: high-gloss images of mobile phones and heart signals, celebratory claims about how all of this will “revolutionize” healthcare, and liberal use of the words “innovation” and “transformation” in almost every keynote title. I bet I could circle the globe going to all of these mHealth events if I would let myself. Then there are the numerous press articles starting to beat the drum about mHealth. Concepts like “home health” and “wireless” and “smart phone” and “telehealth” are being bandied about as if they are all the same thing, under the rubric of “mHealth,” without much distinction between these very different capabilities, value propositions, and markets. Methinks we doth proclaim too much!
Link to article: The Hype and Hope of “mHealth”

(UK) Life-changing healthcare technology
Every morning, 62-year-old Eddie Beardsmore is greeted by beeps coming from a small black box on his hall table, followed by the message: “Time to take your readings!” Eddie, a former sales manager from Looe, Cornwall, suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which means his lung function is severely impaired. He knows the routine. He puts his finger into an oxymeter, a small clip that fits over the fingertip and is attached to the box. Then he watches as his pulse rate (about 103 beats per minute today) and the level of oxygen saturated in his blood, known as “sats” (86 per cent), are recorded and flash up on a small LCD screen. Here in rural Cornwall, Eddie is part of a technical revolution; one of 2,000 local sufferers of chronic diseases (including COPD, diabetes and heart conditions) who are testing the concept of telehealth.
Link to article: Life-changing healthcare technology

(US) Qualcomm, AT&T Move in on 'M-Health'
Qualcomm, the mobile-phone chipmaker, and AT&T, the largest U.S. phone company, are angling for a piece of the emerging market for wireless devices used in providing health-related services to consumers on the go and at home. U.S. sales of related wireless gadgets, applications, and services for consumers are projected to double to $600 million this year and may more than double again, to $1.3 billion, in 2011, according to consulting firm Parks Associates in Dallas. Growth potential for the so-called m-health market is attracting growing interest from other tech industry giants, including Intel, IBM and Sprint Nextel.
Link to article: Qualcomm, AT&T Move in on 'M-Health'

Other News:
(EU) Telehealth Solutions Cuts out the 'Middle Man'
(US) BRIC telemedicine market forecast
(US) mHealth- What scope is there in the remote monitoring market for chronic diseases?
(UK) Boots pilots TeleMedCare telehealth equipment in stores
(US) High-Tech Aging: Tracking Older People’s Every Move
(UK) NHS Wiltshire Launches Next-Generation Telehealth for COPD to Help Cut Hospital Admissions

(UK) Peter Townsend Memorial Conference 2009
The Peter Townsend Memorial Conference was held in the Conway Hall, London on the 20th November 2009. There were twenty speeches and over three hundred people participated. The conference consisted of a series of hour-long panels on different topics: Older People, Poverty and Social Exclusion,  Inequalities in Health, Social Policy. The aim of the conference was to be forward looking rather than only reminiscing about the past. The full list of speakers and their presentations are now available.
Link to presentations: Peter Townsend Memorial Conference 2009

Position Paper 2: Enjoy an adequate income: Employment, Pensions and Retirement

(UK) When should the state pension age increase to 66?
This policy paper from TAEN-The Age and Employment Network, is a response to UK government consultation on raising the retirement age. A justification often given for raising state pension ages is that “people are living longer”. It is true that life expectancy at birth has increased steadily over the past 40 years, but life expectancy at age 65 has increased relatively slowly. Where the funding of pension systems is concerned, it is of course life expectancy at 65 that matters. If life expectancy at birth increases rapidly, but life expectancy at 65 does not, this is beneficial for pension systems since the proportion of contributors grows faster than the proportion of beneficiaries (depending, of course, on other variables, such as the economic activity rates of those aged under 65). At the moment, life expectancy at age 65 is increasing by only 2 per cent per annum - hardly a problematic rate of increase, and one that could arguably be dealt with by economic growth (even in the current difficult economic circumstances).
Link to paper: When should the state pension age increase to 66?

(UK) Number of people working beyond 65 soars
In the last three months an extra 40,000 people over the age of 65 have joined the work force, taking the total number to 823,000. This is the highest number since the Office for National Statistics started keeping these figures in 1992. The highest quarterly jump previously was no more than 26,000. It means that one in 12 people over 65 are now working. The figures suggest that thousands of older people are going back to work to fund their slim incomes, or that they are not in a financially strong enough position to retire in the first place, according to experts. Some are also actively choosing to work longer.
Link to article: Number of people working beyond 65 soars

(US) Baby boomers will transform the concept of retirement
In case you missed it, last weekend marked an important demographic milestone in our nation’s history. You may think that it was just the 65th anniversary of our victory over Japan, but demographically it was the beginning of the baby boomers retiring. The baby boom generation — that 20 year increase in the birth rate following the end of WWII — covers a lot of ground in our nation’s history. The first boomers served in Vietnam; some of the latecomers are still serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the boomers are more than just a demographic phenomenon; they have also proved to be a social and cultural phenomenon as well. Few would deny that the boomers transformed much of our society — from music and art to sex and politics. And now, they threaten to transform the concept of “retirement” as well.
Link to article: Baby boomers will transform the concept of retirement

(UK) The end of ageism?
Recently announced plans by the UK Government to phase out the default retirement age (DRA), a law which allows companies to dismiss employees at 65, will affect more than just those workers who are considering their imminent retirement options. With rising life expectancies and underperforming pensions and savings, plans by the government to phase out the DRA from April 2011 provide a welcome choice for employees – to retire or continue to work past 65. The announcement also brings issues around competency, training and recruitment into the spotlight for employers. Abolishing the DRA will bring an end to forced retirement, giving older employees the choice to stay in paid employment as long as they are able to do so.
Link to article: The end of ageism?

(UK) Pension age would have to reach 72 to keep costs at previous levels
The pension age would have to rise from 65 to 72 in order to keep Government costs at levels experienced a generation ago, according to a think tank. The Pensions Policy Institute said it is unfair and expensive for workers to retire at the same age as those born decades before them, as life expectancy is increasing substantially. But it warned that poor people do not live as long as the rich, and suggested that they should therefore receive more in their state pensions.
Link to article: Pension age would have to reach 72 to keep costs at previous levels

(US) Another Threat to Economy: Boomers Cutting Back
America's baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—face a problem that could weigh on the economy for years to come: The longer it takes for the economy to recover, the less money they'll have to spend in retirement. Policy makers have long worried that Americans aren't saving enough for old age. And lately, current and prospective retirees have been hit on many fronts at once: They have less money, they earn less on what they have, their houses aren't rising in value and the prospect of working longer to make up the shortfall has dimmed significantly in a lousy job market. "We will have to learn to make do with a lot less in material things," says Gary Snodgrass, a 63-year-old health-care consultant in Placerville, Calif. The financial crisis, he says, slashed his retirement savings 40% and the value of his house by about half.
Link to article: Another Threat to Economy: Boomers Cutting Back

(UK) £4.3m to help older people find work
Wales’ growing number of over-50s will benefit from a £4.3m package to tackle “crippling” unemployment. The nation has the highest percentage of older people in the UK – the over-50s now make up more than a third of the population. And the number who are out of work has increased by more than 50% in the space of a year, research for Age UK has revealed. The Big Lottery Fund money will help older people “re-engage” with education, learning, volunteering and employment. Ceri Doyle, Big Lottery Fund director for Wales, said: “Older workers have a wealth of talent and experience which will aid economic recovery. “The money made available will show that age should not be a barrier and help ensure these vital skills are not lost.”
Link to article: £4.3m to help older people find work

(NI) Left on the scrapheap: number of over 50s claiming benefit doubles
Major concerns have been voiced at the growing number of unemployed workers in their 50s across Northern Ireland being left on the job scrapheap. Concerns that older workers will be left behind on the road to economic recovery comes after figures revealed the number of people over 50 claiming benefits across the province has almost doubled in two years. In July 2008 figures issued by the Department for Enterprise Trade and Investment showed that 3,800 people in their 50s were claiming unemployment benefits. By July 2010 this had jumped to 7,395 — 13.1% of the total number of people claiming benefits.
Link to article: Left on the scrapheap: number of over 50s claiming benefit doubles

(UK) Winter fuel payment cuts to hit millions of older people
The Daily Telegraph has learnt that ministers have resolved to increase the qualifying age for the annual payment from 60 to at least 66. Talks are under way about an even bigger rise.  The basic winter fuel payment, made to more than 12 million people, will also be cut by £50 for new recipients and £100 for the oldest.It would be the first major restriction in a universal benefit under the Coalition, and could open the door to more dramatic announcements, with cuts to child benefit also under discussion. The move comes despite a pre-election promise from David Cameron to safeguard benefits for older people, including winter fuel payments.
Link to article: Winter fuel payment cuts to hit millions of older people

(IRE) The importance of workplace relationships post-retirement
The influence of traditional social structures such as neighbourhoods and local organisations has declined. The workplace has become the 'new neighbourhood' and has become increasingly important for maintaining social interaction and forming relationships. A new article in Personal Relationships finds that those who retired just ten years ago, at the beginning of the 21st century, were more likely to maintain (or even gain) work-related personal ties after retirement, than were those who retired in the 1990's. Furthermore, a majority of more recent retirees have at least one work-related tie in their personal network. This finding applies to both male and female retirees.
Link to article: The importance of workplace relationships post-retirement

Position Paper 3: Health

(IRE) Fifteen-day pledge on over-70s medical card processing
Medical card applications for those aged over 70 years will from now on be processed within 15 days, down from the current waiting time of 12-16 weeks, Minister for Health Mary Harney has told the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children. This follows widespread complaints by GPs and other groups that patients were being forced to wait months to obtain or renew cards, and that concerned applicants were unable to contact the office by telephone.
Link to article: Fifteen-day pledge on over-70s medical card processing

(US) Will Better Access to Health Care Change How Much Older Men Work?
Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College examines the potential effects of health care reform on the long-range employment decisions of older men. They look at the potential effects of several scenarios, which include individuals opening their own business, retiring early, or continuing in their current positions
Link to report: Will Better Access to Health Care Change How Much Older Men Work?

(AUS) Dangerous dementia diagnoses
Older Australians are being inaccurately diagnosed and treated for dementia because some medical and aged care staff are commonly confusing the symptoms of the disease with the tell-tale signs of depression, delirium and schizophrenia. Director and senior staff specialist geriatrician for Southcare at Sutherland Hospital, Associate Professor Peter Gonski, believes this misdiagnosis in the older population is a major issue that is currently not being addressed. “First of all people are not recognising the problem,” Associate Professor Gonski said. “A lot of people think that delirium equals dementia. Most older people in a hospital setting will have delirium not dementia.
Link to article: Dangerous dementia diagnoses

(UK) Dementia patients teach history to secondary school pupils
Dementia sufferers have been teaching high school students history as part of a ground-breaking new project. Shuttleworth College, Padiham, has teamed up with Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust’s Memory Assessment Services to help pupils learn while encouraging dementia patients to test their memories. The project, which was launched in February, is now being extended by head teacher Martin Burgess who said the new GCSE Citizenship group was to invite health bosses into the school to share the details of the project.
Link to article: Dementia patients teach history to secondary school pupils

(UK) Achieving goals empowers people with dementia
Achieving personal goals can help people in the early stages of dementia manage their condition, Alzheimer's Society research published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry has found. Researchers at Bangor University, Wales found that people who received cognitive rehabilitation felt their performance of daily activities improved. Carers of those receiving the treatment also noted an improvement in their own quality of life. Cognitive rehabilitation is a treatment where people with dementia work with health professionals to identify personal goals and develop strategies for achieving them. Goals were tailored to the participants' specific needs and included things such as remembering details of jobs to be done around the house, maintaining concentration when cooking, learning to use a mobile phone and remembering the names of people at an exercise class. The cognitive rehabilitation group said they saw an improvement in their ability to carry out all of the chosen activities.
Link to article: Achieving goals empowers people with dementia

(US) GlaxoSmithKline strikes back over anti-ageing pills
Drugs designed to combat age-related diseases work as claimed, according to research published last week in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The authors, most of who work for the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) subsidiary Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, hope that the findings will quell debates over whether the drugs activate a key anti-ageing protein called SIRT1. Sirtris, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts had been working on compounds that activate SIRT1 and showed promising effects, prompting London-based drug giant GSK to buy the company for US$720 million in 2008. The drugs are thought to mimic the effects of the red wine component resveratrol. Even at that time, a team led by Matt Kaeberlein, a biochemist at the University of Washington in Seattle questioned whether resveratrol directly activates SIRT1, which is involved in the anti-ageing effects of dietary restriction. Their experiments showed that resveratrol activated SIRT1 only when a fluorescent molecule used to gauge its activity was present. Scientists at biotechnology company Amgen in Thousand Oaks, California came to a similar conclusion last year.
Link to article: GlaxoSmithKline strikes back over anti-ageing pills

(US) Sharing of Data Leads to Progress on Alzheimer’s
In 2003, a group of scientists and executives from the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the drug and medical-imaging industries, universities and non-profit groups joined in a project that experts say had no precedent: a collaborative effort to find the biological markers that show the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in the human brain. Now, the effort is bearing fruit with a wealth of recent scientific papers on the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s using methods like PET scans and tests of spinal fluid. More than 100 studies are under way to test drugs that might slow or stop the disease.
Link to article: Sharing of Data Leads to Progress on Alzheimer’s

(US) Kevin Stone: The bio-future of joint replacement
Arthritis and injury grind down millions of joints, but few get the best remedy -- real biological tissue. In this video orthopaedic surgeon, Kevin Stone shows a treatment that could sidestep the high costs and donor shortfall of human-to-human transplants with a novel use of animal tissue.
Link to video: Kevin Stone: The bio-future of joint replacement

Position Paper 4: Age-friendly communities

(SIN) Build age-friendly estates
Housing estates in Singapore should be designed to facilitate 'ageing-in-place', where active-ageing and growing old in familiar surroundings are encouraged and provided for. This is the key thrust of a focus group report on 'Quality of Life' which was submitted to the Ministry of National Development Ministry and Urban Redevelopment Authority. Another group also presented its final report on 'Sustainability and Identity' which includes recommendations on how Singapore can be a sustainable city and an endearing home. The reports, which include feedback from public consultations, will be considered in drawing up the Concept Plan 2011, which will be made public in the second half of next year. The Plan covers strategic land use and transportation plan to guide Singapore's development over the next 40 to 50 years
Link to article: Build age-friendly estates
Link to report: Concept Plan 2011 Focus Groups present final recommendations to URA

Position Paper 5: Engagement

(IRE) HSE Elder Abuse Short Film Competition launched
The HSE have announced details of a short film competition, the purpose of which is to raise awareness of the issue of elder abuse.  The HSE is inviting the public to submit a short film of between 30 to 60 seconds in duration to YouTube  based on the theme “Open Your Eyes – Open Your Lens” before Friday 29th October 2010. Whether the films are made using digital cameras or mobile phones or professional film making equipment, bringing awareness to the issue of elder abuse is the main judging criterion. The HSE has published a sample 60 second short film on the Open Your Eyes - Open your Lens page of hse.ie for applicants to view and has also made available some handy hints including how to upload a video to YouTube and the rules of the competition.  All of the information is available on the websites and newsletters of the organisations partnering the competition as below.
More Information: HSE Elder Abuse Short Film Competition launched
Link to video: Open Your Eyes - Open your Lens

(UK) Readers recommend songs about old age: The results
It's an age-old subject (sorry), and one which so many have tackled, but here we try to whittle down the best songs about moving inexorably towardsdeath. One of the best-known lines in all of rock'n'roll is "hope I die before I get old" in My Generation by the Who. But this list isn't so much about the anticipation, or fear, of ageing, as the condition of being old, and how that makes you think, feel, behave. It's a big subject, so not surprisingly most of rock's big hitters have pitched in with contributions over the years. In fact, it would have been easy to compile a list comprising just the towering likes of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash, not least for the fascination of seeing how old age affects cosseted multimillionaire rock stars.
Link to article: Readers recommend songs about old age: The results

(US) Babyboomers lead wave of grey divorce
As she and her husband drove home after celebrating their 25th anniversary on the coast, Tracy Bryan realized with a shock that being married to him was not how she wanted to grow old. "We had grown and changed," said Bryan, now 53, whose divorce from her college sweetheart was final in 2008. "I changed what I wanted out of life." As baby boomers approach retirement age looking forward to many more long, healthy years of life, the number of couples calling it quits after decades of marriage is on the rise. Born between 1946 and 1964, boomers already have a divorce rate triple that of their parents. And now they're pioneering a new trend in splitting up: the so-called "gray divorce" phenomenon of couples going their separate ways after 20 or more years together.
Link to article: Babyboomers lead wave of grey divorce

Position Paper 6: Live in a place like home: Long-term care, independent living and carers

(IRE) Services for older people have undergone 'huge change'
Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly’s criticism of the national system for providing long-term care to older people is out of date and does not take into account recent reforms, according to Noel Mulvihill, HSE assistant national director for older persons. Mulvihill, who was appointed last October to overhaul the HSE’s delivery of services to older people, says older people get a far more consistent and higher standard of care now following a radical re-orientation of HSE services since 2005. “Historically yes, with separate entities and 10 different health boards prior to 2005 things were done in different ways. Now we are working in a uniform and singular fashion and we have brought in mechanisms to reflect that such as the subvention system in 2007 and the Fair Deal in 2009,” he says.
Link to article: Services for older people have undergone 'huge change'

(IRE) Hospice chief urges reform of system
The chief executive of the Irish Hospice Foundation has hit out at the “postcode lottery” for those with terminal conditions. Eugene Murray said there were large differences between regions in the care that is available to people at the end of their lives and suffering from terminal cancer, heart or respiratory conditions. The Government could make significant improvements to services at no additional cost to the exchequer, he said. It was “not a problem about money and not a problem about policy, it’s a problem of implementation”. He said many hospitals had terminal cancer patients occupying acute beds needlessly and these patients could be treated from a hospice care facility, or at home.
Link to article: Hospice chief urges reform of system

(IRE) Nursing home repayments better spent elsewhere
The mini-exodus of older people from public to private nursing homes has been happening quietly now for months. This is because the introduction of the Fair Deal scheme late last year has made private homes more affordable. The result is that a growing number are shunning Health Service Executive (HSE) homes, some of which were originally converted from being old work houses. The layout of the old homes means that many older people endure the indignity of sharing 'nightingale' wards, with rows of beds facing each other and little privacy. They may have varying stages of disability and some are in advanced stages of dementia. Although these homes are now independently inspected by the Health Information and Quality Authority, since July of last year the State was given a reprieve of up to six years to carry out the building work to close down these wards. Many of the buildings are not fit for refurbishment and should be shut down as they are beyond being transformed to meet proper standards.
Link to article: Nursing home repayments better spent elsewhere

(US) On the Road With, or Without, Older Parents
It’s August, time for a vacation from everything stressful — work, commuting, heat, congestion. But what about caregiving? Do adult children of older parents deserve a break from them, too? Plenty of New Old Age readers no doubt identify with a woman who, describing herself and her husband as “empty-nesters in our 50s,” recently raised this question in Slate’s provocative advice column, “Dear Prudence.” Bringing her husband’s 80-plus-year-old-parents along on vacations, the woman wrote, “is more stressful than going to work.” The older couple “cannot travel as they used to,” making it difficult for the 50-somethings to relax together, which their punishing jobs rarely allow them to do. Yet her mother-in-law calls almost nightly, she wrote, “begging us to take them.” Her question: “Are we selfish to want to be alone on our vacations?”
Link to article: On the Road With, or Without, Older Parents

Assistive and Remote Technology Services for Independent Living

(EU) Pill that texts trialled in UK
A smart pill that can text a patient’s mobile phone if they forget to take their medication is to be trialled in the UK. The Raisin system has been developed by California-based company, Proteus Biomedical, and is made from digestible sensors that are activated by the stomach fluids. Once activated, the sensor sends a low-power digital signal through to a patch on the patient's shoulder, which then decodes and records the information before sending it over a phone connection. The pill will be trialled with 40 patients at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust. If successful, it will be followed up with a year long trial.
Link to article: Pill that texts trialled in UK

(US) 36 presentations/2 days: looking back at Stanford Mobile Health 2010 Conference
Attendees learned how today's mobile technology can improve the health of everyday people. What was special about this event? Mobile Health 2010 had a precise and practical focus: It highlighted how today's mobile technology can improve the health of everyday people. The emphasis was on what's working to change behaviour, right now. The speakers did not waste your time talking about unproven solutions that are "just around the corner." And the speakers did not give sales pitches. Mobile Health 2010 highlighted research findings, solutions, and insights into using mobile technology to change health-related behaviours and improve personal and public health.
Link to presentations: Day One
Link to presentations: Day Two

(US) Silicon Valley seeks a cure for health care
America's health care system might be likened to an out-of-shape, stressed-out, chronically ill, semi-coherent, underinsured relative whose medical bills keep going up, up, up -- and threaten to bankrupt the family. Silicon Valley has been working on cures for years. Today, five months after President Barack Obama signed landmark legislation intended to extend health coverage to nearly all Americans and bring rocketing costs under control, valley venture capital firms, start-ups and giants such as Intel are angling to apply tech know-how to an industry known for inefficiency and resistance to change. Much like the cleantech firms that have scored Department of Energy grants and loan guarantees, many health-sector companies hope to tap into a new $10 billion innovation fund created by the law to test and promote technologies and ideas that can improve health care while reducing its cost.
Link to article: Silicon Valley seeks a cure for health care

(EU) Philips joins e-Health venture fund
Royal Philips Electronics has announced that it has joined a new, €200m venture capital fund for innovative early and growth stage healthcare technology companies in Europe and the US. Philips says it is investing in Gilde Healthcare III in order to foster innovation in areas of strategic interest to its healthcare business. It says it believes that the most effective way to deploy venture capital is through an independent fund that can use the expertise of professional fund managers and other investors. Steve Rusckowski, chief executive officer of Philips Healthcare, said: “The venturing community has been instrumental in bringing breakthrough healthcare innovations to the market.
Link to article: Philips joins e-Health venture fund

The Business of Ageing

(US) Boomer Marketing – Part Three
The seller of luxury goods and services must market to baby boomers, who constitute an important and wealthy segment of affluent customers. Websites, marketing, and advertising must target baby boomers. You must design websites that appeal to and attract affluent baby boomers, and the websites must be consistently easy to use, so baby boomers will stay on the site. This calls for simplicity of design, more colour contrast, and larger fonts which boomers can see and read, because many of them utilize reading glasses.
Link to article: Boomer Marketing – Part Three

(US) Boomer Marketing – Part Four
Harris Interactive reports most baby boomers are still in the workforce, and are a driving force in the housing market. The same report concludes 42% of baby boomers would like to retire in the South, 32% in the Western United States, 15% in the Midwest, and 12% in the Northeast. Which means the bulk of opportunity for marketing luxury real estate remains in the Sunbelt. Four out of ten or 40% of baby boomers own second, separate vacation homes. In fact, baby boomers account for 57% of all vacation home ownership, and own 58% of all rental properties in the United States. Ten percent of baby boomers plan to buy real estate over the course of the next year. Two-thirds of those will buy a new home, a second home, or commercial property.
Link to article: Boomer Marketing – Part Four

(US) "Generation Reinvention" and Business: Opportunities for Baby Boomers
Unprecedented societal aging engenders new opportunities for business creation and career reinvention. Boomers busy reinventing themselves, and younger entrepreneurs interested in profiting from this “silver tsunami,” can take advantage of numerous opportunities to develop creative new businesses, products and services. Entirely new industries will be in demand by an aging generation that changes societal and cultural expectations around every life stage it passes through, including life past 50, 60, 70 and 80. Boomers will also transform traditional industries serving aging consumers with their unique imprints and styles. The following ideas have been organized around ten major themes of Boomer aging, based on recent consumer research studies and sociological insights into this generation’s emerging motivations.
Link to article: "Generation Reinvention" and Business: Opportunities for Baby Boomers

(US) Sunday marks 65 years since Baby Boom start
Happy retirement, baby boomers! My generation, the most overhyped in American history, is turning 65. Gold watch time, if companies actually gave out gold watches anymore. (Usually it's zircon pins or just a boot out the door.) The oldest boomers are becoming golden agers. They're the vanguard of millions more who will hit the bricks then hit the road, creating a surge in travel targeting older Americans. And today is the day that started it all – at least by my unscientific measure.
Link to article: Sunday marks 65 years since Baby Boom start

(IRE) CARDI launches new small grants call to explore ageing in Ireland
The Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) has launched a new data mining grant programme to support greater use of existing research on ageing issues. It is offering up to €80,000 for research projects involving the use of existing data sources in Ireland, North and South.  Sources may be statistical data issued by bodies such as the Central Statistics Office or the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency or data collected by government departments or administrative, regulatory or inspection bodies. Applications are invited from individuals, or groups from academic, non-profit and voluntary and community sectors.
Link to article: CARDI launches new small grants call to explore ageing in Ireland

Position Paper 1: Informed National Strategies and Plans

(US) New Realities of an Older America: Challenges, Changes and Questions
The challenges of baby boomers reaching old age, combined with a growing, more diverse population, will drive major changes, challenges and decisions in U.S. families, workplaces and communities, according to New Realities of an Older America: Challenges, Changes And Questions, a new report from the Stanford Centre on Longevity. The implications concern the entire society – young and old alike. Even though many of these changes could have been anticipated, the United States has continued to rely on social and economic policies and practices that were designed for a more youthful population. The Stanford Centre on Longevity examines the demographic challenges of an ageing society. The paper examines this with the perspectives of housing, health care, economics, and population diversity.
Link to report: New Realities of an Older America: Challenges, Changes and Questions

(AUS) CEO’s survey reveals concerns about ageing population and infrastructure
The Financial Services Council (FSC)/PricewaterhouseCoopers CEO survey has revealed that Australia has its work cut out for it before it can meet the challenges of an ageing population and become a financial services hub. The survey garnered the views Australia’s top financial services chief executives, including those of the top 10 wealth managers. It revealed that only 44 per cent were confident with Australia’s approach to addressing the challenges of an ageing population; 95 per cent were not confident that Australia’s current approach to infrastructure would meet the country’s future needs; and, while many supported Superstream and an increase in the superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent, 78 per cent were not confident that the MySuper recommendations would improve Australia’s retirement outcomes.
Link to article: CEO’s survey reveals concerns about ageing population and infrastructure

(UK) So there are now 10,000 centenarians in Britain? This ageing business is getting out of control
Official statistics published this week showed life expectancy increasing at such a rate that a quarter of all babies born this year are expected to live to more than 100. Already, there are more than 10,000 centenarians in Britain, compared to only about 100 a century ago. Nobody wants to die young, but this ageing business is getting out of control. Having been born in 1940 rather than 2010, I am pleased to say that my chances of reaching 100 are extremely slim. There comes a point when one starts to say to oneself that one is glad that certain scary things – the flooding of London, nuclear war, the end of the world or whatever – are unlikely to happen during one's lifetime. It is comforting to know that one's risk of exposure to serious unpleasantness is getting rapidly smaller, but future generations may not enjoy that solace.
Link to article: So there are now 10,000 centenarians in Britain? This ageing business is getting out of control

(US) As older people grow in numbers, experts seek ways to handle the coming boom
The tsunami looms: By 2050, nearly 90 million Americans will have passed age 65, and every corner of society will feel the impact. With our inadequate health-care workforce, outmoded retirement ideas and rigid housing policies, how can our country prepare? Beyond rethinking ways to ensure retirement savings (mandatory government savings plans?) and redefining retirement (phased retirements? working longer?), researchers and professionals are trying out, and in some cases reviving, some ideas about reforming health, long term care, independent living and an ailing workforce.
Link to article: As older people grow in numbers, experts seek ways to handle the coming boom

Position Paper 2: Enjoy an adequate income: Employment, Pensions and Retirement

(US) Join the Over 50’s Entrepreneurial Stampede
Even before the Great Recession, older entrepreneurs led the way in new business formations. The trend has continued during the past three years and spans even high-tech businesses once thought the sole turf of twenty somethings holed up in their parents' garages. What's even more noteworthy is that start-ups with older owners are more successful, at least measured by their survival rates.
Link to article: Join the Over 50’s Entrepreneurial Stampede

(US) Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll, Too Young to Die Ruin Social Security
Don't Fear the Boomers. Despite the scaremongers' attempts to incite generational war, people born between 1946 and 1964 are not going to destroy Social Security. The Baby Boom cohort isn't going to be a crippling financial burden for Generation X, Generation Y, Generation XYY, or any other generation. It may be true that their descendants will be forced to listen to their greatest hits until the sun goes supernova (more cowbell, please!), but economically there's nothing to worry about. Since I'm one of the dreaded boomers myself I guess I can't be considered objective, so don't take my word for it. Ask an actuary.
Link to article: Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll, Too Young to Die Ruin Social Security

(US) Boomers wanting to work past retirement age find limited options
Baby Boomers approaching retirement age are in for a rude awakening. Many want to keep working, knowing that they likely will live well into their 80s and 90s, stay healthier than previous generations and need more cash to keep paying the bills. However, for Boomers — those 79 million Americans born from 1946 through 1964 — "the new retirement reality may be a messy proposition," says Alicia Munnell, director of the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. Jobs are scarce and many employers aren't willing to hire older workers. Boomers who do land jobs often must settle for ones that are less fulfilling than desired.
Link to article: Boomers wanting to work past retirement age find limited options

(UK) Half of older people expect to work to death
A survey by HSBC has found that almost a third of people in their 50s have changed career, mainly because of redundancy – and that more than half of older people expect never to give up work entirely. The survey, of 2,000 people over the age of 50, showed that one third of Britain’s 21 million over-50s had changed career - with the figure rising to 41% among 60- to 70-year-olds.
Link to article: Half of older people expect to work to death

(US) Hard Work? Patterns in Physically Demanding Labour Among Older US Workers
Employment in physically demanding jobs or in jobs with difficult working conditions is a major cause of early labour-market exit among older workers. Rising the retirement age is particularly concerning for near-retirement age workers with such jobs. Despite the fact that the retirement age increase is supposed to encourage workers to work longer, many workers would be physically unable to extend work lives in their jobs, and they would most likely be left with no choice but to receive reduced benefits. An increase in the retirement age or other cuts in Social Security benefits are also likely to put a greater burden on demographic groups that have higher proportions of workers in difficult jobs.
Link to report: Hard Work? Patterns in Physically Demanding Labour Among Older US Workers

(UK) Do you really need to save for retirement?
Is it worth saving into a pension? Or can you and your spouse rely on the state benefits system and still enjoy retirement? After years of what critics call an excessively generous Labour benefits regime, with accusations that it handed cash out like sweets to greedy children, these are genuine questions on people's minds. Some say that there's no point saving and you'll actually end up better off if you don't bother. Others point out this is a big gamble and not the way many would choose to live. The state tries to guarantee that nobody's left to suffer extreme poverty in retirement, but the system is so complex that it can be exploited.
Link to article: Do you really need to save for retirement?

(UK) Pension plans 'a nightmare'
A group of pension industry experts has attacked plans to link private pension increases to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation. The government suggested the change to inflation proofing last month, but the experts say many older people have been promised annual rises linked to the Retail Prices Index (RPI). Philip Read, chairman of British Coal pension trustees, said retrospective legislation could breach their human rights and would be a "nightmare". Members of an online forum for pensions experts, Mallowstreet, have written to the government, claiming the change has been imposed on the industry and that a full consultation period is required.
Link to article: Pension plans 'a nightmare'

(UK) Older workers 'trapped in long-term unemployment'
The recession has led to soaring numbers of older workers trapped in long-term unemployment, according to Age UK, with the number of over-50s jobseekers rising by 50% in the last year alone to reach a 10-year high. The charity said the last two recessions had created a "devastating legacy of unemployment among people in later life" and warned that the latest figures could rise even higher as a result of planned changes to working age benefits. Although the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance has fallen slightly, according to figures released by the government this morning, a total of 170,000 over-50s have been out of work for at least a year – an increase of 52% over the past 12 months and an 18.6% increase on the last quarter, the highest percentage increase among all age groups.
Link to article: Older workers 'trapped in long-term unemployment'

Position Paper 3: Health

(US) China’s rapidly ageing population: program and policy implications
Over the past two decades, China’s population has been aging rapidly. As a result of China’s “one-child” policy and low mortality, the proportion of older citizens will contin­ue to grow very quickly, increasing the stress on an already troubled health care system. The Division of Behavioural and Social Research at the US National Institute on Ageing (NIA) supports research on the health of China’s older population. This work has contrib­uted to understanding the characteristics of China’s oldest-old (ages 80 and older) and the dilemmas in meeting their health care needs. This newsletter reviews some recent research—both NIA-sponsored and other research—that explores these challenges.
Link to report: China’s rapidly ageing population: program and policy implications

(US) You can help keep your wits about you
Ageing is inevitable; losing your mental acuity is not. That's the implication of the latest brain research, which is discovering that the choices we make throughout our lifetime about work, play, diet, social interaction, relaxation and even spirituality have a significant effect on our ability to remain sharp well into old age. A 2009 study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, for example, found that while most older people experience some cognitive decline as they age, nearly a third don't. And what sets that minority apart from others are factors that can be controlled.
Link to article: You can help keep your wits about you

(US) Spinal-Fluid Test Is Found to Predict Alzheimer’s
Researchers report that a spinal fluid test can be 100 percent accurate in identifying patients with significant memory loss who are on their way to developing Alzheimer’s disease. Although there has been increasing evidence of the value of this and other tests in finding signs of Alzheimer’s, the study, which will appear Tuesday in the Archives of Neurology, shows how accurate they can be. The new result is one of a number of remarkable recent findings about Alzheimer’s. After decades when nothing much seemed to be happening, when this progressive brain disease seemed untreatable and when its diagnosis could be confirmed only at autopsy, the field has suddenly woken up.
Link to article: Spinal-Fluid Test Is Found to Predict Alzheimer’s

(AUS) Ageing Australians worry about losing mental independence
A recent survey reveals Australians experience a great fear of losing mental independence as they get older. In 2008, there were a total of 227,300 people with dementia, and the figure is expected to be 731,000 by 2050, unless a medical discovery halts the insidious process of losing one's memories. The latest survey figures showed that four out of five Australians aged over 50 said, losing their mental capacity is what they fear the most about getting old.
Link to article: Ageing Australians worry about losing mental independence

(US) Research breakthrough on the question of life expectancy: Monash University
According to the research published in the August edition of the prestigious journal, the American Naturalist, a small set of genes in mitochondria (a membrane-enclosed organelle found in most eukaryotic cells), passed only from mothers to offspring, plays a more dynamic role in predicting life expectancies than ever previously anticipated. The research discovered that particular mitochondrial haplotypes were linked to the life expectancies of females in the beetle species Callosobruchus maculatus. "What we found in these beetles that some combinations of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes confer long life in virgin females, but these are not the same combinations that result in long life in females that mate once, or in females that mate many times," Dr Dowling said. "Clearly, the genetic determinants underlying life expectancies are complex. "As we unravel this complexity, we draw closer to the day in which we might use the genetic information encoded in the mitochondria to assist in the development of therapies that slow the onset of ageing in humans," Dr Dowling said.
Link to article: Research breakthrough on the question of life expectancy: Monash University

(UK) Dementia study finds almost 40% of cases could be avoided
Large numbers of people would be spared the agony of dementia if depression and diabetes were banished and people ate more fruit and vegetables and spent longer in education, doctors claim today.
Public health initiatives aimed at achieving those results could mean that almost 40% of those who are expected to be affected by the condition in the future avoid it, they say. A team of British and French researchers has calculated that increasing the involvement of people of all ages in education, especially literacy, would on its own bring about an 18% drop in the number of expected new cases of the disease over the next seven years.
Link to article: Dementia study finds almost 40% of cases could be avoided

(US) Falls The Leading Cause Of Injury Among Older Adults In China
Falls are the most common injury for both urban and rural older people in China, responsible for more than two-thirds of all injuries in people 65 and older, according to a new study by researchers from China and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Centre for Injury Research and Policy. This is the first study to uncover the leading causes of non-fatal injuries among older adults in China, who make up 9 percent of the total population.
Link to article: Falls The Leading Cause Of Injury Among Older Adults In China

(US) Distinguishing 'senior moments' from Alzheimer's: University of California
With the help of volunteers aged 18 to 89, UC Irvine researchers have identified for the first time in humans a long-hidden part of the brain called the perforant path. Scientists have struggled for decades to locate the tiny passage, which is believed to deteriorate gradually as part of normal aging and far more quickly due to Alzheimer's disease. "The nice thing about this is we may be able to predict Alzheimer's very early," said Craig Stark, UCI associate professor of neurobiology & behaviour.
Link to article: Distinguishing 'senior moments' from Alzheimer's: University of California

Position Paper 4: Age-friendly communities

(US) Integrating Community Services Within a NORC: The Park La Brea Experience
These articles, from NORC Blueprint and published in Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research examine naturally occurring retirement communities in Los Angeles and New York: "Integrating Community Services Within a NORC: The Park La Brea Experience" looks at work by the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles to develop social services in the Park La Brea (Los Angeles), a private apartment complex with at least 1,500 older residents. "Health Indicators: A Proactive and Systematic Approach to Healthy Aging" discusses a collaborative effort in 34 low- and moderate-income communities to manage chronic disease services in New York City.
Link to article: Integrating Community Services Within a NORC: The Park La Brea Experience
Link to article: Health Indicators: A Proactive and Systematic Approach to Healthy Aging
Learn more about NORC’s: NORC Bluepint

(US) Should I Stay or Should I Go? Factors Real Estate Investors, Developers and Planners Should Consider in Anticipating the Future Housing Choices of Older Boomers
It’s 1982. English punk rock band The Clash, release “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” The baby boomers are somewhere between 18 and 36 years old – young and moving somewhere between adolescence and childrearing. Fast forward to 2010. The baby boomers are now between 46 and 64 years old. Instead of cassette tapes, they are moving to downloads of Internet music files and trying to decide to stay in their homes and ‘age-in-place’ or follow some of the previous generation who moved to beaches and golf courses.
Link to article: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Factors Real Estate Investors, Developers and Planners Should Consider in Anticipating the Future Housing Choices of Older Boomers

(US) Some streets still unsafe for older people
It's survival of the fittest trying to cross these city streets. Despite a push by Mayor Bloomberg to make urban life easier on older people, the Daily News found intersections citywide where crossing times are so short, older pedestrians and other slow-movers have to hustle to safety. These include several intersections along Queens Blvd. - once dubbed the "Boulevard of Death." Some crossing times are so short, pedestrians are forced to run or be stranded on medians surrounded by fast-moving traffic. "Do they expect you to fly across the street?" said Sandy Schoenfeld, 73, of Rego Park, after she walked 290 feet across Queens Blvd. at Yellowstone Blvd. "It's ridiculous." City officials insist New Yorkers have enough time to cross because they can stop on medians on most busy streets.
Link to article: Some streets still unsafe for older people

(US) Profile of Older New Yorkers
This report from the New York City Department for the Ageing is a statistical breakdown of the older population of New York City, by borough and community district.
Link to report: Profile of Older New Yorkers

Position Paper 5: Engagement

(UK) Older People Have a Key Role To Play In London's Future Success Says London Mayor Johnson
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has thrown his weight behind the Government's plans to scrap the retirement age from October 2011. The Mayor, who spoke at this year's Older People's Assembly in City Hall, believes it is vital to ensure older people are able to participate fully in the life of the capital. The Mayor said: 'I am committed to ensuring that all Londoners, irrespective of age are able to realise their potential. There is no sound reason for people to be unable to work or participate in the life of the capital simply because they are older. People in their sixties, seventies and older bring a wealth of experience, insight and talent.”
Link to article: Older People Have a Key Role To Play In London's Future Success Says London Mayor Johnson

(US) This Is Your Grandfather's IPad as Japan Older People Embrace Apple
Hikosaburo Yasuda says he knows a trend when he sees one and plans to buy Apple Inc.’s iPad to keep up with junior members in his computer club. Yasuda is 95. “It’s important to always try new things, otherwise you get left behind,” Yasuda said. “All these books in just one place, and so many familiar, classic titles that I’ve never had a chance to read. I want to buy the iPad just for that.” Yasuda and his peers, looking for easier ways to browse the Web and send e-mails, are a potentially lucrative demographic for Apple as the proportion of people aged 65 and over climbs to records each year in countries including the U.S., China and France. Japan has the world’s oldest society, with older people accounting for an estimated 22 percent of the population, almost triple the global average.
Link to article: This Is Your Grandfather's IPad as Japan Older People Embrace Apple

(IRE) Bringing the benefits of learning to later life: AONTAS
Lifelong learning is increasingly seen as important in modern society providing a wide range of social and health benefits. Aontas, the National Adult Learning Organisation, a voluntary membership organisation in the Republic of Ireland is committed to the idea of lifelong learning and an adult learning and education which is accessible to and inclusive to all. Learning in later life is also seen to have a wide range of benefits from social interaction and skills building to mental agility and vitality. In the last few years the organisation has developed a new senior learner’s network to address the needs of older people in this area.
Link to article: Bringing the benefits of learning to later life: AONTAS

Position Paper 6: Live in a place like home: Long-term care, independent living and carers

(UK) Policy Paper on embedding prevention in older people's services
The policy discussion paper, written by Health Services Management Centre's (HSMC) Professor Jon Glasby and Dr Kerry Allen, reviews emerging evidence around prevention in older people's services.  The paper builds on HSMC's ongoing contributions around prevention and rehabilitation within long-term care as part of an EU research project. The paper identifies and reviews ten high impact changes, addressing the acknowledged need to embed prevention into older people's services.  The interventions and approaches covered in the report are: Promoting healthy lifestyles, Vaccination, Screening, Falls prevention, Housing adaptations and practical support, Telecare and technology, Intermediate care, Re-ablement, Partnership working, and Personalisation.
Link to paper: The billion dollar question': embedding prevention in older people's services - al 'high impact' changes

(AUS) Caring places: planning for aged care and dementia 2010-2050
Alzheimer’s Australia recently commissioned research group Access Economics to model different scenarios for the supply of aged care, to identify strategies to increase consumer choice and to promote service flexibility, and to identify funding options for a sustainable aged care system into the future. The report, Caring places: planning for aged care and dementia 2010-2050, found thatthe number of people with dementia will quadruple by 2050 to nearly 1 million. In addition the report found that almost 300,000 Australians will not have access to aged care places unless there is a substantial increase in the supply of community care and residential care packages every year for the next 40 years.
Link to report: Caring places: planning for aged care and dementia 2010-2050

(IRE) A sense of denial over the facts of end of life
It seems that, when it comes to death and dying, most Irish people adopt a head-in-the-sand approach. According to a new national survey, just published in the Journal of Medical Ethics (JME), many of us are uncomfortable and ill-informed about end-of-life issues. Lead researcher Dr Joan McCarthy, of University College Cork, found that there is a deep need for better public education about the processes and terminology of end-of-life care, as well as for new legislation to clear up the confusion around the role of professionals and families in making decisions for dying patients. Given the grim topic, it’s not surprising that so many of us shy away from it. When they were told what the subject matter was, 300 out of the original 1,046 respondents walked away from the survey. As one respondent put it: “You know what is going to happen to you but you don’t want to talk about it.”
Link to article: A sense of denial over the facts of end of life

(US) The Caregiver Next Door
We heard a tap at the door and then a voice: “Murray?” My father rarely troubles to lock his apartment when he’s at home. His friends drift in and out, looking for a card game, checking to make sure he’s up and about, or bearing the latest gossip. Or, in the case of Jo Ann, who walked into the living room juggling several containers, bearing food. Jo Ann (she’s asked me not to identify her further) lives two floors up from my dad in a N.O.R.C. — a naturally occurring retirement community — in Vineland, N.J. She and her husband Fred, who are both 68, moved in eight years ago. She was operating a deli at the time, and Fred was in construction, so at first they were too busy to pay much attention to the cluster of people in their 80s who gathered in the lobby every afternoon, awaiting the mail.
Link to article: The Caregiver Next Door

(UK) Postcode lottery in end-of-life care
The proportion of people who die in hospital varies hugely across England, figures published this week reveal. While 45% of deaths in Torbay, Devon, were in hospital, in Waltham Forest, east London, the figure was 78%, research by the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network revealed. Nationally, 58% of deaths were in hospital. The figures relate to the period between 2005 and 2007. Rates of hospital deaths have remained stable over a number of years, the report found, despite longstanding evidence that many people wish to die in their own homes. Although these variations reflect factors such as age, disease and deprivation, they also underline differences in service provision. The previous government's end-of-life care strategy, published in July 2008, was intended to enable more people to die in the place of their choice through improved care planning and co-ordination, rapid access to urgent care and better training.
Link to article: Postcode lottery in end-of-life care

Assistive and Remote Technology Services for Independent Living

(US) The Crossroads of Telehealth, Electronic Health Records & Health Information Exchange
This white paper explores emerging trends and recent disruptors impacting the healthcare delivery system and examines the opportunities they present for the advancement of telecommunications-based health solutions and the broadband infrastructure available through telehealth networks. It also takes an in-depth look at the various uses of telehealth and the most common delivery models of telemedicine, as well as the role of the telehealth network and Telehealth Resource Centres (TRCs) in expanding the reach of these vital initiatives. Finally, the white paper highlights the evolution of the REACH Montana Telehealth Network from facilitating tele-radiology at three remote sites into a consortium of healthcare providers at 18 sites linked by high-bandwidth telecommunications in the north central region of Montana.
Link to white paper: The Crossroads of Telehealth, Electronic Health Records & Health Information Exchange

(US) Reducing Injuries For Older Adults Using Motion Tracking Technology
Exercise is an important part of recovering from an injury, illness or surgery, but many older adults lack the knowledge and guidance needed to properly perform exercises. University of Missouri researchers have developed technology to track motions while people exercise. The technology provides feedback to patients as they recover from injuries or illnesses in order to reduce the chances of future injuries and re-hospitalization.  
Link to article: Reducing Injuries For Older Adults Using Motion Tracking Technology

(UK) New home health monitoring technology for chronically ill patients
NHS Central Lancashire’s community matrons have introduced an innovative remote patient care management tool to help chronically ill patients in Preston monitor and manage their health at home and remain independent for longer.  The technology is currently being piloted with 40 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – a serious and incapacitating condition which affects over 3.7 million people in the UK and typically causes acute shortness of breath and susceptibility to lung infections. If successful, NHS Central Lancashire aims to expand the programme to help patients with other chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension and heart failure across central Lancashire.
Link to article: New home health monitoring technology for chronically ill patients

The Business of Ageing

(US) Boomer Marketing
According to Ken Dychtwald, CEO of Age Wave LLC, baby boomers take home $2 trillion per year and, as a group, embody 50% of all discretionary spending. They control 70% of all the wealth in the United States. They own 77% of all financial assets. They own and use 50% of credit cards in the United States. Fully 80% of the money deposited in savings accounts belongs to the baby boomers. And 50% of all luxury cars sold are purchased by baby boomers. The psychology of affluent baby boomers may be profiled in the following manner: Baby boomers focus on their lifestyle, which means they are very busy and always on the go. Baby boomers love to travel. There is an old adage that states, “Travel broadens one’s horizons.” Baby boomers believe it. They want to live it. Since they have spent most of their working lives accumulating “things,” they now want to accumulate experiences. This means they want to feel what they haven’t felt before. They want to undergo the adventures they believe they have missed, because they were so busy working. They want to encounter new and unique experiences. They view travel as the primary means of attaining these experiences. This explains why 80% of all luxury travel purchases are made by baby boomers.
Link to article: Boomer Marketing: Part One
Link to article: Boomer Marketing: Part Two

(US) Targeting Baby Boomers
In the United States, as a whole, we tend to always focus on youth. Youth can be seen in almost any place advertising is displayed. Youthful-looking adults are selected to sell hair products, clothing, and fragrances to the masses. However, sometimes we overlook a “diamond in the rough” market segment just because it is considered older. One such group that is fading from many major advertisers’ lists to target are baby boomers. Baby boomers should be considered a highly desirable marketing target. Since many of the older boomers are retiring, many believe this target isn’t worth marketing to since they will not be spending at the rate of a younger age group who are in their prime of spending. You shouldn’t buy into this myth. Baby boomers are not like their parents or grandparents of the “silent generation.” This group actively embraces technology, sends e-mails, and share photos on their Facebook pages.
Link to article: Targeting Baby Boomers

(US) Older viewers shake the TV temple
The Bill of Rights prohibits the establishment of a state religion. It doesn't say anything, though, about the establishment of a media religion. It's a good thing, because there's one credo that all of American media have operated around for almost 50 years now. It isn't Christianity, Judaism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism or Taoism, etc. It's Ageism. If you're in American media -- especially in American television -- you're expected to be a devout, lockstep-marching ageist. You have one basic credo: People matter if they're between the ages of 18 to 49. And if they're over 50, they don't. Well, as that 63-year-old late night talk king David Letterman sometimes likes to say, hang on to your wigs and keys. And get ready for a paradigm shift. A big one. People are just not going to be able to think the same way again.
Link to article: Older viewers shake the TV temple

(US) Print Dental Marketing Remains Essential Part of Marketing Mix, Says Patient News
A diverse marketing mix that includes and addresses communication preferences of readers is essential to any marketing or advertising campaign, and print marketing and direct mail still remain an integral part of that mix, says Patient News, a leading dental marketing solutions company. "Statistics show that most marketers have found that online channels demonstrate greater value when distributed in conjunction with direct mail applications, reinforcing the value of print in the marketing mix," said Karen Galley, President of Patient News. Baby Boomers, who have an annual spending power of $2.1 trillion and account for upwards of 60% of all healthcare spending, actively shop through the mail and keep mail pieces for future reference. According to a research study by JWT BOOM and ThirdAge Inc., 90% of Baby Boomer women surveyed have seen a print ad and later visited the online site.
Link to article: Print Dental Marketing Remains Essential Part of Marketing Mix, Says Patient News

(US) Boomers Driving & Demanding Innovation
Nearly one Baby Boomer turns 64 every seven seconds. Perennially youthful, but no longer young, the nation’s largest generation is now well into middle age and beyond. Born between 1946 and 1964 the nearly 77 million Boomersare more than the nation’s largest cohort—they are also its loudest. For six-plus decades they’ve demanded new, better, faster, cheaper, and cool. Now greying, how will their demands shape the new whitespace of an aging marketplace?
Link to article: Boomers Driving & Demanding Innovation

(US) Welcome To The Revolution, Nielsen
In marketing and business there are always naysayers. Some believe Boomers have become fatigued as a consumer segment and it is all downhill from here. "Baby Boomers have peaked," commented investment manager Harry Dent, author of The Roaring 2000s, a book severely lacking prescience. "They're going to slow the economy down for the next 12 to 14 years." Dent and others who share his views may be discounting important insights about the Boomer generation. From a historical perspective, this generation has always been a fountain of opportunity for those who are good at predicting what is important to Boomers. Historian Steve Gillon, author of Boomer Nation, observed: "In 1958, Life magazine called children the 'Built-in Recession Cure,' concluding that all babies were potential consumers who spearheaded 'a brand-new market for food, clothing, and shelter.' Arguably, Boomers are tomorrow's built-in recession cure.
Link to article: Welcome To The Revolution, Nielsen

CARDI Blog: New guest blog series
CARDI is delighted to present a new series of guest blogs from ageing researchers, older peoples� organisations and other experts in the area of ageing. This month's guest blog comes via David Andrews from Eastleigh Southern Parishes Older Peoples Forum (ESPOPF), an older peoples organisation based in the UK.  In this blog post David writes about the role of research in making life better for older people and his own organisations research initiatives.
Link to blog: Nothing about us without us: Older people and research

Position Paper 1: Informed National Strategies and Plans

(EU) Fiscal Policy in View of Crisis and Population Ageing in Central and Eastern European Countries
This Policy Brief examines the interrelated aspects of the fiscal and economic policy as well as the impact of population ageing on the sustainability of public finances in the wake of the recent economic crisis. The countries covered are the Central and Eastern EuropeanCountries of the EU: Bulgaria and Romania; the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; and the so-called Visegr�d Four - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
Link to policy brief: Fiscal Policy and Sustainability in View of Crisis and Population Ageing in Central and Eastern European Countries

(UK) More growth in older population in Wales
Wales is set to further outstrip the UK average for people aged over 65 over the next 20 years, figures show. A quarter of the Welsh population will be 65 or over by 2030, compared to 22% for the UK average. Age Cymru called for society to be "age proofed" with more thought going into allowing people to live independently. The assembly government said it had been "planning for some time on meeting the demographic demand that will grow even more over the next two decades". The Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) said it wanted to generate greater awareness about Wales' ageing population. It has released an age map of Wales based on figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Link to article: More growth in older population in Wales
Link to age map: Age map of the UK

(CRC) The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study
The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of health and life course experiences of 2,827 Costa Ricans ages 60 and over in 2005. Baseline household interviews were conducted between November 2004 and September 2006, with two-year follow-up interviews. The sample was drawn from Costa Rican residents in the 2000 population census who were born in 1945 or before, with an over-sample of the oldest-old (ages 95 and over). The main study objective was to determine the length and quality of life, and its contributing factors in the older people of Costa Rica. Vital statistics indicate that Costa Rica has an unusually high life expectancy for a middle-income country, even higher than that of the United States, but CRELES is the first nationally representative survey to investigate adult health levels in Costa Rica.
Link to study: The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study

(EU) Older people across Europe live in extreme hardship and poverty
Hundreds of thousands of older persons across Europe are struggling for their everyday survival.  Many suffer a shocking level of poverty. They tend to be ignored by politicians and are often seen as being non-productive and worthless in modern society. The human rights of the older generation must not be further undermined when governments introduce their austerity programs. Older people are one of the vulnerable groups that have been deeply affected by the economic crises. In Europe especially, ageing persons in the so-called transition countries have been hit hard. The number of older people begging in the streets goes to prove that their human right to an adequate standard of living is not respected. The term �lost generation� is sadly appropriate.
Link to article: Older people across Europe live in extreme hardship and poverty

Position Paper 2: Enjoy an adequate income: Employment, Pensions and Retirement

(UK) Growing numbers of older workers plan up skilling in a bid for a career change
Work life begins at 50 with almost a third of older employees planning a career change, new research reveals. As life expectancy and pensions age continue to rise HSBC reveals nearly one third (30%) of the UK�s 21.3 million over 50s have taken the plunge and �career shifted� in their later working years.  This figure increases to 41% amongst 60 to 70 years old. In a survey of over 2,000 of the UK�s over 50�s, HSBC found 21% of those who have changed their career did so as a result of being made redundant � affecting more men than women in this generation (27% and 16% respectively). But 15% simply long for a change of direction and 11% were looking for a career that was less pressurised and demanding. 
Link to article: Growing numbers of older workers plan up skilling in a bid for a career change

(US) Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance claimants in the older population: Is there a difference in their economic circumstances?
The US Institute for Social and Economic Research examines the cash benefits available to the disabled, in comparison to those over the age of 65, to determine if there is any income deprivation between the two groups.
Link to report: Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance claimants in the older population: Is there a difference in their economic circumstances?

(US) Urban Institute Research on Generational Shift in Retirement Patterns
According to research published by the Urban Institute, older adults in the United States are now working longer and taking more complex routes out of the labour force. The study examines how retirement behaviour changed over the past 30 years by comparing labour force exits by older workers in three different five-year cohorts--those born from 1913 to 1917 (part of the G.I. Generation), 1933 to 1937 (part of the Silent Generation), and 1943 to 1947 (the early years of the Baby Boom Generation).
Link to report: Urban Institute Research on Generational Shift in Retirement Patterns

(UK) Pensions: why living longer has become a big problem
Almost every day comes an announcement by yet another employer that it is going to curtail or even shut its final-salary pension scheme. Large deficits and rising underlying costs are the usual reason. A key factor in those calculations is that the pensions that have been promised will have to be paid for much longer. Why? Because on average our life expectancy continues to rise. We are going to live longer; not just longer than our parents but even longer than experts thought we would live, just a few years ago. For instance, in 1980, a 65-year old Englishman had a one in 1,000 chance of living to be 100 years old. �Just 30 years later, this figure has increased to one in 100.
Link to article: Pensions: why living longer has become a big problem

(UK) It is time to break free from the straitjacket of a fixed retirement age: Tom Kirkwood
If it is really true that new government plans to phase out the default retiring age of 65 amount to restricting "businesses' ability to manage the workforce" then business badly needs to wake up to the realities of modern life. That claim was made by Adam Marshall, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce. But John Cridland of the Confederation of British Industry is more accurate when he says of the changes: "There will need to be more than a code of practice to address these practical issues; we will need changes in the law to deal more effectively with difficult employment situations."
Link to article: It is time to break free from the straitjacket of a fixed retirement age: Tom Kirkwood

(UK) Pension funds add seven months to retirement lifespan
Britain's big pension funds last year increased their longevity assumptions by seven months for future retirees suggesting that soon our life expectancies will increase almost as fast as we are ageing. The pension schemes of FTSE 100 companies have increased their longevity assumptions for older people for the fourth year in a row, according to research by Mercer. Current older people are now expected to live another five months while future retirees get another seven months. On average, scheme members aged 45 are forecast to live nearly two years longer from retirement than a 65-year-old member. The gap between men and women is closing, with women expected to live to the age of 89 while men reach 87.
Link to article: Pension funds add seven months to retirement lifespan

(EU) The Chinese pension system - first results on assessing the reform options
The Chinese population, totalling 1.3 billion, is ageing fast. The Chinese pension system covers only 55% of urban employees and reaches a very small part of the rural population. Previous pension reforms have not succeeded in creating a stable and financially sustainable pension system, and the Chinese authorities and experts have been considering proposals to reform the structure and expand the scope. This paper looks into these various reform proposals and presents model simulations to analyse their implications, offering a template for designing new options and expressing them in terms of key pension system variables.
Link to report: The Chinese pension system � first results on assessing the reform options

(UK) Little Change in Employers' Age-related Policies and Practices
A new study concludes that there has been little change in most employers� age-related policies and practices since the Age Regulations came into effect in October 2006. It examines all those areas of the employment relationship where age may come into play, from recruitment through to retirement.  It finds that those most likely to suffer age discrimination in employment continues to be young and older workers. There are some areas where the situation appears to have changed, however. These include a reduction in age-related criteria being used in redundancy selection and pay enhancements and a slight decline in the use of compulsory retirement.  There has also been a growth in the number of employers� equal opportunity policies which explicitly  cover �age� and the use of formal performance appraisals, both of which might help guard against age discrimination. Less encouragingly, the percentage of establishments monitoring the age profile of their workforce has fallen from 32 per cent to 22 per cent since 2006.
Link to article: Little Change in Employers' Age-related Policies and Practices
Link to report: Second survey of employers� policies, practices and preferences relating to age, 2010

(UK) Pension age of 66 within five years
The pension age could be raised to 66 within five years, far sooner than expected as life expectancy increases rapidly. Statistics published Thursday paint a stark picture of the crisis facing the economy. They show that plans to stage incremental rises in the retirement age over three decades are no longer sustainable. �The figures, produced by the Office for National Statistics, show the current ratio of four working adults for every older person will fall to three within a decade and two by 2040. At this rate, by 2030 there will be 5.6 million more people over the age of 65 than today.
Link to article: Pension age of 66 within five years

Position Paper 3: Health

(US) In Push to Detect Early Alzheimer's Markers, Hopes for Prevention
Will Alzheimer�s disease, a terrible degenerative brain disease with no treatments and no clear guidelines for diagnosis before its end stages, become like heart disease? That might mean early markers of risk, analogous to high cholesterol levels, that predict who is likely to get it. And it might mean drugs that actually prevent it. That is the hope behind new diagnostic guidelines being proposed by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer�s Association. In July, when the groups first announced their proposed guidelines, they were met with some scepticism and anger. Why suggest ways of diagnosing the disease before a person even has symptoms? Why tell people they are doomed?
Link to article: In Push to Detect Early Alzheimer�s Markers, Hopes for Prevention

(IRE) Health Catalogue� Published by Health Information and Quality Authority
The Health Information and Quality Authority have published a comprehensive catalogue of health information sources. The catalogue will increase awareness about the purpose and content of these sources and how the data can be accessed. The publication of the catalogue will also identify any gaps or inconsistencies in health information.
Link to catalogue: Health Catalogue

(UK) Fit heart can slow brain ageing, US researchers say
Keeping your heart fit and strong can slow down the ageing of your brain, US researchers say. A Boston University team found healthy people with sluggish hearts that pumped out less blood had "older" brains on scans than others. Out of the 1,500 people studied, the team observed that the brain shrinks as it ages. A poor cardiac output aged the brain by nearly two years on average, Circulation journal says. The link was seen in younger people in their 30s who did not have heart disease, as well as older people who did.
Link to article: Fit heart can slow brain ageing, US researchers say

(INT) Japan searches for missing 'centenarians'
The discovery of the mummified remains of a man supposedly aged 111 has kicked off a frantic search in Japan for other listed centenarians, with media reporting Wednesday that at least a dozen more are missing. Local government officials have fanned out for face-to-face meetings with people registered as aged over 100 -- of whom fast-greying Japan, with its world-beating life expectancies, had more than 40,000 at last count. The latest missing-older person case to shock the nation was that of 113-year-old Fusa Furuya, who was believed to be Tokyo's oldest woman until her estranged children told authorities this week they hadn't seen her in decades. Newspapers have started their own national headcounts, with the Asahi Shimbun identifying 12 people over 100 who are unaccounted for, the Yomiuri naming 15, and the Mainichi daily reporting 18 missing across Japan.
Link to article: Japan searches for missing 'centenarians'

(US) Optimal Aging and Death
Harvard Initiative for Global Health presents a study which examines how aging influences behaviour, and what actions slow down the process that ends with death.
Link to report: Optimal Aging and Death

(US) Aging and the Health Care Workforce
The US Population Reference Bureau looks at the effects of an aging population on the health care workforce. With a population demanding more healthcare services, health care is also looking at a workforce that is aging and retiring in greater numbers.
Link to article: Aging and the Health Care Workforce

(US) Promoting Mental Health and Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for Senior Living Communities
Statistics show that adults age 65 and older have one of the highest suicide rates of any age group in the United States. This new toolkit from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) teaches staff working in senior living communities how to recognize and take steps to help someone at risk of suicide. The ideas presented in this toolkit can help prevent suicides, promote mental health, and create an environment that will enhance the well-being of residents and staff alike.
Link to toolkit: Promoting Mental Health and Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for Senior Living Communities

(US) Feeding Dementia Patients with Dignity
First Alzheimer�s disease stole Rosemary DeFelice�s speech, mobility and independence. Then, at 75, she lost the ability to eat. She would chew away at her food, coughing and sputtering and spitting up but swallowing very little, said her daughter, Cyndy Viveiros. And like many relatives caring for patients with advanced dementia, Ms. Viveiros had to decide whether or not to have a gastric feeding tube inserted. This quandary � which usually arises near the end, when Alzheimer�s begins to destroy the part of the brain that controls eating � is often presented as a stark choice between providing nourishment and withholding it. But social workers advising Ms. Viveiros suggested another option: continuing to have her mother carefully fed by hand, giving her only as much as she wanted and stopping if she started choking or became agitated.
Link to article: Feeding Dementia Patients with Dignity

Position Paper 4: Age-friendly communities

(AUS) More respect for older Australians
Ageist attitudes and discriminating barriers could soon start to diminish, one individual at a time, if a new three-phase research trial into older people and the role of respect proves to be successful. Not-for-profit provider, Benetas, will work in partnership with Deakin University to run the research project, Wellbeing in the elderly: the role of respect, which will investigate why older people are disrespected, and what can be done to ensure that society adopts a better attitude. Funded by the Australian Research Council, the first phase will initially include more than 200 participants, selected from a wide cross-section of the community who will participate in group discussions. Focus topics, which centre on usefulness and contribution, will provide Benetas with an insight into the issues of respect, or the lack of respect for older adults.
Link to article: More respect for older Australians

(UK) Older tenants need better incentives to move, finds report
Older people living in under-occupied social housing must be given attractive alternatives if they are to make way for families in overcrowded accommodation or on waiting lists, a key report has said. The report, by the Mobility Taskforce, came as housing minister Grant Shapps announced plans to make it easier for social housing tenants to move to more suitable accommodation by swapping with other tenants. The report said older people were often reluctant to move because they would have to give up a spare room. It said social landlords should consider providing financial incentives for people to downsize and helping them move, while also offering attractive housing with at least one extra bedroom. It also called on the government to amend housing benefit rules to ensure under-occupiers could move to a property with a spare bedroom and still have their rent covered.
Link to article: Older tenants need better incentives to move, finds report
Link to report: �Report of the Mobility Taskforce

(US) Include Mental Health in an Age-Friendly New York
The WHO checklist of "core age-friendly features" focuses on important physical and social attributes that fall into the following eight categories: age-friendly outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community and health services. The last category references the importance of mental health services but only briefly. For instance, in discussing the need for a wider range of health services, it cites mental health services and the need for care for those with dementia. In addition, among the "aging well" services mentioned is mental health counselling. The mental health needs of older people are more central than that, however. Approximately 20 percent of adults 65 and older experience a mental and/or substance abuse disorder in any given year.
Link to article: Include Mental Health in an Age-Friendly New York

Position Paper 5: Engagement

(US) Internet lost on a fifth of Baby Boomers
While it's no surprise that 82 percent of Americans make some use of the Internet, it may come as a bit of surprise that among the non-users is a good chunk of younger Baby Boomers. According to the just-released "2010 Digital Future Report" from the University of Southern California Annenberg School, 19 percent of Boomers aged 46 to 55 are non-users of the Internet.
Link to article: Internet lost on a fifth of Baby Boomers

(UK) In the Dark: Investigating the information needs and preferences of older people
Eastleigh Southern Parishes Older People�s Forum�s (ESPOPF) fifth research project, entitled �In the Dark�, examines the nature of information needed by older people and the obstacles they encounter trying to acquire it. A detailed analysis of over 5,000 searches by older people identified the commonly-needed data, the departments responsible for providing the information and the preferred method of access. The telephone presented many problems for the majority of older people. Older people with particular difficulties were identified: those unable to access the internet; the partially-sighted and blind; the hard of hearing and deaf. Insight into these problems was afforded by 3 focus groups. In conclusion, respondents wanted both local and national information, provided locally by a human being when they needed it. Access by telephone and internet to a local village �hub� was considered essential.
Link to report: In The Dark

(US) Being There, Without Leaving Home
At the Self-help Benjamin Rosenthal Senior Centre in Queens, a social worker, Rachel Itzkowitz, is leading the weekly current events class, guiding participants through a series of discussions. What about the controversy over building a Muslim community centre near the World Trade Centre site? Milton Greidinger has something to say. �A lot of baloney,� he huffs. �They don�t have to slap America in the face by putting a mosque where the damage was done. You can have religious freedom by building it on another street, that�s what I think.� Mr. Greidinger, 86, a retired department store buyer, isn�t in the room with the half-dozen other class members. Largely homebound because of mobility problems, he�s logging in from his apartment on a computer he received and learned to use just a few months ago, in a demonstration project by Self-help Community Services, a New York senior services organization. With backing from Microsoft and the city�s Department for the Aging, Selfhelp has created a �virtual senior centre� for about a dozen low-income older people, with six more scheduled to join the party at the end of the summer.
Link to article: Being There, Without Leaving Home

Position Paper 6: Live in a place like home: Long-term care, independent living and carers

(AUS) Report ignores bigger picture: Alzheimer's Australia
Alzheimer�s Australia has expressed concern about the aged care industry�s latest reform proposals, saying they fail to address the need for greater consumer choice. Last week Aged Care Association Australia (ACAA), Hynes Lawyers and PKF released a joint report, calling for new approaches to capital and recurrent funding, aged care planning and regulatory compliance. The report was based on industry consultation and a survey of 200 approved providers. But the CEO of Alzheimer�s Australia, Glenn Rees, said the scope of the report was too narrow. �It�s like going back in time to the stone age in the sense that it loses sight of the focus of the wider reform agenda,� he said. �It�s concerned with changing the existing system at the margins, not what older people want.�
Link to article: Report ignores bigger picture: Alzheimer's Australia
Link to report: Health Reform - the Aged Care Chapter

(US) House Calls For older people could Relieve Squeezed 'Sandwich Generation'
Older folks with lots of chronic illnesses aren�t the only ones who could benefit from a Medicare experiment funded through the new health law that will send doctors and nurse practitioners to visit them in their homes. Family members and others who care for older people could profit as well, spared some of trips with older people to medical appointments, and the worry about falls and other mishaps. A doctor described it to Joanne Schwartzberg, director of aging and community health for the American Medical Association, this way: "Not a day goes by without a daughter running into the office and saying, 'Mom�s stuck in the car.' The three-year demonstration project, called Independence at Home, will test the home visit concept on 10,000 of the sickest Medicare beneficiaries, starting in January 2012 or sooner.
Link to article: House Calls For older people could Relieve Squeezed 'Sandwich Generation'

Assistive and Remote Technology Services for Independent Living

(US) Technologies Help Adult Children Monitor Aging Parents
In the wee hours of July 14, Elizabeth Roach, a 70-year-old widow, got out of bed and went to the living room of her Virginia ranch home. She sat in her favourite chair for 15 minutes, and then returned to bed. She rose again shortly after 6, went to the kitchen, plugged in the coffee pot, showered and took her weight and blood pressure. Throughout the morning, she moved back and forth between the kitchen and the living room. She opened her medicine cabinet at 12:21 and closed it at 12:22. Immediately afterward, she opened the refrigerator door for almost three minutes. At 1:36, she opened the kitchen door and went outside. All this information � including her exact weight (126 pounds) and blood pressure reading (139/98) � was transmitted via the Internet to her 44-year-old son, Michael Murdock, who reviewed it from his home office in suburban Denver.
Link to article: Technologies Help Adult Children Monitor Aging Parents

(EU) Intel and GE create Telehealth Company
Intel and GE have announced they will merge their telehealth and home care assets to create a new company to market and develop technologies to support independent living and chronic disease management. The new company, which is unnamed, will invest �189m (�157m) over the next five years in the research and product development of home-based health technologies. The new company will combine the assets GE Healthcare�s Home Health division and Intel�s Digital Health Group and builds on the joint venture that the companies formed in April last year around independent living.
Link to article: Intel and GE create Telehealth Company

(US) The Intel Health Guide: A medical device that looks like a white good
Older patients want to convalesce at home, while healthcare trusts need to cut the volume of hospital admissions. So says Mariah Scott, worldwide director of sales and marketing at Intel�s Digital Health Group. The technological solution to these two issues may appear simple: a remote patient monitoring system that allows home care for older people. But what is not so easy is to get the televisual and telephony technologies that already exist to �fit� into the context of �independent living�. To create the appropriate enabling technology, Intel Health had to come up with a product design that offers a form of literacy appropriate for a generation of people who probably wouldn�t have the need for a personal PC at home.
Link to article: The Intel Health Guide: A medical device that looks like a white good

(EU) More evidence needed on telehealth costs
More evidence on the cost-effectiveness of telehealth and telecare innovations is needed to encourage their wider adoption, according to a review of use of assistive technologies in health and social care. A briefing paper from the Whole System Demonstrator Action Network, Sustaining innovation in telehealth and telecare, says England has taken the lead among European countries in trialling new products and services and between 1.6 million and 1.7 million people in England now use telecare. However authors Nick Godwin and Mike Clark from WSDAN say telehealth services are �comparatively undeveloped� with around 5,000 uses. The briefing paper says there is an identifiable �chasm� between early adoption and wider uptake of technologies. Key barriers are said to include a lack of robust evidence for the cost-effectiveness of telecare and telehealth, the impact on professionals and organisations of adopting new ways of working, the lack of a consumer market and lack of interoperability and minimum standards for the technology.
Link to article: More evidence needed on telehealth costs
Link to briefing paper: Sustaining innovation in telehealth and telecare

The Business of Ageing

(US) Fashion, Function & Fun: Product Design Demands of Older Baby Boomer Consumers
Too many designers, marketers and concerned observers have declared universal design to be the universal answer to meet the new needs of the growing numbers of older baby boomer consumers. While not altogether incorrect, they are woefully incomplete in their hopes and claims. Universal design and ease of use is not the secret sauce for business to deliver value in an aging marketplace. Even if an older consumer can easily use a technology, they must value its functionality before investing the money, time to learn, let alone adopt a new way to do tasks that they may already achieve with 'tried and true' methods.
Link to article: Fashion, Function & Fun: Product Design Demands of Older Baby Boomer Consumers

Position Paper 1: Informed National Strategies and Plans

(US) Old Age in America, by the Numbers
The population of older Americans is growing faster than ever and living longer than ever, but not as long as in much of Europe and elsewhere in the developed world, according to “Older Americans 2010: Key Indicators of Well-Being,” a report compiled by 15 federal agencies. The full report, with tables detailing older people demographics, economics, health status, health risks and health care, is available at agingstats.gov. It contains a number of surprises, and raises a number of questions, for those interested in how Americans are aging. Americans who live to age 65 can now expect to survive on average 18.5 more years, four years more than in 1960, according to the report. Of those who survive to age 85, women have an average 6.8 years to live, and men, 5.7 years. But life expectancy is even longer in most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cuba and Costa Rica.
Link to article: Old Age in America, by the Numbers
Link to website and reports: Older Americans: 2010

(INT) Ageing in Asia
By the middle of this century, Asia’s older population is projected to reach 922.7 million, and its share of population 17.5 per cent from just 4.1 per cent in 1950. Within the next few decades, Asia is poised to become the oldest region in the world; reforming policies and creating new structures and institutions to address this challenge is a huge and complex undertaking that requires a big head start. This paper analyses the impact that ageing is having in Asia; examines the policy options for dealing with the problems it is causing, and outlines how different subregions may require different responses.
Link to report: Ageing in Asia

(UK) The future ageing of the ethnic minority population of England and Wales
This report - commissioned by Runnymede and written by the Centre for Policy on Ageing - gives a detailed estimate of the ethnic make-up of the older population of England and Wales over the next 40 years. While the present population of older BME people is relatively small and mainly born overseas, over time it will become much larger, more ethnically diverse and will include more people born in the UK. Strikingly, the report has found that while there were only half a million BME people over 65 in 2001, this will rise to 1.3 million in 2026 and 3.8 million in 2051. This changing population will have implications for public service planners at a local and national level and financial institutions.
Link to report: The future ageing of the ethnic minority population of England and Wales

(IRE) New Irish documentary to explore the "End of Ageing"
Tile Films are currently in production with ‘The End of Ageing’, a 52 minute Science HD Documentary for RTÉ which looks into recent scientific moves that may make it viable to stop signs of ageing and, ultimately, cheat death.  Presented by Dr. Rose Anne Kenny the documentary suggests that eternal life may soon be a reality. Scientists are forecasting that the only way many humans in the near future will die is if they are shot or run over by a bus. The passing of years will no longer be the critical factor. Tile Films will also look at the topic from an Irish point of view in that Irish viewers are already living longer lives than ever before. Passing the 100 mark is no longer so unusual and recent research shows that 50% of all Irish girls born in 2010 will live to be over 100 years of age.
Link to article: New Irish documentary to explore the "End of Ageing"

(AUS) Older People Demand World Class Care, Financial Security, Equality In Work And An End To Ageism
Older Australians are demanding commitments to world class care, financial security, support for mature age workers and an end to ageism from both sides of politics in the lead up to the federal election.
Launching their demands, Seniors Vote 2010, at the start of an intense two-week marginal seats campaign, National Seniors Australia chief executive, Michael O'Neill, challenged this year's contenders to demonstrate their commitment to older voters. "How significant are the over-50s to you and what policies and plans do you have for them?" he asked. "We're hearing a lot about boats and schools but where's dental health and aged care? Both are at crisis point and no one's talking about them. Is it that these issues aren't sexy or are they just too hard? "Older Australians are looking for real leadership - a government with the courage to tackle the tough, not populist, issues," he said.
Link to article: Older People Demand World Class Care, Financial Security, Equality In Work And An End To Ageism

Position Paper 2: Enjoy an adequate income: Employment, Pensions and Retirement

(INT) The impact of the financial crisis on defined benefit plans and the need for counter-cyclical funding regulations
This paper, produced by the OECD, discusses the impact of the crisis on DB pension schemes and the temporary responses taken by regulators to help ease financially strained plan sponsors. It also presents suggestions to governments and policy-makers for making funding regulations more counter-cyclical in nature, in order to strengthen the security of DB benefits and help to maintain future DB plans. The authors argue that the international standardisation of funding regulations is unlikely and would likely be ill-fitting across jurisdictions. However, some convergence of over-arching funding principles, and general international best-practices and guidelines to promote counter-cyclical features could strengthen DB systems.
Link to report: The impact of the financial crisis on defined benefit plans and the need for counter-cyclical funding regulations

(INT) Universal minimum old age pensions impact on poverty and fiscal cost in 18 Latin American countries
In Latin America, five countries - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay - have non-contributory pensions.  But pension coverage rates remain below 30% in half of Latin American countries.  This paper, produced by the World Bank, examines the impact on old age poverty and the fiscal cost of universal minimum old age pensions in 18 Latin American countries using recent household survey data. First the authors’ measure old age poverty rates for these countries. Then they discuss the design of minimum pensions schemes—means-tested or not—as well as the disincentives they introduce for the economic and social behaviour of households including labour supply, saving and family solidarity.  Finally, the authors use household survey data to simulate the fiscal cost and the impact on poverty rates of alternative minimum pension schemes in the 18 countries.
Link to report: Universal minimum old age pensions impact on poverty and fiscal cost in 18 Latin American countries

(IRE) Reduction in State pension will cause older people further hardship – Eamon Timmins
Since the ERSI’s Prof John FitzGerald and The Irish Times Economics Editor Dan O’Brien raised the issue in recent days, commentators have piled in behind them setting out the case why pensions could, or should, be cut. They were not cut last year; inflation is falling and therefore pensioners are gaining; pensioners should share the pain when we are all suffering; cutting the State pension would also provide big savings to the exchequer at one stroke of a pen, unlike other new forms of taxation which would require considerable ground work to be done first. But has anyone looked at the reasons why the State pension should not be cut or questioned the validity of the arguments in favour of reducing pensions? Age Action welcomes this debate, but believes it has been one-sided to date. The strongest argument for protecting the State pension is that it provides a vital buffer for older people against poverty. More than half the pensioners in Ireland are dependent on the State pension as their sole means of income. This situation is unlikely to change for the rest of their lives, even when the economy recovers.
Link to article: Reduction in State pension will cause older people further hardship – Eamon Timmins

(US) The Big Balance: Raising the Retirement Age while Protecting Those Who Cannot Work
The US Urban Institute presents an audio of a roundtable discussion on the viability of raising the retirement age, while still protecting those individuals who cannot work. Panellists also discussed how health status, job characteristics, and job prospects intersect to affect work at older ages. What will happen to Social Security if Americans do not extend their careers as life expectancy increases? Would raising Social Security’s early entitlement age or full retirement age hurt low-income groups? Can Social Security Disability Insurance adequately protect workers with health problems? Are there alternatives to raising the retirement age that would promote work at older ages?
Link to roundtable discussion: The Big Balance: Raising the Retirement Age while Protecting Those Who Cannot Work

(UK) Fixed retirement age to be axed in UK
The government is planning to scrap the default retirement age in the UK from October 2011. Under the proposal, employers would not be allowed to dismiss staff because they had reached the age of 65.
Activists, who have long campaigned against the rule, welcomed the proposal as a "victory" against ageism. Currently, an employer can force an employee to retire at the age of 65 without paying any financial compensation. The only obligation on an employer is to hold a meeting with the member of staff to discuss plans at least six months before their 65th birthday. At the end of that meeting it is entirely at the discretion of the employer whether or not to terminate employment.
Link to article: Fixed retirement age to be axed in UK

(UK) Retired parents fund adult children
Up to 60% of adults still need financial support from their parents, accepting £2,000 per year on average according to research. An online survey questioned 1,022 retired people about their spending preferences, and 46% said they would rather spend money on their relatives than on themselves. Funeral plan provider Avalon found 20% of people who had stopped working still spent £10,000 per year on their grown-up children to help them afford large costs such as tuition fees or buying a house, with 22% saying they worried more about family members' financial security than their own.
Link to article: Retired parents fund adult children

(UK) Over 60s using assets intelligently to make most of retirement
A new study from Saga Equity Release reveals that a fifth (17%) of over 50s have little money left over to enjoy their retirement once they have paid off their debts and more than two fifths (41%) of retirees find clearing their debts difficult, highlighting how hard it is for many people to fund their dream retirement. However, an increasing number of over 60s are now using equity release to unlock money so they can enjoy a better quality of life in retirement.
Link to article: Over 60s using assets intelligently to make most of retirement

(US) More Baby Boomers May Be Choosing Startups Over Retirement
Coming soon, brought to you by the wave of 76 million Baby Boomers  entering their Golden Years: business start-ups instead of retirement. That's the way John Rhett, chairman of SunTrust Investment Services, a unit of Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks(STI), is starting to see it. Rhett, based on retiring clients who have approached him and his colleagues for guidance on how to start a new business, thinks we are now seeing "the first inning" of a trend that could reshape the small-business landscape.
Link to article: More Baby Boomers May Be Choosing Startups Over Retirement

(UK) Age discrimination warning for growing numbers of older workers
More older workers are likely to find an "invisible wall" of ageism between them and a new job, resulting in greater numbers being stuck in long-term unemployment, charity Age UK has warned. Figures published by the Department of Communities and Local Government as part of the Citizenship Survey: 2009-10 show ageism is still the biggest single reason for discrimination in recruitment. Four per cent of all workers aged 50 and over - estimated to be in excess of 300,000 - say they have been refused a job because of their age in the past five years.
Link to article: Age discrimination warning for growing numbers of older workers

(US) Time to Call It Quits? The Safety and Health of Older Workers
The workforces of many countries are aging, creating pressure for older workers to retire later despite greater vulnerability to various occupational safety and health (OSH) risks. Some specific risks to older workers arise from age-related physical or psychological changes, while others reflect exposures to poor work organization or employment conditions. This article reviews evidence on the nature of the OSH risks faced by older workers, focusing on work ability, contingent work, and working hours. The authors discuss organizational practices and regulatory policies to protect and enhance the OSH of older workers.
Link to report: Time to Call It Quits? The Safety and Health of Older Workers

Position Paper 3: Health

(UK) Investors back Buddi's plans to save Government £2bn
Sara Murray, the founder of Confused.com, has completed a new funding round and announced board appointments for her latest business, which she claims could save the Government up to £2bn annually by delaying the need for residential care for dementia sufferers. Buddi, a personal tracking device with applications for "any vulnerable member of society", has been backed with at least £2m by Kirsh, the private family office which owns a stake in Minerva, in return for 16pc of the business. Sir Peter Bonfield, the former chief executive of BT, and Ralph Kanter, who built the vehicle tracing business Tracker, will join the company's board. The funds will boost Buddi's sales teams in the dementia market, which represents 95pc of its £4m revenues. Buddi currently sells its matchbox-sized GPS-based devices to more than 80 UK councils.
Link to article: Investors back Buddi's plans to save Government £2bn

(IRE) Why do some people live to 100?
One of my favourite stories about Jeanne Calment is that on her birthday a visitor came to the nursing home where the Frenchwoman had lived since age 110. Bidding her farewell, the visitor said they hoped to see her the same time next year. The birthday girl reportedly quipped: “I don’t see why not. You don’t look so bad to me.” Calment’s confidence in her own longevity was well founded – she lived to be 122. For most people though, the more modest milestone of 100 is an aspiration. So why does a person make it past the century mark? A recent paper in Science claimed to have come up with a model to analyse various gene variants and predict exceptional longevity with “77 per cent accuracy”. That research has since been widely questioned, but it’s possible that further studies could highlight more robust associations between an individual’s genetic bounty and their estimated lifespan. Yet genes are far from the whole picture – your lifestyle, social and physical environment play important roles in how you age – and, of course, an unfortunate accident can call the whole thing off.
Link to article: Why do some people live to 100?

(IRE) CARDI Focus On...Dementia
The topic of dementia has featured considerably in the news in recent weeks, both in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland. Two major longitudinal studies suggested that depression is among the risk factors in developing dementia1. In addition, a team of scientists from King’s College London is developing a blood test for the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia2. An attempt to raise the profile of dementia in Northern Ireland was launched with Dementia awareness week, which ran from 13 - 19 June 2010. This article examines the facts and policy surrounding dementia, as well as the urgent need for further research in the area.
Link to article: CARDI Focus On...Dementia

(US) Gene linked to ageing also linked to Alzheimer's
MIT biologists report that they have discovered the first link between the amyloid plaques that form in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and a gene previously implicated in the aging process, SIRT1. The researchers found that SIRT1 appears to control production of the devastating protein fragments, termed A-beta peptides, that make up amyloid plaques. They also showed that in mice engineered to develop Alzheimer's plaques and symptoms, learning and memory deficits were improved when SIRT1 was overproduced in the brain, and exacerbated when SIRT1 was deleted. The results, reported in the July 23 issue of the journal Cell, indicate that drugs that activate SIRT1 could be a promising strategy to combat Alzheimer's, says Leonard Guarente, the MIT biology professor who led the study.
Link to article: Gene linked to ageing also linked to Alzheimer's

(US) Researchers Identify Factors That Lead To "Successful Aging"
What, exactly, does "successful aging" mean? For more than a half century, researchers and gerontologists have argued whether successful aging is better defined subjectively (how older adults view their own state of aging) or objectively (physical disease-related disability or mental decline). Answering this question is more than an academic exercise. As the first members of the famed "baby boom generation" reach age 65, understanding what it means to remain healthy and independent in later life could have an enormous impact on health care delivery and medical policy. Researchers have recently unveiled new findings that clarify what it means to age successfully, and point to modifiable factors that could help more people remain healthy as they age. The researchers found that people are more likely to age successfully if they are educated, have never been incarcerated, are married, consume only moderate amounts of alcohol and either work for pay or do volunteer work.
Link to article: Researchers Identify Factors That Lead To "Successful Aging"

(UK) Anti-psychotic drugs given to older people
Almost a fifth of older people in Scotland who have dementia are being given anti-psychotic and psychotropic drugs, research has shown. Scientists at the University of Dundee said the drugs are “known to be of limited benefit” and may cause “significant harm” to patients. The drugs have long been used on dementia patients in an attempt to deal with their behavioural and psychological disturbances.
Link to article: Anti-psychotic drugs given to older people

(UK) Life expectancy gap 'widest since Great Depression'
The poorest people in Britain are twice as likely to die before the age of 65 than the richest - the highest inequality in mortality since the economic depression of the 1930s. The gap between the two has not been greater for the last 80 years, according to a study in the British Medical Journal.  Teams at the universities of Sheffield and Bristol calculated deaths before the age of 65 – considered premature – in areas of the top ten per cent down to the bottom ten per cent of wealth. They said: "For every 100 people under the age of 65 dying in the best-off areas, 199 were dying in the poorest tenth of areas.  "This is the highest relative inequality recorded since at least 1921. When we looked at people aged under 75, for every 100 people dying in the best-off areas, 188 were dying in the poorest tenth of areas. That is the highest ratio of inequality recorded since at least 1990."
Link to article: Life expectancy gap 'widest since Great Depression'

Position Paper 4: Age-friendly communities

(IRE) Age Friendly programme comes to city
Former GAA Presidnet Nicky Brennan chaired the latest event on the tour of Age Friendly Kilkenny when it was held in Hotel Kilkenny yeterday, Tuesday. Already the tour has visited most of the county and will conclude in Graignamangh this Thursday as Kilkenny is one of only two counties nationwide chosen to be the first to introduce the scheme. The response to date has been excellent, and a presentation was made yesterday by Dr Emer Ahern, Geriatrician at St Lukes Hospital. Guests were also invited to lunch and entertained by The Garda Band at the Hotel afterwards. In March Kilkenny People columnist Nicky Brennan launched the Kilkenny Age Friendly County Programme which aims to focus discussion on the kind of society that is desirable and achievable for older adults in Kilkenny.
Link to article: Age Friendly programme comes to city
Link to video: Listening to make Kilkenny the best place in which to grow old

(UK) Rise in older people will increase housing costs
An ageing population will pose massive problems for housing planners in Scotland, according to a new Government report. The Impact of Population Ageing on Housing in Scotland warns that costs are set to rise rapidly in three key areas. The demand for suitable housing stock, the need for support to live at home and the need for homes to be adapted to suit older people are all increasing. Bathrooms and shower adaptations are the most common changes needed by older residents, and in Glasgow alone, 11,000 households need to be adapted. The degree to which homes have already been adapted varies from 10% of total households in West Dunbartonshire to less than 1% in the City of Edinburgh, with an average of 4% of households improved across Scotland.
Link to article: Rise in older people will increase housing costs
Link to report: The Impact of Population Ageing on Housing in Scotland

(US) 'Villages' let older people grow old at home
The explosive growth of the USA's older population is fueling a grass-roots "village" movement in neighborhoods across the country to help people age in their own homes. More than 50 villages in a neighbour helping  neighbour system have sprouted in the past decade from California and Colorado to Nebraska and Massachusetts. They are run largely by volunteers and funded by grants and membership fees to provide services from transportation and grocery delivery to home repairs and dog walking. Most villages have opened in the past couple of years, an indication that the momentum is growing in the face of a demographic tsunami: The number of Americans 65 and older is expected to more than double to 89 million by 2050, according to the Census Bureau.
Link to article: 'Villages' let older people grow old at home

(UK) Building work starts on older people's housing project
Building work on a new state-of-the-art social housing development for older people in Crowborough, East Sussex, has started this week. The development will be called The Rowans and is a partnership between Wealden District Council and Sussex Housing and Care (SHC), a local charitable housing association. The aim of the project is to create additional family council homes by encouraging older tenants of council houses, whose children have moved out, to move to the development, thereby freeing up their under-occupied council home for a family on the waiting list. The 16 one- and two-bedroom flats and three two-bedroom bungalows will be completed by March next year, and will be available for Wealden Council tenants aged 55 and over living on their own or with a partner in a family sized home. The creation of a £20m housing facility for older people in Swadlincote has also taken a step nearer completion. A ground-breaking ceremony took place for the site, which will provide a community care centre and houses for rent for people aged over 55. There will also be a range of facilities including a gym, restaurant and IT suite.  
Link to article: Over-55s housing in Swadlincote nearer completion
Link to article: Building work starts on older people's housing project

(IRE) Motor tax plan 'unfair to older people'
A proposal to penalise motorists who do not pay their vehicle tax online would unfairly hit older drivers, the charity Age Action has said. The measure is contained in a report by the Local Government Efficiency Review Group which was published this week. The report was approved by the Government on Wednesday. Penalising those who do not use the online motor tax facility failed to recognise that one of the main reasons people do not use this service is that they do not have computer skills or access to a computer, Age Action said.
Link to article: Motor tax plan 'unfair to older people'

Position Paper 5: Engagement

(UK) Having good friends appears to 'boost' survival
Having a good network of friends and neighbours boosts survival chances by 50%, US researchers believe. The Brigham Young University team came to this figure by number-crunching data from nearly 150 studies looking at survival odds and social networks. And they calculate that having few friends is as damaging to survival as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being alcoholic, PLoS Medicine reports.
They believe caring about others makes us take better care of ourselves. But they warn that in today's modern world social networks are deteriorating as we struggle to juggle careers and families and find a happy work-life balance.
Link to article: Having good friends appears to 'boost' survival

(IRE) Over 101,000 people participated in Bealtaine 2010
The dust has settled, the evaluation forms returned and the numbers have been crunched for the 2010 Bealtaine Festival, and Age & Opportunity revealed today that over 101,000 people are estimated to have taken part in this year’s festival – enough to fill the Aviva Stadium twice over and still have 1,000 people queuing outside! More than 500 Bealtaine organisers staged over 2,500 events in theatres, libraries, along river banks, in arts centres, residential care centres, beaches, galleries, cafes and day care centres all over Ireland. ‘The festival has been growing in popularity, size and quality year on year – but 2010 has seen an enormous leap in attendance at events,’ said Sue Russell, Media Coordinator for Age & Opportunity.
Link to article: Over 101,000 people participated in Bealtaine 2010

(CAN) 'Zoomers' joining forces
When seeing the names of the people in a national group promoting a "new vision for aging," anyone who grew up on '80s music videos is bound to stop at the name of Moses Znaimer. Currently the executive director of the non-profit CARP group -- originally the Canadian Association of Retired Persons -- he is the Canuck media mogul and pop culture pioneer who beat America's MTV at its own game. He and CARP are now trying to popularize a new term for to-day's active older adults: "zoomers," or baby boomers with zip.
Link to article: 'Zoomers' joining forces

(US) Baby Boomers are fastest growing group on Facebook as it sets record at 500 million users
This week the online social networking giant Facebook reached the milestone of 500 million users.  Just who are these people and why are they spending so much time checking into Facebook every day? Surprise, surprise it’s the baby boomers. Though Baby Boomers are often considered technologically inept by the younger generation, it is in fact, the Baby Boomers who make up the largest growing demographic on Facebook, often much to the chagrin of their children and younger friends and relatives. After all, what 19 year old wants Aunt Mary posting her comments on his or her wall or gushing over reconnecting with long lost friends from high school on Facebook, of all places!
Link to article: Baby Boomers are fastest growing group on Facebook as it sets record at 500 million users

(US) Teens don thinking caps to help aging population
Who says you have to move forward to make progress? Nicholas Schiefer has made a case for putting on the brakes instead. When the 16-year-old high school student from Pickering, Ont., signed up to take part in Shad Valley, a month-long, nationwide enrichment program for high school students, he little imagined he would be facing the task of developing a product or service designed to help the country’s rapidly aging population. The issue has dogged governments, corporations and policy-makers for longer than most Shad participants have been alive, but Schiefer and 10 of his fellow participants were tasked with presenting a fully developed solution — complete with working prototype and 30-page business plan — in just 19 days. Several hours spent cloistered in a room on the University of British Columbia campus yielded hundreds of suggestions, but the penny didn’t drop for the enterprising teens until they hit upon the unlikely combination of memory aids and wheelchair mechanics.
Link to article: Teens don thinking caps to help aging population

(UK) Text And Email Alerts Welcomed By Older Patients - British Psychological Society
Text and email alerts could help older patients remember appointments and medication instructions, ultimately reducing NHS costs and potentially improving their own recovery. This is one of the findings from post-graduate researcher, Lyndsay Hughes. The study investigated ownership and use of email and mobile phone technologies in a sample of 112 patients. From this sample 73% of older patients had an email address and 93% owned a mobile phone. Those in the eldest category (over 65) also reported a high use of mobile phones with more than 63% stating they were "confident" at reading texts. Almost half of those who had an email address or mobile phone said that they would like an email/text reminder for appointments. A quarter of patients who had access to these technologies said they would like an email/text medication reminder.
Link to article: Text And Email Alerts Welcomed By Older Patients - British Psychological Society

Position Paper 6: Live in a place like home: Long-term care, independent living and carers

(IRE) Strain of being a carer highlighted
Almost one in 10 people in Ireland are carers and many of these are under major strain, a new report from the Central Statistics Office has shown (CSO). According to the report, 8% of adults - 10% of women and 6% of men - provide unpaid help or assistance to someone. This amounts to around 350,000 people. Almost half of these carers are aged between 45 and 64 and two in three are women. Almost half care for someone in their own household. One in three carers work full-time, while almost one in three are ‘economically inactive', but of working age. Four in 10 are the sole carer for the person they look after. The report noted that almost half of carers spend more than 15 hours per week providing care, while one in five spend more than 57 hours per week.
Link to article: Strain of being a carer highlighted
Link to report: Quarterly National Household Survey: Carers

(UK) Warning over £106bn bill for old-age care
Caring for Britain's growing older population could cost up to £106bn a year, equivalent to paying for a second NHS, according to research from the Policy Exchange thinktank. In its latest report, released today, the influential rightwing group says that introducing free personal care for older people through taxation, as happened in Scotland in 2002, would see friends and family withdraw their informal care. The cost to the state of providing this support, combined with the growing ageing population, would land the NHS with unsustainable costs. Instead, the report says, the public should pay a substantial proportion of their long-term care costs through insurance or annuity-backed products.
Link to article: Warning over £106bn bill for old-age care
Link to report: Careless Funding long-termcare for the elderly

(EU) The Impact of the Crisis on Cash-for-Care Schemes for Dependent Elderly A Comparative study of France, Italy and England
This paper prepared for Age Platform is part of series of studies on the impact of the crisis on social security systems, tackled by students of the Master on European Social Security at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). It focused upon cash benefits for care in three selected countries, namely France, Italy and England.
Link to report: The Impact of the Crisis on Cash-for-Care Schemes for Dependent Elderly A Comparative study of France, Italy and England

(UK) The social care commission is on the right track
The announcement of a commission on the funding of care and support – to report within a year – indicates that the coalition government is serious about reforming social care. It needs to be. If the delay in making the announcement was to allow ministers time to recruit the right commissioners, it was time well spent – between them, the commissioners have the experience, knowledge and passion to ensure they are listened to. Their work will be vital. Resources for social care are inadequate. Thousands of older people needing help with basic daily tasks receive no assistance at all. Those who obtain help often receive the bare minimum, far from the support they need to live independent, fulfilling and dignified lives. And many people with modest means are forced to surrender their savings – sometimes their homes – to pay for the care they need.
Link to article: The social care commission is on the right track

(NZL) Country's rest home industry leaves a lot to be desired
Many New Zealanders, especially those with loved ones in rest homes, think their older relatives are safely and carefully looked after by well meaning and benign organisations. This may well have been the situation in the past, because it was mainly carried out by the state and church organisations that had a culture of care and concern. It may come as something of a shock to discover that 75 per cent of the country's 870 rest homes are run by mostly overseas companies and the Overseas Investment Office last year approved sales of aged care facilities valued at more than $1.5 billion. There are 34,000 residents in rest homes, many provided by chains such as Radius, Ryman, MetLife, Bupa Care Services, even the Kuwait Finance House. All profits naturally are repatriated to their overseas owners. This profit-driven "industry" attracts around $1 billion in direct subsidies from the Government and input from 18 Ministry of Health and associated agencies.
Link to article: Country's rest home industry leaves a lot to be desired

(UK) Joan Bakewell examines the 'burden' of elder care
In a specially authored Panorama, Dame Joan Bakewell, who recently stepped down as the government's Voice of Older People, explores the challenges ahead in caring for our ageing population. With the first wave of baby boomers about to turn 65, the question of who should be asked to pay for that care could not be more timely. As Dame Joan, 77, points out, amid talk from successive governments about tackling the problem, the old keep on getting older.
Link to article: Joan Bakewell examines the 'burden' of elder care

(NI) DHSSPS publishes results from home care survey
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) (Northern Ireland) has today published the ‘Domiciliary Care Module - Continuous Household Survey 2008/09’. The DHSSPS commissioned a module of questions on domiciliary care with a view to collecting information on people who said they needed help with certain everyday activities. They were then asked whether they received help with these activities from a friend(s), relative(s) or neighbour(s) or from a home help/ care worker. This survey was also used to find out the views of any current home care service users about the service they receive and their own particular circumstances.
Link to report: Domiciliary Care Module - Continuous Household Survey 2008/09

(US) One Way to Judge a Nursing Home
While looking at nursing homes for my mother, I always asked the tour guides if I could talk to the nurses’ aides. This seemed to me a logical request. After all, these were the women — and they were all women — who would spend the most time with my mother, who would notice small changes that raised big questions, who would make her feel cared for. Or not. “They don’t do that,” I was told almost everywhere I visited. I soon realized why. In casual conversations in hallways and dining rooms at more than a dozen facilities, I found only one nurses’ aide who had been on the job more than six months. I was witnessing in real life one of the most dismal statistics in long-term care: More than 70 percent of nurses’ aides, or certified nursing assistants, change jobs in a given year.
Link to article: One Way to Judge a Nursing Home

Assistive and Remote Technology Services for Independent Living

(UK) Stronger focus needed to optimise technology for aged care
Australia needs an increased national focus on developing and applying smart technology for healthy longevity, says a new report from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE). This increased focus is essential to realise the potential of smart technology to ensure a healthy, safe, secure and fulfilling future for the increasing aged population in Australia and the maintenance of a healthy, harmonious and prosperous society. The report also says national coordination and sustained R&D support are essential to make optimum use of the available resources. The 100-page report came from an Australian Research Council-funded study ATSE conducted in 2009, reviewing the state of aged care technology in Australia and in Europe and using the expertise of Academy Fellows and invited experts to provide an informed view of the future situation of technology for ageing-in-place (continuing to live at home) in Australia.
Link to article: Stronger focus needed to optimise technology for aged care
Link to report: Smart Technology for Health Longevity 2010

(AUS) E-health: slow and steady wins the race
Even though Australia may look as though it is dragging its feet when it comes to electronic health reform, slow and steady could well win the race. The rate of progress in developing an e-health network was one of the main topics of discussion on the first day of the Information Technology in Aged Care (ITAC) conference in Melbourne. The CEO of the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA), Peter Fleming, justified the long implementation period, saying advances must be taken in small steps now to avoid large mistakes in the future. “Once we get it right, we will roll it out big time so that we can avoid any mistakes,” Mr Fleming said. “You need to understand the possible workflow situations to work with it to get it right.” Last month the government passed legislation to enable Individual Healthcare Identifiers (IHIs) which will enable providers to identify and manage patient information.
Link to article: E-health: slow and steady wins the race

(US) The Do-It-Yourself House Call
Technology that aims to keep congestive heart failure patients out of the hospital is gaining traction. The idea is for heart patients to take readings like their weight, blood pressure and other key metrics using wireless and other technologies; the data are then transmitted to a case manager or medical care giver. That way health care givers can catch, and address, warning signs before the patient lands in the ER with shortness of breath or a heart attack. In the past, patients have found such technology difficult to use. But a number of managed-care companies are experimenting with electronic devices meant to make the process easier. A big benefit is that it allows patients to stay in their homes, but the systems can't catch everything, and patients shouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security by the technology.
Link to article: The Do-It-Yourself House Call

The Business of Ageing

(US) Busting myths about baby boomers
Advertisers have long been obsessed with targeting the young and the hip, the consumers under 50 years old who are perceived to have the most spending power. But now that the baby boomers, and all their buying clout, have begun aging into their 50s and 60s, it may be time to adjust that attitude. A new study from Nielsen reveals just how off base some of our impressions of older people are. The research shows that boomers as a group are early adopters who consume huge amounts of media, including more time-shifted television than their 18-24 counterparts, and they comprise a surprising one-third of all social media users. In fact, millennials and boomers have a lot in common. Eight of the top 10 web sites visited by millennials are also in the top 10 for adults born between 1946-1964. Pat McDonough, senior vice president of insights, analysis and policy at the Nielsen Company, talks to Media Life about boomer misconceptions, how advertisers should be approaching over-50s, and whether attitudes will ever change.
Link to article: Busting myths about baby boomers

(US) Startup's 20-Somethings Surf Web For Older People
Nearly everyone has an older relative or cranky friend who still resists computers and the Internet due to some vague fears of the unknown. Morey Wright, 26, sees this situation as a business opportunity. Wright has started a business called Netcrossers, a service based in South Florida, a well-known magnet for older people. Netcrossers serves folks who don't want to use the Internet themselves, or who need help doing so. For an annual fee of $199, customers can call up Netcrosser agents on the phone and get them to search the Web for information. The company's 'crossers' also can remotely connect to a user's computer, to help users navigate through Web sites, possibly to find useful information such as property tax data. "People in my generation are always online, because we were raised on the Web," Wright said. "But a lot of people, even people as young as their 40s and 50s, don't use the Internet much.
Link to article: Startup's 20-Somethings Surf Web For Older People

Position Paper 1: Informed National Strategies and Plans

(US) Russia's Ageing Society: Stanford Centre on Longevity
Like many other economies around the world, Russia faces a new demographic reality. With 1.4 births per woman, Russia’s fertility is below replacement rate, and the country has a relatively low life expectancy of 60 years for men. Because of these trends, Russia’s population is already shrinking. Reports from the Stanford University's Center on Longevity’s Global Aging Program describe changes in the working age population in Russia and other nations. These challenges underscore the importance of developing new approaches, such as boosting Russia’s technological production.
Link to report: Demographic overview: Russia
Link to report: Population age shifts will reshape global workforce
Link to report: Population aging will reshape global economics and geopolitics

(US) Population Ageing: A Human Triumph
In this article, Joseph Chamie, former director of the UN Population Division, argues that population ageing is a triumph of civilization. It is the inevitable consequence of attaining desired smaller family sizes, lower mortality rates and longer lives, with many living beyond 100 years. This achievement, however, requires vital social and economic adjustments to expected future demographic realities. In particular, population ageing raises critical issues for countries, states and cities in areas such as economic growth, employment and retirement, pensions, health care and social support services.
Link to article: Population Ageing: A Human Triumph

(UK) The Future of Age
This report summarises a public debate, "Future of Age”, hosted by the International Longevity Centre – UK.  Across the world we are living longer and seeing growth in the numbers of older old. Simply taking into account demographic change, we will see more people with a need for long term care and more people with dementia. We are also seeing structural change in society, with more people living alone, higher divorce rates and increasing levels of childlessness. Our expectations of health services are changing alongside the development of new drugs and technologies. How we pay for health with these changes is a major challenge. We live in a fast changing world. 134 years ago the first two way phone call was made. It took until 2000 for half of the world to own a phone, yet by 2007 half of the world owned a mobile phone. And whilst it took 75 years for telephones to reach 50 million users, it only took four years for the internet to reach a similar number. Technology is changing the way we live and our relationship to society. Meanwhile, climate change and other environmental challenges pose serious threats for society and will impact on all of us. These changes will have a significant impact on our economy and society as a whole.
Link to report: The Future of Age

(CHN) China's octogenarian population to grow by 1 million annually
The number of Chinese in their 80s or older neared 19 million last year and would grow by an additional one million annually, a government report said. The number of people aged 60 years and above, increased by 7.25 million to 167.14 million last year, or 12.5 percent of the Chinese population, the Office of China National Committee on Aging said Tuesday. Further, the proportion of older people in the population rose by half a percentage point to 12.5 percent, the largest annual increase in history, said Wu Yushao, deputy director of the office. 'That will be a huge challenge for our country,' Wu said. 'The economy, the retirement system and services for older people, are still too weak to handle the challenge.'
Link to article: China's octogenarian population to grow by 1 million annually

Position Paper 2: Enjoy an adequate income: Employment, Pensions and Retirement

(UK) Living Longer is a Good Thing!: Ageing, Employers and Employment Rights
This ILC-UK discussion paper considers the challenge presented to workplace relations and employment rights by the extending working lives agenda. There appears to be a sense of inevitability from pensions and human resources professionals about the need to work longer. In this paper, Dr Susan Sayce of the University of East Anglia draws upon contributions from expert speakers at a seminar on the workplace pensions arena to generate discussion on a range of issues that impact on older people in the workplace. The paper argues that both employers and trade unions must be involved in addressing how working longer will impact on employment rights and workplace relations. Dealing with issues around pensions reform, employee retention and flexible working will require clear communication about the choices available to individuals.
Link to report: Living Longer is a Good Thing!: Ageing, Employers and Employment Rights

(US) Older workers Outnumber Teenagers in Job Force
Thanks, in part, to the recession, there are now more older workers than teenagers in the American labour force for the first time on record. starting last fall the number of older workers surpassed the number of teenage workers for the first time since at least 1948, when the Labour Department first began collecting statistics. If you look at just the employment of older workers versus teenagers — that is, how many workers actually have jobs — you will also find that older people surpassed teenagers for the first time recently, in mid-2008. So what accounts for the flip? For one, the baby boom generation has been ageing and additionally, the job market has been shifting away from defined-benefit pensions and toward defined-contribution pension plans.
Link to article: Older workers Outnumber Teenagers in Job Force

(US) Retirement may mean a lifestyle downgrade
If you're a baby boomer, the odds are high you'll exhaust your retirement savings after 10 or 20 years of retirement, according to the latest Retirement Readiness Rating report released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Nearly half of older boomers -- those now aged 56 to 62 -- and some 44% of younger boomers -- aged 46 to 55 now -- are at risk of not having sufficient income to pay for basic retirement expenses and uninsured medical expenses, according to the study.
Link to article: Retirement may mean a lifestyle downgrade

(US) How will Baby Boomers' retirement affect stocks?
Next year, the first of the 79 million Baby Boomers will hit 65 — retirement age. Given the stock market's dismal returns the past decade, few will have as much saved for retirement as they had planned. The past three months alone, the average stock mutual fund has shrunk by 10%, according to Lipper, which tracks the funds. The past 10 years, the average stock fund has gained an average 0.2% — far below the stock market's average annual gain of 9.7% since 1926. A good decade in the market often follows a bad one. But the big question: If Boomers follow the usual pattern of shifting their portfolio mix toward income-generating investments — bank CDs, bonds and dividend-paying stocks — will the stock market's long dry spell drag on?
Link to article: How will Baby Boomers' retirement affect stocks?

(US) Older Americans Working More, Retiring Less
The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire has released a study confirming that, since the mid-1990s Americans are retiring less and working longer, reversing a decades-long shift to earlier retirement. In "Older Americans Working More, Retiring Less", Anne Shattuck reports that 22% of men and 13% of women over age 65 were in the work force in 2009, an increase from 17% of men and 9% of women over the age of 65 in 1995. The report also found that men and women work longer in both rural and urban areas, those with more education work longer, divorce drives many women to work longer, and most work after age 65 is part-time, but full-time work is on the rise.
Link to report: Older Americans Working More, Retiring Less

(AUS) Age Diversity Report: Mature Age Participation in Australian ICT Sector Poor Compared to Other First World Countries
The Australian Computer Society has released a report revealing that Australia’s mature age participation rate in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector is below that of comparable countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States, and calling for both a self regulatory code of practice in this area for the ICT sector, and collaboration between government, industry and the Human Rights Commission to create attitudinal change amongst Australian employers. According to "The ACS Age Diversity Report, Improving Age Diversity in the ICT Workforce," older ICT workers (45 and over) in Australia are perceived as being less healthy or more prone to disability, being underqualified or having obsolete skills, unable to learn new skills, being over qualified, unable to adapt to new or younger work cultures, looking towards retirement so not worth training, resistant to change, and less adaptive to new technologies.
Link to article: Improving Age Diversity In The ICT Workforce
Link to report: The ACS Age Diversity Report, Improving Age Diversity in the ICT Workforce

(IRE) Irish government to consider €10bn fund for pension liabilities
The Government has confirmed it is considering a radical proposal that would see an additional €10bn invested in Irish pensions put into government bonds. The move would mean pension funds would be able to lower their deficits, as they would have to set aside less money to cover liabilities in the event of a scheme winding up. Three-quarters of company -- or defined benefit -- pension schemes are in deficit. Last month the Pensions Board said these deficits amounted to as much as €30bn. Now pensions experts have put together a proposal that could see a typical company pension scheme with €100m in assets and a €30m deficit, reduce its deficit by €20m, the Irish Independent has learned.
Link to article: Irish government to consider €10bn fund for pension liabilities

(IRE) Government to go ahead with increased retirement age
The government is pushing ahead with plans to implement its National Pensions Framework, which includes a proposal that people should not get the state pension until they are 68. A total of 22 organisations met at Farmleigh House in Dublin last Thursday for a consultative forum on the implementation of the pension framework. This included representatives of employers, trade unions, older people, insurers, pension funds and youth groups. Initial presentations were made by the Minister for Social Protection, Eamon O’Cuív, and the chair of the implementation group, Dr Orlaigh Quinn, an assistant secretary in O’Cuív’s department. Each of the 22 bodies was given a chance to contribute to the proceedings. A spokeswoman for the Department of Social Protection said that the purpose of last Thursday’s meeting was to give participants an update on progress to date and also give them ‘‘an opportunity to present their initial views on the implementation of the framework’’.
Link to article: Government to go ahead with increased retirement age

(UK) Older people 'missing out on £5.4bn in benefits'
Age UK estimates that 1.97 million older people who are eligible for council tax benefit are not claiming it, collectively missing out on £1.5 billion a year from this benefit alone - an average of £728 each. The charity said older people were nearly twice as likely to miss out on council tax benefit as other age groups, with 44% of eligible older people not claiming it, compared with just 28% of non-pensioners. It said the reasons older people failed to pick up money they were entitled to ranged from being unaware of the range of benefits available or not realising they were eligible to thinking the claiming process was too complicated.
Link to article: Older people 'missing out on £5.4bn in benefits'

(US) New publications look at Employment Issues for the Aging Population
AARP has issued a fact sheet, The Employment Situation, June 2010: A Mixed Picture for Older Workers which finds that while fewer older adults (aged 55 and over) are unemployed, more have withdrawn from the workforce. Sloan Centre on Ageing and Work examines career opportunities for older persons in Talent Pressures and the Aging Workforce: Retail Trade Sector, and the impact of an aging workforce on employers in the retail sector.
Link to report: The Employment Situation, June 2010: A Mixed Picture for Older Workers
Link to report: Talent Pressures and the Aging Workforce: Retail Trade Sector

Position Paper 3: Health

(US) Older People Living Longer and Paying More for Care
Americans are living longer than ever, but increased longevity comes at a price -- the cost of healthcare for people over age 65 has almost doubled in recent years, according to a new federal report. Healthcare costs averaged $15,081 per person in 2006 (after adjusting for inflation) compared with $9,224 in 1992, according to the report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics that examined dozens of health indicators among older people. The 155-page report, "Older Americans 2010: Key Indicators of Well-Being," analyzed 37 key indicators, including poverty, income, housing, disease, and physical activity to assess the health of people over age 65. The data come from 15 different government agencies, including the National Institute on Ageing, the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Department of Veteran's Affairs.
Link to article: Older People Living Longer and Paying More for Care

(US) Sniffing insulin may help memory lost to Alzheimer's
Squirting insulin up the noses of patients with early forms of Alzheimer's disease showed signs of improving their memory, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. Patients who got the treatment for four months showed improvements in tests of memory recall that lasted for two months. "We believe our results are very promising and they warrant future trials," said Dr. Suzanne Craft of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the University of Washington in Seattle, who presented her findings at a meeting of the Alzheimer's Association in Honolulu.
Link to article: Sniffing insulin may help memory lost to Alzheimer's

(US) Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource publish special report on deciphering dementia
Occasional misplaced keys or forgotten names don't mark the beginning of dementia. All dementia isn't Alzheimer's disease. Some dementia symptoms can be reversed. Those facts and many more are covered in Deciphering Dementia, a supplemental Special Report to the July issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. The report provides in-depth coverage of the causes, risk factors, diagnoses and treatment options for dementia.
Link to article: Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource publish special report on deciphering dementia

(US) Want to Slow Aging? New Research Suggests it Takes More Than Antioxidants
Don't put down the red wine and vitamins just yet, but if you're taking antioxidants because you hope to live longer, consider this: a new study published in the June 2010 issue of the journal Genetics casts doubt on the theory that oxidative stress to our tissues shortens lifespan. That's because researchers from McGill University in Canada have identified mutations in 10 different genes of worms (genes believed to have counterparts in humans) that extend their lifespan without reducing the level of oxidative stress the worms suffer. The results contradict the popular theory that production of toxic reactive oxygen species in tissues is responsible for ageing.
Link to article: Want to Slow Aging? New Research Suggests it Takes More Than Antioxidants

(UK) Common drugs may raise risk of memory problems in older people
Drugs taken for insomnia, bladder-control problems, allergies, and many other conditions may increase the risk of memory problems and other mental decline in older people, reports a new study on a class of drugs called anticholinergics. However, contrary to some previous research, the study did not find a link between these drugs and dementia, and the other problems were relatively mild.
Link to article: Common drugs may raise risk of memory problems in older people

(UK) A national study of people over 50 living with HIV
This study by Terrence Higgins Trust and Age UK investigated the needs and concerns of older adults living with HIV. The over-50s are the fastest-growing group of people with HIV in the UK, yet until recently, older adults living with HIV have received little attention within social research and HIV services. The report, published later this summer, looked at how improved treatments are allowing people with HIV in the UK to live longer into later life, revealing that there are high levels of uncertainty about future health and care. It found that: Respondents feared that social care services, care homes and sheltered housing might be HIV prejudiced or homophobic; While most thought highly of their HIV clinicians, many reported poor experiences in primary care; and respondents' highest future priority was for good quality health and treatment information.
Link to summary of report: A national study of people over 50 living with HIV

(US) New Criteria for Alzheimer's Diagnosis Proposed
A draft proposal that would update the diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease for the first time in 25 years has just been presented to Alzheimer's experts. The key change would put more focus on the various stages of the condition, according to the drafts from three workgroups convened by the U.S. National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association. While these criteria are still in use, experts say the field has changed a great deal since they were created in 1984. "These changes are inevitable, given the forward movement of the scientific knowledge regarding Alzheimer's -- how it develops, how it progresses and how it impacts the patient," said Dr. Martin Goldstein, director of the department of neurology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. Developing methods to identify Alzheimer's in its first stages is essential to the early diagnosis of the disease, he added. This can also lead to new treatments.
Link to article: New Criteria for Alzheimer's Diagnosis Proposed

 
Position Paper 4: Age-friendly communities

(AUS) All new homes to be 'livable' by 2020
Older Australians are set to gain from the release of new voluntary standards for universal housing design. Leaders from the housing industry and the disability sector worked together to develop the standards through the federal government’s National Dialogue on Universal Design. Master Builders Australia and the Housing Industry Association have also agreed to a target to make all new homes compliant with universal design principles by 2020. The livable housing guideline establishes three levels of standards – silver, gold and platinum. To meet the baseline silver standard, houses must have a stepless entry, wide doors and corridors, a ground-floor toilet and a bathroom with a hobless shower and reinforced walls.
Link to article: All new homes to be 'livable' by 2020

(US) A Fast-Paced City Tries to Be a Gentler Place to Grow Old
New York City has given pedestrians more time to cross at more than 400 intersections in an effort to make streets safer for older residents. The city has sent yellow school buses, filled not with children but with older people, on dozens of grocery store runs over the past seven months. The city has allowed artists to use space and supplies in 10 older person centres in exchange for giving art lessons. And it is about to create two ageing-improvement districts, parts of the city that will become safer and more accessible for older residents. People live in New York because it is like no place else — pulsating with life, energy and a wealth of choices — but there is some recognition among city planners that it could be a kinder and gentler place in which to grow old.
Link to article: A Fast-Paced City Tries to Be a Gentler Place to Grow Old

(UK) Free bus pass age rise may be sped up amid budget cuts in England
The age at which people in England get a free bus pass could go up from 60 to 65 sooner than previously planned, if new cost-cutting plans are agreed. But government sources told the BBC they thought it was unlikely to happen. Labour wanted to push the age of eligibility up to 65 by 2020, but the Department for Transport has suggested bringing this forward as part of the coalition government's budget cuts.
Currently, the department spends £1bn a year on free travel for older people. The Department for Transport's idea is among its initial proposals for the budget cuts being submitted to the Treasury by all departments later.
Link to article: Free bus pass age rise may be sped up amid budget cuts in England

(UK) Tribunal awards woman £3,000 in ageist remarks case
An employment tribunal has ruled that a Cookstown woman was harassed by her employer on grounds of her age, and awarded her £3,780 compensation. Anna Stirrup, then aged 50, was employed as a shop manager at Summers Dry Cleaners, Cookstown. She brought the complaint against the owner of the business, Ufuoma Obahor. The tribunal ruled that Mr Obahor "did have a fixation with the claimant's age which unfortunately led him to making ageist remarks directed against her". "When Mrs Stirrup had been off work sick for four days (Mr Obahor) called at her home and told her that she was unreliable and could not be depended upon," the tribunal said in a statement. "He told her that at her age she should be slowing down and was too old to be working five days a week, and that at 50 she was too old.
Link to article: Tribunal awards woman £3,000 in ageist remarks case

Position Paper 5: Engagement

(EU) Elder Abuse in Europe
The European Commission and the National Centre for the Protection of Older People in Ireland collaborated to produce a background paper looking at elder abuse in Europe from 1975 and on. The paper, Elder Abuse in Europe, serves as a guide to better understand and tackle elder abuse both on a national and an international level.
Link to report: Elder Abuse in Europe

(IRE) The vital role of grandparents explored from China to Ireland
The role of grandparents in society is often underestimated. A recent report in the UK found that the care giving contribution they make to family, social and economic life is often not fully recognised. Last week a report published by Family Resource Centre National Forum and Family Support Agency underlined the increasing role Irish grandparents are playing in caring for children. Ageing within the familial context and the important role of grandparents in society were the topics of a recent seminar hosted by the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin and the Living with Dementia Programme. Nicola Donnelly, CARDI Communications Officer reports.
Link to article: The vital role of grandparents explored from China to Ireland

(CAN) Report of the National Seniors Council on Volunteering Among Older People and Positive and Active Ageing
Canada's National Seniors' Council, in a report to the government, discusses the positive effects of volunteerism among older people, and presents recommendations to encourage the recruitment of more older people  into the ranks of the volunteer community.
Link to report: Report of the National Seniors Council on Volunteering Among Older People  and Positive and Active Aging

Position Paper 6: Live in a place like home: Long-term care, independent living and carers

(IRE) O'Reilly concern at care of older people
Systems to provide long-term care for older people are largely chaotic, with many people confused about their rights and entitlements and subject to years of stress and crippling expense, Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has said. Although the newly-introduced “Fair Deal” Nursing Homes Support Scheme would improve things for many people, what effectively happened was the State now believed it had no further responsibility in this area. Speaking to the MacGill Summer School Ms O’Reilly said she would shortly publish an investigation into the operation of this sector over the last number of years by the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive. However, the Ombudsman’s remarks were rebuked by Minister for Health Mary Harney which a spokesman for the Minister described as “prejudicial and wrong”.
Link to article: O'Reilly concern at care of older people
Link to article: O'Reilly criticised over 'fair deal' speech

(UK) Older people are 'routinely abused by home carers'
Fears that older people are regularly abused by their home carers has prompted a review by the human rights watchdog. Some are subjected to 'inappropriate restraints' in old age  -  either physically or through the prescription of drugs  -  according to the allegations that have prompted the review by the equality and human Rights Commission. There are also concerns that others are malnourished as a result of poor meal preparation and that inadequate cleaning is threatening the dignity of many who require home help. Around 340,600 Britons are dependent on home carers provided by local authorities. But councils are not legally obliged to provide home care  -  and recent spending cuts have raised fears that the services could soon be scaled back. A source at the commission, which will carry out the review in autumn, said there was 'a considerable body of evidence of breaches of human rights' by home carers.
Link to article: Older people are 'routinely abused by home carers'

(UK) The Quality of Death: Ranking end-of-life care across the world
In Quality of Life: Ranking End-of-Life Care Across the World, EIU reports that as the global population ages, the demand for end-of-life care is expected to surge and governments and other providers are racing against time to meet these needs. Britain topped the list for the best end-of-life care, followed by Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Austria. According to the study, institutions specialising in palliative care are not part of the national healthcare systems and the availability of pain-killing drugs is woefully inadequate across much of the world. This leads to ‘an incalculable surfeit of suffering, not just for those about to die but also for their loved ones’, states the report. The report also cites data showing that more than 100 million patients and their family care givers need palliative support annually, but fewer than 8 % of them actually receive it.
Link to article: The Quality of Death: Ranking end-of-life care across the world
Link to report: The Quality of Death: Ranking end-of-life care across the world

(US) He’s not a patient, but plays one for class
Matthew Sharbaugh checked himself into a nursing home recently, complaining of chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, congestive heart failure, and right-side weakness from a recent stroke. He is 24. Sharbaugh had signed away his youth for the next 12 days to play the part of an 85-year-old man in ailing health at the Old Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea. A second-year student at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine, Sharbaugh is one of six students living in a New England nursing home this summer as part of the school’s Learning by Living experiment, founded in 2005 to provide students interested in geriatrics with firsthand experience of the care of older people. This year is the first the program has expanded to include a facility in the Boston area.
Link to article: He’s not a patient, but plays one for class

(UK) Conservatives accused of U-turn on 'death tax' to care for older people
The government was accused today of performing a U-turn on one of the most explosive issues of the general election when the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, left open the option of a "death tax" to fund long-term care for older people. Only months after waging a Tory poster campaign against the Labour plan, Lansley established a new independent commission that will be free to examine compulsory funding of long-term care. He is already under fire for abandoning commitments in the coalition agreement after he abolished primary care trusts.
Link to article: Conservatives accused of U-turn on 'death tax' to care for older people

(JAP) Older People living alone increasingly dying the same way
Die unnoticed and in two months all that is left is the stench, a rotting corpse and maggots. And this is not a war zone or even an episode of "CSI." As Japan's population rapidly ages and more older people find themselves living on their own, many are also dying alone, victims of "kodokushi" (lonely death) who only get noticed well after the fact. Kodokushi has neither an official definition nor data, but just in Tokyo, people over 65 who died alone in their residence, including by suicide, stood at 2,211 in 2008, compared with 1,364 in 2002, according to the Tokyo Medical Examiner's Office.
Link to article: Older People living alone increasingly dying the same way

(UK) Who cares as baby boomers become 'silver shufflers'?
Who cares about the old and infirm? More to the point, who will fill the £6bn deficit in long term care funding forecast to open up over the next decade as an additional 1.7m older people become unable to look after themselves? These are difficult questions which are bound to produce awkward answers. It is no surprise that many baby boomers are turning into silver shufflers. That was always a demographic certainty as those born immediately after the Second World War entered old age with greater life expectancy than earlier generations but the risk of many years frailty or infirmity. Shamefully, despite a series of official inquiries, little or no progress has been made in determining who will pay for their care needs. Should it be central government, local authorities or the families affected?
Link to article: Who cares as baby boomers become 'silver shufflers'?

(US)Family Care for an Aging Population
The US Population Reference Bureau present a broadcast of a conference that was held on 23 June 2010, which looks at the changing nature of the family and of family member employment and their effects on care for ageing members of the family.
Link to broadcast, presentations and data: Family Care for an Aging Population

Assistive and Remote Technology Services for Independent Living

(EU) Telefónica opens global e-health unit
Telefónica has opened a new global e-health unit, which will see it create a number of products and services to help provide a patient centered, sustainable and efficient healthcare model. The unit is based at the company’s head office in Madrid, Spain and will cover the 11 countries that Telefónica already operates in, including five in Europe and six in Latin America. It was officially opened by the Spanish minister for health, Trinidada Jimenez, and the chairman of Telefónica, César Alierta, who said he wants Telefónica to become a benchmark and major player in the healthcare of the future. Alierta added: “This global unit has a transversal character, and already has local units in Spain, Europe and Latin America, composed of professionals which define the strategy and planning of services and their industrialisation, operation and support. "It aims to become a standard bearer in the areas of products, pilot projects and know-how.” According to the company, it will sell services to local health organisations and to carers.
Link to article: Telefónica opens global e-health unit

(UK) Live from your own living room
I think it's wonderful that a pioneering new NHS scheme is monitoring people with chronic respiratory illness from home - by remote control. Instead of having to make endless trips to hospital, computers are installed in patients' homes with a direct link to nurses who can track their blood pressure, pulse rate, weight and breathing -- and sound the alarm if their condition worsens. This technology to monitor and treat health problems from a distance is called telemedicine, and I think it's changing the face of healthcare for the better. It will free up both GP and specialists' time, so more people can benefit from their expertise. But more importantly, it will give patients with long-term chronic illnesses a far better quality of life, monitored at home, close to their loved ones and familiar surroundings.
Link to article: Live from your own living room

(EU) A Healthy Approach - Technology for Personalised, Preventative Healthcare
In this report produced for the publication series ICT Research: The Policy Perspective, we discover how information and communication technology (ICT) is revolutionising healthcare across Europe. Technology gives patients choice and control, while practitioners make more informed diagnoses and decisions. As research continues, citizens can expect to see their quality of life improve. Yet our quality of life features at the top of all political agendas. Why? Because quality of life depends on far more than a full stomach and somewhere warm and dry to sleep. There is always more to be done so that citizens can be comfortable, safe, independent and happy.
Link to report: A Healthy Approach - Technology for Personalised, Preventative Healthcare

(FRA) France's eHealth policy portal
A new portal relating to eHealth was launched by the French Government (in English as well as French) "to consolidate the development of health information systems in France. This portal's goals are to raise awareness of eHealth and to promote ASIP Santé, the public agency piloting national efforts to exchange health data. Users of the site are most likely specialists of the subject, although it's open to all.
Link to website: eHealth Policy Portal

The Business of Ageing

(UK) Success of Retirement Show confirms power of the grey pound
The climbing wall may be more than 40 feet high but Jan Prince is undeterred. With an excited giggle she drops her handbag, slips into a safety harness, adjusts the straps on her helmet and puts her left foot on the first available foothold. Down below, friends and onlookers cheer as the 72-year-old effortlessly shins up the wall. She pauses briefly to survey the view, turns and then flawlessly abseils back down. "That was rather fun," she says as she's met by her friends. "I'd never gone climbing before. I've been running for 10 years and my joints are a lot more flexible than they used to be. I think that probably helped." If anyone wanted confirmation that retirement really is the start of a new life, this weekend at Kensington Olympia's exhibition centre would have been a good place to start. For two days thousands of SKIers (Spending the Kids Inheritance) flocked to the annual Retirement Show to be courted by a host of companies all in pursuit of one thing: the grey pound.
Link to article: Success of Retirement Show confirms power of the grey pound

(AUS) 92% of baby boomers plan to travel on retirement
92 percent Baby Boomers plan to travel around Australia after they retire, but half of those surveyed don’t feel confident in having the money to do it when they retire. New research released by ANZ reveals that 92 percent of ‘Baby Boomers’ want to travel around Australia on retirement, with 83 percent planning to engage more in hobbies sports. However, ANZ’s “New Retirement” survey found almost half of Australians aged between 45 and 64 do not feel confident they have adequate funds to do what they want in retirement (49 percent). With only 24 percent extremely or very confident about their finances.
Link to article: 92% of baby boomers plan to travel on retirement

(UK) Australia’s baby boomers, the biggest consumers of wine
Findings show Australia is the biggest Anglo consumer of wine with 66% of adults drinking wine at least once a month, compared to 33% in the US, but France remains the EU's largest market. Australian newspaper The Age, reported on July 7 the findings of research group Wine Intelligence. The research group found that Australia has more wine drinkers than any other Anglo nation and that the market is driven by the so called ‘baby boomer' generation (born between 1945 and 1960), not younger consumers. The findings marked a switch in drinking habits for Australia's older drinkers whom had previously consumed mainly beer and spirits.
Link to article: Australia’s baby boomers, the biggest consumers of wine

(SIN) Investing in the Silver Community
The Singaporean government has increased the funding by three-fold to support innovations to meet the needs of a fast-ageing population. Some S$10 million has been set aside under the Silver Community Test Bed Programme over the next two years. An example of the innovation includes a pendant which can be worn around the neck or on the wrist. In an emergency, the wearer only needs to press a button to get help from a call centre. For $32 a month, age-friendly device which has been commercialised can save lives.
Link to article: Investing in the Silver Community

(US) Nielsen: This Isn't Your Grandfather's Baby Boomer
Nielsen is once again trying to challenge one of the industry's oldest chestnuts -- that consumers over 50 aren't worth the expense to target. The measurement-and-data giant is out to prove that it is advertisers' continued focus on younger customers that's out of date, thanks to a massive and ageing population of baby boomers as well as changes in consumers' lifestyle sparked by new technology.
Nielsen is in for a tough battle. Any number of parties have complained over the decades about marketers' obsession with youth. Consumers over AARP age often have more money saved and can spend more on items other than food and groceries, but marketers maintain that reaching younger consumers, particularly those between the ages of 18 and 49, is more important. The logic? That group usually hasn't committed to a favorite toothpaste or window cleaner, while older folks have -- and won't have their minds changed by a TV-ad blitz.
Link to article: Nielsen: This Isn't Your Grandfather's Baby Boomer

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(UK) How our ageing population will drive up public spending: the data
Public spending as a percentage of GDP will rise to more than 63% of national income by 2030, a think tank says, to meet the rising costs of ageing, an unexpected fertility boom, climate change and the price of replacing decrepit infrastructure. The 2020 Public Services Trust – a "dead centre" commission that includes both Labour and Tory luminaries such as Blair's former policy guru Matthew Taylor and the Tory MP Stephen Dorrell – calls for a "system redesign" of government to head off a permanent fiscal crisis. In the worst case scenario – if growth remains sluggish, averaging just 1.75% – then public spending would reach £880bn, eating up almost two-thirds of GDP within two decades. The report, entitled The Longer Term View, says that Britain may have to do "less with less" and that the current model is unsustainable.
Link to article: How our ageing population will drive up public spending: the data
Link to presentation: The Deficit: A longer term view
Link to report: Reflections on Public Service Reform in a Cold Fiscal Climate

(UK) Older People, Public Policy and the Impact of Devolution in Scotland
The report has two main sections. The first sets out the public policy context for ageing and older people in Scotland. Part of that context is demographic: the way that Scotland’s population is changing. Part is about policy-making structures: the powers of the Scottish Parliament and those at Westminster which relate to ageing and older people; the relationship of the Scottish Parliament to local government, which has many of the responsibilities for implementing policies for older people; and the wider ‘policy community’ – the various governmental and non-governmental bodies involved in the policy process, and the shared assumptions they have. The second section of the report focuses on the key policy issues where policy since devolution has made a mark.
Link to report: Older People Public Policy and the Impact of Devolution in Scotland

(UK) Britain 'needs smart living plan for disabled and older people'
Experts working across the field of disabled and older people have called for a national overall coherent plan to develop fully integrated systems and services which meet their needs. Such an urgent need was expressed by speakers addressing some 80 delegates at a seminar held at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The delegates, from a wide range of businesses and services, were told that although there were many excellent pilot schemes for providing various components of such smart living systems and services there was a serious lack of an overall plan. The roles of many sectors needed to be taken into account including architecture, professional engineering, building, medicine, energy, communications, transport and organisations providing caring resources and bodies representing disabled and older people. Without such a plan this fragmentary situation would worsen year by year for the 10 million Britons over the age of 65 (of whom five million are disabled) and for the seven million disabled people of working age. 
Link to article: Britain 'needs smart living plan for disabled and older people'

Position Paper 2: Enjoy an adequate income: Employment, Pensions and Retirement

(UK) Older workers will have to fill the gap created by the demographic time bomb
Employees over 50 are set to provide the economic backbone of the South East workforce, according to the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). Making the Most of Opportunities for Older Workers in the South East urges businesses in the region to review their recruitment practices to prepare for the ‘demographic time bomb’ which will see a shortfall of people for 250,000 jobs by 2020 that will have to be filled by older workers. The ‘demographic time bomb’ over the next decade will result in more workers in their 50s and fewer in their 40s. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of workers in their 40s in the South East will fall by about 140,000 over the next decade while people in their 50s will increase by around 200,000. Pre-recession research for SEEDA also suggested there were 100,000 economically inactive people aged 50-65 interested in returning to work.
Link to article: Older workers will have to fill the gap created by the demographic time bomb
Link to report: Making the Most of Opportunities for Older Workers in the South East

(UK) Survey Shows Older Workers Not Planning for Retirement
According to a study released by the UK Institute for Employment Studies, older workers in the United Kingdom aren’t planning for the future and are confused by what constitutes "the right age" to think about retirement. The study argues that the recession has altered the retirement landscape significantly as redundancies and recruitment freezes have led to higher levels of unemployment among the older workers. According to one of the authors of the study, Marie Strebler, "[e]mployers seem to be stuck in reactive mode. They provide retirement support, however they are failing to encourage people to stay, treating requests on a case-by-case basis and thus missing opportunities to retain much needed and valuable skills."
Link to article: Survey Shows Older Workers Not Planning for Retirement
Link to report: Should I Stay, or Should I Go? Older employees’ later life planning in a business context (Please note there is a small fee for the report)

(IRE)  Pensions policy in Ireland, North and South: CARDI Briefing Paper
This document provides a synopsis on the pensions systems in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The structure of pension provision in both jurisdictions is broadly similar – a state pension system which provides a basic income in retirement supported by voluntary additional pensions which can be workplace or personal pensions. Major reforms of both pension systems are planned. In both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the default retirement age is set to rise gradually as a result of increasing longevity. The full paper is available below:
Link to report: Pensions policy in Ireland, North and South: CARDI Briefing Paper

(US) NYU Wagner Study Asks: Will Baby Boomers Retire?
Public service organizations have an unprecedented opportunity to harness the experience and expertise of Baby Boomers, as great numbers envision themselves working in paid or voluntary public service positions between the age of 60 and 80, according to a study by researchers at New York University. But the just-completed report, entitled "Baby Boomers, Public Service, and Minority Communities”, also finds that there is scant understanding of this impending influx of ageing Americans into the labour force - or of what ethnic and religious communities and voluntary institutions can do to mobilize, train, and absorb them. The findings also point to a challenge for the public service organizations oriented to specific ethnic or religious groups. That's because many Baby Boomers surveyed by the researchers indicated a willingness to look outside their own religious or ethnic communities for ways to stay active through paid or volunteer opportunities
Link to article: NYU Wagner Study Asks: Will Baby Boomers Retire?
Link to report: Baby Boomers, Public Service, and Minority Communities

(AUS) Baby Boomers don’t have enough savings
Baby boomer women who retire will have just two years' worth of savings to live on, a report shows. The story is not much better for men in their late 50s, who would have just five years of survival funds. The Melbourne Institute said the findings endorsed the Federal Government's plan to increase superannuation savings from nine to 12 per cent via a resource tax. But with Labour struggling to sell its controversial so-called resources super-profits tax plan, study author Roger Wilkins suggested Australians delay their retirement. "Later retirement both increases savings at retirement and reduces the number of years spent in retirement," Professor Wilkins said.
Link to article: Baby Boomers don’t have enough savings
Link to report: Families, Incomes and Jobs, Volume 5

(US) Arizona's older workers get training for new careers
Their jobless rate may be lower than average, but when an older worker loses a job, it can be devastating. These workers, typically 55 or older, aren't ready to retire. But their years of work experience don't make regrouping to find the next job any easier. Some employers may be hesitant to hire a mature worker. Or perhaps the older worker isn't as savvy about what it takes to get a new position in the current job market. To help older Baby Boomers get started again, programs and networking opportunities in a variety of fields are being offered by community colleges and government agencies throughout the Arizona Valley and state. Many of the programs are recording unprecedented demand - and for good reason.
Link to article: Arizona's older workers get training for new careers

(EU) Austria shamed by EU-wide pension age list
Austria has made the top three in a humiliating European Union (EU) retirement age ranking. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures presented today (Weds) reveal that Belgium and France were the only other EU member states with a comparably low average pensioning age as Austria where men retire on average at 59 and women at 58. The EU average is two years higher for each, the OECD said. International comparisons meanwhile exposed in the US that Americans work five years longer than Austrians, while Japanese workers and employees beat Austria by a stunning ten years. These figures are expected to put pressure on the government and its plans to react to the soaring costs in healthcare and the social system also caused by a steady ageing of the society.
Link to article: Austria shamed by EU-wide pension age list

(US) Too Young Not to Work but Too Old to Work
Last week, thousands of Americans who have exhausted their unemployment insurance — the 99ers, named after the maximum number of weeks of state and federal benefits — sent letters and petitions to Washington as part of a futile campaign to convince the Senate to pass a bolstered version of the jobs bill, now stalled and being pared back. There were many common themes in their stories, but one of the more surprising was age. One woman from Warren County, New Jersey, wrote: “I am (or was) a legal secretary with several years of experience (30+ years). … I have applied to jobs that are more than one-half less than what I was earning. I search for a job each and every day. … Where do people in my age bracket go? Too young not to work but too old to work?”  Such stories of older workers too young for retirement but struggling for months if not years to find jobs have policy experts concerned as the recession drags on and long-term unemployment continues to rise.
Link to article: ‘Too Young Not to Work but Too Old to Work’

Position Paper 3: Health

(IRE) Being Old in Ireland: a fit state? Survey of the Health and Functional Status of people over 70 in South East IrelandThis study profiles the health status, functional ability and patterns of formal and informal service use over people over 70 in South-East Ireland. In a cross-sectional, interview-based study of an age-stratified random sample of 495 people over 70, 65% rated their health as good to excellent, 36% reported long-term illness and 17% had a moderate/severe disability. Self-rated health was similar to the general population 18-65 and despite declining functional ability, general health status remained stable with increasing age. Problems identified include lack of access to professional services in the community, lack of public transport, and issues of personal safety in the home.Link to article: Being Old in Ireland: a fit state? Survey of the Health and Functional Status of people over 70 in South East Ireland

(US)Preventive Health Screenings Among Midlife and Older Adults
AARP reports on a telephone survey of 803 adults, aged 45 and older, in which they were asked about their present health, and their attitudes to such disease prevention methods as healthy eating, exercise, weight control, sleep, safe sex, having a yearly physical, immunizations, and health screenings. Results indicate that prevention seems to be top-of-mind among this population, with more than three-quarters of respondents reporting having had discussions with their health professionals about physical activity, alcohol use, and smoking, and slightly fewer than six in ten having had similar conversations about depression and its symptoms. 
Link to report: Preventive Health Screenings Among Midlife and Older Adults

(IRE) HSE to reduce services in unit for Alzheimer's patients
The HSE plans to reduce services in a unit catering for 17 people suffering with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia at Cherry Orchard Hospital in Ballyfermot in Dublin. Due to staff shortages, eight patients in the Laurel unit will be transferred to vacant beds around the hospital in the coming weeks, while the other nine patients will remain in the unit. There are 22 nursing vacancies in the hospital that cannot be filled due to the public service recruitment embargo and the Health Service Executive (HSE) anticipates an added strain on services during the summer months when the number of staff on annual leave peaks. It is understood the HSE informed patients’ relatives in May they plan to combine services between the Laurel unit and an adjacent unit on a long-term basis due to staff shortages.
Link to article: HSE to reduce services in unit for Alzheimer's patients

(UK) No end is sight for dementia
Ten years ago people talked confidently of stopping Alzheimer’s disease in its tracks. Now, they realise they have no idea how to do that. Drug companies are notoriously secretive. The clock starts running on a patent when it is filed, so the longer something can be kept under wraps before that happens, the better for the bottom line. You know something is up, then, when a group of these firms announce they are banding together to share the results of abandoned drug trials. And on June 11th several big companies did just that. They publicised the profiles of 4,000 patients from 11 trials so that they could learn from each other’s failures. An act of selflessness, perhaps, but also one of desperation.
Link to article: No end is sight for dementia

(UK) Dementia Prioritised In Revised NHS Framework
A revised Operating Framework for the NHS brought hope to 750,000 people with dementia and carers as the new government acknowledged failures in dementia and promised action. PCTs and their partners will now have to publish plans for dementia, putting pressure on a third of PCTs who currently have no plans in place. 'Pathway tariffs' which could attach money to a person's care across different settings and more support for intermediate care were also highlighted.
Link to article: Dementia Prioritised In Revised NHS Framework

(IRE) Keep-fit for the brain
For most of us keeping fit involves a regular run in the park, a swim or a game of football. We rarely consider the importance of maintaining a fit brain, but that looks set to change. An ageing population means increasing numbers of people are going to have to work until later in life, according to Ian Robertson, professor of psychology at Trinity College Dublin. The preservation of youthful levels of memory and cognitive function will be crucial if we are to do this, says Robertson. “We really have to look after our brains because we’re going to need it for economic survival,” he says. “I think ageing is going to be as big a problem as global warming because the number of people over 75 is going to double in the next 30 years,” he says. “We have got to get a cohort of fit, healthy older people who are not only going to be able to look after themselves, but are going to be able to run companies and contribute .”
Link to article: Keep-fit for the brain

(US) This Is Your Brain. Ageing
Over the years, Timothy Salthouse has tested more than 8,000 people in his lab at the University of Virginia, assessing their memories, problem-solving skills, and other mental functions to see how the brain fares with age. The results have been predictably dismal: after age 25 or so, it’s pretty much all downhill. But something bothered Salthouse about the results, and on a late spring day in his office at the Russell Sage Foundation on New York’s Upper East Side he whips out a graph that captures the paradox.
Link to article: This Is Your Brain. Ageing

(US) When I turn 85, it is on
I like to tell my daughter: “Happiness doesn’t come from getting what you want, it comes from wanting what you have.” I say it every 12-18 minutes, whenever she asks for stuff. I think that philosophy aligns nicely with a recent Gallup poll and study on happiness that lead author Arthur Stone, a psychologist at the State University of New York at Stonybrook, was nice enough to talk me through. It appears that having your whole life in front of you makes you pretty happy, which is no surprise, but having your whole life behind you makes you even happier, which is fairly shocking. And all that striving and grasping and living that goes on in between? Hard times, my friend. The survey was conducted with more than 340,000 people nationwide, ages 18 through 85, asking them about health, finances, age and sex, current events and a host of other topics.
Link to article: When I turn 85, it is on

(UK) Falls amongst older people cost the NHS millions daily
Falls among older people may be costing the NHS in England up to £4.6m a day, a charity has warned. Age UK says up to one in three people aged 65 and over fall each year.  Falls are a major cause of injury and death among the over 70s and account for more than 50% of hospital admissions for accidental injury. Age UK says that older people should be encouraged to take more exercise, to reduce the risk of falls. In a separate newspaper report it was revealed that the cost to NHS Highland in treating a type of hip fracture caused by people falling ran to more than £11m last year. The Highlands health board has estimated that 20,000 people in its area are hurt in falls each year - half of them aged 80 and over.
Link to article: Falls amongst older people cost the NHS millions daily
Link to article: Fall injuries cost NHS Highland £11m to treat

(US) What broke my father's heart: Medical advances and quality of life
Katy Butler, in this deeply personal and touching New York Times article, describes the ethical and practical considerations of medical interventions and how they might impact on the lives of older people in very poor health and/or suffering from cognitive decline and their families. By describing the story of her father and mother's experience she illustrates that decisions on medical interventions need to be made with a holistic approach in mind and shows how medical advances may not always have positive consequences for the quality of life of older people and their loved ones.
Link to article:  What broke my father's heart: Medical advances and quality of life

(US) Treating the Aged in Rural Communities: The Application of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression
Many rural communities are experiencing an increase in their older adult population. These older persons typically have fewer resources and poorer mental and physical health than their urban counterparts. Depression is the most prevalent mental health problem among older adults, yet 80% of the cases are treatable. Unfortunately, for many rural elders, depressive disorders are widely under-recognized and often untreated or under-treated. ThIS report illustrates that respect for rural older persons, coupled with an understanding of their limited resources, can be combined with therapeutic interventions to offer a treatment for depression.  
Link to article: Treating the Aged in Rural Communities: The Application of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression

(US) Disparities in Quality of Care for Midlife Adults (Ages 45–64) Versus Older Adults (Ages >65)
In 2011, the first of the post-World War II “baby boom” generation will reach age 65 and become eligible for Medicare. The cost implications of the entry of baby boomers into Medicare have been widely discussed, but less attention has been paid to the implications for health care quality. This report discusses disparities in care of baby boom patients with diabetes who become eligible for Medicare. It also examines disparities related to cardiovascular conditions because of their prevalence among older adults and their association with diabetes. Specifically, this report contains 1.) an overarching conceptual model for disparities in midlife adults (45–64) vs. older adults (>65); 2.) key findings from the literature on disparities in health care quality among midlife and older adults, including disparities based on gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic factors; and 3.) an analysis of data from the National Medical Expenditures Panel Survey, to explore whether patterns of disparities differ between midlife and older adults, guided by specific research questions. A discussion of policy implications and recommendations for future directions for research into disparities of care, particularly among older adults, is also included.
Link to report: Disparities in Quality of Care for Midlife Adults (Ages 45–64) Versus Older Adults (Ages >65)

Position Paper 4: Age-friendly communities

(US) Toolkit for Serving Diverse Communities
U.S. Administration on Ageing provides guidance to ageing agencies on preparing their staff for interactions with a culturally diverse community. The report looks not only at issues surrounding race and ethnicity, it also includes information related to sensitive interactions with individuals with disabilities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults; homeless older adults; older adult immigrants; and many other populations
Link to report: Toolkit for Serving Diverse Communities

(US) Innovation in Senior Housing: Four Case Studies
Enterprise and the Met Life Foundation present four case studies: San Francisco, California; Cleveland, Ohio; Ewing, New Jersey; and Alamogordo, New Mexico that serve as examples of innovative older person housing design. Developing senior housing in this environment requires creative approaches to solving four basic challenges: assembling capital; funding operations; funding supportive services for seniors; building green and healthy housing. The developments described in this report have addressed each challenge in innovative ways, often by integrating available capital and operating streams to achieve multiple goals.
Link to report: Innovation in Senior Housing: Four Case Studies

(UK) Simon Read: The scandal of older people becoming second-class citizens
Older people seem to be being hit from all angles at the moment. For starters, The Government's proposed spending cuts will put thousands of older people's lives at risk, according to charity Age UK. It has calculated that a 13 per cent cut in social care budgets would mean councils would be able to afford home care services for fewer people leaving around a million in need of care services receiving no support at all. The charity warns that the cuts would mainly hit older people who live independently in their own homes. The net effect could actually be much worse if the Budget cuts are higher than 13 per cent, the figure proposed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in the Spring, before the Government revealed that the deficit was larger than anticipated.
Link to article: Simon Read: The scandal of older people becoming second-class citizens

(US) US Study: Older people are driving more, having fewer accidents
Here is the stereotype: White-haired older driver poking nervously along the highway, frustrating younger drivers in a rush to get past. Here was the concern: Experts predicted crash rates would soar as America grew older. Here's the reality: Older people are driving more, crashing less and their fatal accident rate has dropped by 37 percent. The biggest drop of all -- 47 percent -- came among drivers over the age of 80. This all emerged in a study released this week by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an insurance industry group whose research benefits from both federal highway statistics and data collected by the companies whose policies cover the cost of accidents.
Link to article: US Study: Older people are driving more, having fewer accidents

(CAN) Homeownership over the Life Course of Canadians: Evidence from Canadian Censuses of Population
Statistics Canada discusses the degree to which Canadians over the age of 65 acquire and retain homeownership. The study looks at individuals with and without children, of different ages and different incomes.
Link to article: Homeownership over the Life Course of Canadians: Evidence from Canadian Censuses of Population

Position Paper 5: Engagement

(UK) Older people overcharged on car and travel insurance
Older people are being overcharged by hundreds of pounds on car and travel insurance, a new report has disclosed. It suggested elderly drivers and holidaymakers are paying an extra £300 for the popular types of cover just because of their age.  One annual car policy, highlighted in the study by consumer group Which?, cost £702 for a 75-year-old, but the same Saga cover jumped by 74 per cent to £1,224 for an 85 year old. It suggested elderly drivers and holidaymakers are paying an extra £300 for the popular types of cover just because of their age. One annual car policy cost £702 for a 75-year-old, but the same Saga cover jumped by 74 per cent to £1,224 for an 85 year old.
Link to article: Older people overcharged on car and travel insurance

(US) 94 percent of elder abuse cases go unreported
It is crucial to report elderly abuse because it helps authorities save victims. That’s one issue Gallatin Police Department Sgt. Bill Vahldiek emphasized at the Gallatin Senior Citizens Center in observance of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Tuesday, June 15. Only 1 in 23, about 4 percent, of elderly-abuse cases are reported, according to the latest data from the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability. “It really helps the investigation if someone who notices the abuse reports it,” Vahldiek told seniors. “Because a lot of times, the victim is not going to call because they’re afraid.”
Link to article: 94 percent of elder abuse cases go unreported

(UK) Older people say ‘aloha’ to virtual world cruise
Older people in Nottinghamshire are saying ‘aloha’ to Bupa’s virtual world cruise by being offered the chance to visit Hawaii. Bringing different destinations to life through music, food and entertainment, staff at Bupa’s Willow Brook Nursing and Residential Home are organising a virtual cruise, transforming the home into a cruise ship and welcoming aboard anyone who is unable to get away this summer on holiday. Hawaii is the first port of call on Friday 2 July and the cruisers are invited to a cabaret show ‘on the crest of a wave’ at 2.30pm followed by a strawberry high tea. Staff will be in Hawaiian fancy dress and visitors will be greeted with a lei as they board the cruise.
Link to article: Older people say ‘aloha’ to virtual world cruise

Position Paper 6: Live in a place like home: Long-term care, independent living and carers

(IRE) Continuing to care for people with dementia: Alzheimer Society of Ireland
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland in conjunction with St. Luke’s Home has published a report ‘Continuing to care for people with dementia’ which explores Irish family carers’ experience of their relative’s transition to a nursing home.  The report was researched and written by Professor Murna Downs, Bradford Dementia Group, University of Bradford. The full report is available below:
Link to report: Continuing to care for people with dementia: Alzheimer Society of Ireland

(US) Baby boomers juggle caring for kids and parents
With its many multigenerational families, South Florida is at the centre of an explosion in middle-age people caring for their children and their ageing parents: Maria Teresa Toro parents around the clock. When she's not driving her 13-year-old son to school or baseball practice, she's busy with her 77-year-old mother, afflicted with Alzheimer's. Rina Rodriguez may not know what day or time it is, but Toro, 51, greets her every morning with the same loving cheerfulness. ``What's my name, Mami?'' she coos in Spanish. ``Who am I?''  Toro's life has come full-circle: she is now a mother to her mother. And she's far from alone.
Link to article: Baby boomers juggle caring for kids and parents

(AUS) Aged care denies basic rights of citizenship
HammondCare ’s CEO, Dr Stephen Judd has called on people who work in aged care settings to demand that the rights of citizenship be upheld for older people. Dr Judd told delegates at Hammond Care’s 8th Biennial International Conference on Dementia that the rights of older citizens in Australia are being eroded by a protective disciplinary culture that denies them the basic freedoms of citizenship. He said older people are denied freedom of choice and decision making control in relation to basic aspects of their lives including daily schedules and activities, freedom of movement and even choice of food.
Link to article:  Aged care denies basic rights of citizenship

(NI) Priory £50m care home expansion plan in Northern Ireland
The Priory Group, which is famed for its celebrity rehabilitation clinic, is to roll out a £50 million expansion in the North. The group, which moved into Northern Ireland for the first time last year, has outlined plans to open at least 17 new care homes for older people by the end of 2012. Sharon Butler, managing director of Priory Care Homes, said the new investment would be in “key demographic locations” for the group, including Belfast, Coleraine, north Down and Ards, Craigavon and Ballymena. The project is scheduled to provide about 1,200 beds and has the potential to create 1,000 jobs.
Link to article: Priory £50m care home expansion plan in Northern Ireland

(EU) France unveils the 18 measures of the project 'vivre chez soi' (living at one's home)
The project aims both to ensure quality of life for older people and to act as an economic lever for new technologies and services for independent living. The 18 measures are centred on three priorities: Improving the Living Environment of Older People; Facilitating access to services and technologies of ageing in place, encouraging the development of a suitable offer; Helping the modernisation of services to the person.
Link to report: Living at one's home (Please note the majority of this report is in French, however there is a chapter summary in English)

(POR) Older people being kept in the family home longer to help pay bills
Hospitals and care institutions across the country are emptier, with families opting to keep older and infirm relatives at home as opposed to paying for their care. In some cases the number of patients being intentionally removed from institutions for these reasons has doubled. In return, pensions are welcome as an alternative means of survival, substituting a salary for families that have been left on the breadline by unemployment. Situations where entire families are living off the pension of one elderly person have been documented. On a positive note, in some hospitals the number of older people occupying beds, who had already been discharged but had nowhere else to go has diminished. For example, in the Hospital dos Capuchos, during the first half of 2009, 90 cases of such “social rearrangements” were registered; twice as many as in the same period for the previous year.
Link to article: Older people being kept in the family home longer to help pay bills

Assistive and Remote Technology Services for Independent Living

(US) The SCAN Foundation Issues Report from Technology and Ageing Summit
On May 5, 2010 the SCAN Foundation hosted a technology summit focused on “enhancing social action for older adults”. The purpose was to provide an open discussion about the role that communication and information technologies play in the quality of life, social action, and advocacy efforts of older adults. In light of the rapid expansion of communication channels and technologies on the internet, new opportunities are developing for organizing older adults into impactful communities on the web. At the summit, SCAN staffers convened a panel of experts to help identify the optimal strategies for utilizing new technologies for the advocacy and sociability of older adults.
Report from the summit: The SCAN Foundation Issues Report from Technology and Ageing Summit

(IRE) Sensor technology to help the ill at home
Sensor technology that can remotely monitor people with chronic illnesses and allow them to stay at home for longer could significantly ease the burden of an ageing population on the healthcare system, an international expert has said. Prof Joseph Kvedar, director of the centre for Connected Health at Partners Healthcare and Harvard Medical School in Boston, was in Belfast this week to give a presentation at the second European Connected Health Summit in Belfast. Remote monitoring systems are especially effective in chronic illness management, according to Prof Kvedar. “We can improve the quality of care and the cost of services in treating diabetes, hypertension and congestive heart failure.
Link to article: Sensor technology to help the ill at home

(US) It's Not a Stuffed Animal, It's a $6,000 Medical Device
It might be the cuddliest medical device ever to cause an ethical quandary. Five years ago, a Japanese robot manufacturer introduced Paro to the world. Built to resemble a baby harp seal—with a plush coat of antibacterial fur—Paro was hailed in Japan as a pioneer among socially interactive robots, one that would help lift the spirits of millions of older adults. It never quite caught on. "It doesn't do much other than utter weird sounds like 'heeee' or 'huuuu,'" says Tomoko Iimura, whose adult day-care center in Tsukuba City keeps its Paro in a closet. Now Paro has come to American shores, appearing in a handful of nursing homes and causing a stir in a way that fake seal pups rarely do. Nursing-home workers and academics who study human-robot interaction are trying to figure out whether the $6,000 seal, cleared last fall by U.S. regulators as a Class 2 medical device represents a disturbing turn in our treatment of the elderly or the best caregiving gadget since the Clapper.
Link to article: It's Not a Stuffed Animal, It's a $6,000 Medical Device

The Business of Ageing

(US) Reaching out to Boomers
Boom Boom BOOM. Do you hear it? That’s the sound of the Boomers — they’re here and in a big way. One of every three adults over 21 is a baby boomer, and every day 10,000 more of them turn 50 or older. Some 78 million strong Boomers are a powerhouse of decision makers. They are America’s largest, wealthiest and most influential generation, spending $2.3 trillion annually. A generation that businesses want to make sure they are paying close attention to. Traditional marketing methods won’t work with this group, so don’t make the mistake of lumping Boomers into one group. This is not a one-size-fits-all generation. Boomers come in all shapes, sizes, and, most importantly, life styles. One 55-year-old Boomer may be the parents of children in grade school or preschool while the neighbor has children in college and no children at home. Another neighbour is retired with no children and busy traveling the world.
Link to article: Reaching out to Boomers

(US) Older, smarter, more value conscious: The French consumer transformation
Over the next 20 years, powerful demographic, societal, and economic trends promise to reshape consumer behavior substantially in many of the world’s wealthier nations. The implications for business will be significant. To better understand how these trends will play out, McKinsey’s Consumer and Shopper Insights Center, with the support of the McKinsey Global Institute, examined the prospects of France and found that there, as in many of its European neighbors, the average household in 2030 will be older, better educated, and less wealthy than the average household today. We found three long-term trends reaching a tipping point that will fundamentally transform the country: an aging population, societal shifts altering what households look like, and economic factors slowing the expansion of wealth. As these trends sweep across France and, to varying degrees, the rest of Europe, they will impose pressure on consumption growth and dramatically change the consumer landscape.
Link to article: Older, smarter, more value conscious: The French consumer transformation

(US) Older, smarter, more value conscious: The French consumer transformation
Over the next 20 years, powerful demographic, societal, and economic trends promise to reshape consumer behavior substantially in many of the world’s wealthier nations. The implications for business will be significant. To better understand how these trends will play out, McKinsey’s Consumer and Shopper Insights Center, with the support of the McKinsey Global Institute, examined the prospects of France and found that there, as in many of its European neighbors, the average household in 2030 will be older, better educated, and less wealthy than the average household today. We found three long-term trends reaching a tipping point that will fundamentally transform the country: an aging population, societal shifts altering what households look like, and economic factors slowing the expansion of wealth. As these trends sweep across France and, to varying degrees, the rest of Europe, they will impose pressure on consumption growth and dramatically change the consumer landscape.
Link to article: Older, smarter, more value conscious: The French consumer transformation (Free registration is required to read the full article)  

Position Paper 1: Informed National Strategies and Plans

(UK) Demographic shift 'will cut UK growth'
The long-term consequences of an effective ban on immigration and an ageing society will begin to catch up with the UK economy in 2014, causing a slowdown in growth. This was the message from the Office for Budget Responsibility, which argued that changing demographics will have a profound effect on the UK economy's ability to grow. Since net immigration peaked in 2007 at 233,000, it has fallen sharply and is expected to bottom out at 50,000 within the next couple of years. The OBR, which uses figures from the Office for National Statistics for its analysis, argues that a weak pound and a slowing economy will discourage migrants. With little prospect of a job and a devalued currency, the lure of coming to the UK and sending money home to family members is much diminished. The report also suggests that the swelling ranks of retired baby-boomers will eat into growth and increase the budget deficit. While many women will stay in the labour market as the age for qualifying for the state pension increases to 65, the overall effect of an ageing society "points to a decline in labour market activity of around 0.15% a year," it said.
Link to article: Demographic shift 'will cut UK growth'

(EU) Ageing in the European Union: where exactly?
This paper look at how and where the EU is ageing across three different types of areas. The European Union is ageing as a result of two developments: firstly, the number of people aged 65 years and over is increasing and, secondly, the number of children (age group 0-14 years) is decreasing. However, the Member States, the different types of areas (rural, intermediate, urban) and the different NUTS3 areas (districts) show considerable variations. Although in 2001 rural areas had on average an older population than intermediate or urban areas, from 2001 to 2006 the share of the old age group grew faster in urban areas.
Link to report: Ageing in the European Union: where exactly?

Position Paper 2: Enjoy an adequate income: Employment, Pensions and Retirement

(UK) People in 50s fear pension poverty
The majority of people in their 50s fear they will not have enough to live on when they retire, research shows. Nine out of 10 are so worried about the standard of living they face that they may work on past the state pension age, a survey of 10,000 has found. A quarter agreed strongly that they would continue in paid work once they had reached the state pension age to improve their living standards.
Around 70% feared not coping financially and 89% said they were willing to work once they reach state-pension age. A further 47% agreed, while 18% "somewhat agreed" with the idea of doing paid work once they could draw their pension.
Link to article: People in 50s fear pension poverty
Link to report: Attitudes Towards Pensions and Retirement at Age 50: Initial results from the National Child Development Study

(UK) The Future of Retirement: ILC-UK Discussion Paper
This ILC-UK discussion paper considers the reasons people retire when they do, and the potential future of retirement given policy change and the emergence of gradual retirement. The authors of the paper recommend that, if working lives are to be extended the government needs to give more attention to: Preventative healthcare throughout the life-course; Job quality for older workers; The potential of ‘gradual retirement’, including encouraging employers to offer downshifting options to staff approaching retirement at all levels; Simplifying the pensions system and improving the provision of advice; and The support offered to older people with caring responsibilities.
Link to article: The Future of Retirement: ILC-UK Discussion Paper 

(US) Generation gaps: Managing a multigenerational staff
Recognizing diversity of race, gender, ethnicity or religion in the workplace has grown in importance, but business experts are increasingly recognizing one more facet of a diverse working population -- age. There are four distinct generations in the workplace, all of whom have wildly different expectations of how they will work and how they will be managed. Experts say a more rapidly changing society means that generational zeitgeist may be formed by vastly different experiences. The issue goes beyond the long-standing tradition of older generations thinking those who are younger are not working as hard as they once did. There are the "matures," or "silent generation," born 1925 to 1944, who are still in the work force either because they want to be or do not have the funds to retire. The "baby boomers," born 1945 to 1964, are well into mid-life or approaching the end of their careers. "Generation X" captures the mid-20s to mid-40s age group, those born between 1965 and 1984. The "millennials," or members of "Generation Y," are the newest entries to the work force, and were born from 1985 to 2004. Only the baby boomer generation is officially defined by the Census Bureau. The other generational labels are those commonly used by researchers.
Link to article: Generation gaps: Managing a multigenerational staff

(US) Retire at 55
An extraordinary feature of modern retirement is that, for each generation, it's successively longer. That's not only because life-expectancy has increased, but because the retirement age has fallen. Many state pension programmes penalise work after a certain age, and in some countries that age can be as low as 55. You might wonder what could possible justify such a policy. With mounting demographic and fiscal pressures why would any government consider shrinking the pool of taxpayers and increasing the number of pension beneficiaries? The rationalisation is the persistent, but wrong, belief that the number of jobs is fixed, so that if you remove old people from the labour force, it makes way for younger workers.
Link to article: Retire at 55

(AUS) At age 100, you might think about retiring
Reaching the age of 100 may be enough to get a letter from the Queen but soon it may not qualify you for a retirement party from work. Medical research shows half of the Australians - particularly women - born this century could live to at least 100, while improved health and lifestyle will ensure we are able to work and stay active for longer. John Beard from the World Health Organisation thinks Australian companies could have 100-year-old employees within 20 years as more workers are encouraged to postpone retirement. ''A woman in the United States just celebrated her 100th birthday at work. I don't think that will be unusual in 20 years' time,'' he said. The ageing of the workforce will require a major change in thinking, however. He warned that the most rapid period of population ageing was still to come and pouring money into hospitals and pension plans was not the solution.
Link to article: At age 100, you might think about retiring

(CHN) Older people deserve extra pensions
China’s local governments have been urged to pay the old age pension regularly since the nation's coffers can now afford it, but the public remains largely unaware of the benefits to which older people are entitled, according to a senior civil affairs official. Currently, only six provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Yunnan, have been paying people over the age of 80 a pension ranging from 50 to 200 yuan ($7 to $29) a month, said Wang Zhengyao, director of the social welfare and charity promotion department under the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He cited results from a survey conducted by the ministry, which was distributed to local administrations in May to encourage improved support of older people. "Their pioneering practice of spreading the wealth to the needy should be encouraged and followed by other provinces, despite the absence of a State institution to support the elderly," he said. It is primarily the public's lack of awareness, rather than the availability of funds, that has kept the nation's 18 million octogenarians from claiming social welfare, particularly the support they deserve in their old age, he said.
Link to article: Older people deserve extra pensions

(EU) The Chinese pension system — first results on assessing the reform options
The aim of this paper is to analyse options for reforming the fragmented Chinese pension system that covers only 55 % of urban employees and a very small part of the rural population. After a brief history of pensions in China we present recent reform proposals and then discuss principles of pension reforms, with particular attention to reducing the pension contribution rates so that compliance could improve and coverage increase. As the Chinese population is ageing fast, we are presenting transition to a notional defined contribution (NDC) system as a model for adjusting the pension rules for increasing longevity. Transforming the accrued pension rights into NDC accounts and starting to apply the new NDC-inspired rules on indexation is not necessarily a jump into the unknown for the Chinese pensions system. Rather, it could be a useful and long-awaited clarification to the rules and a way to move towards a more uniform system nationwide. With the help of a simulation model based on Chinese data we produce scenarios for a range of pension reforms and assess their properties.
Link to paper: The Chinese pension system — first results on assessing the reform options

(EU) Things in Greece are moving in the right direction- Rehn
The European Union has reached agreement with Greece on how to proceed with pension reform in the debt-laden country, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Friday. "The Greek government has agreed with us on how to move forward on pension reform in line with the memorandum of understanding ... They will do it in the course of June and July," Rehn said at a seminar in Helsinki. He gave no further details. Pension reform is a critical performance criterion under the 110 billion euro ($135 billion) rescue package Greece agreed with the EU and IMF to help it manage its debt crisis. The Greek government has been in talks with EU and IMF officials over the final version of a pension bill expected to be voted on in parliament later this month. According to a draft version, retirees would be allowed to draw a full pension after 37 years of contributions -- three years less than set out in the bailout deal -- but offered incentives to work 40 years.
Link to article: Things in Greece are moving in the right direction- Rehn

(EU) Putting Young And Old People To Work In Europe
Both young and old people are often squeezed out of the labour market and find it difficult to find jobs. The 15-24 age group has the highest unemployment of any group and just half of 55-64 year olds are in work. This article features an interview with centre right German MEP Thomas Mann who has just drafted a report called "solidarity between generations" which he shared with Members of Parliament's Employment Committee on 1 June. In it he underlined the need to promote active ageing and the employment of people above 60 and you insist on the need to tackle youth unemployment: “The labour market and economy will undergo major structural changes. There will be more "older workers", more retired people and more people aged 80 plus. There will also be fewer children, young people and adults of working age. You cannot solve multiple problems by single solutions”. Said Mann.
Link to article: Putting Young And Old People To Work In Europe
Link to report: Draft report on the demographic challenge and solidarity between generations

(UK) Workers not planning for retirement
Workers are not planning for the future and are "confused" about when to start thinking of retiring, according to a new report. Research by the Institute for Employment Studies showed employees in their early 50s seem to have done little in the way of forward planning. A study of over 50 employees found the recession has altered the retirement landscape "significantly" as redundancies and recruitment freezes have led to higher levels of unemployment among the older workers. The report said individuals may no longer be in the driving seat of their later life and retirement planning.
Link to article: Workers not planning for retirement

(IRE) France to raise retirement age to 62
France’s government was bracing itself for resistance from unions and opposition parties yesterday after announcing plans to gradually raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. President Nicolas Sarkozy believes the long-expected reform can balance the heavily indebted pension system by 2018 and convince investors France is serious about reining in state finances. The plan to raise the legal retirement age to 62 over the next eight years breaks a long-standing taboo in a country where the right to retire at 60 is considered one of the major achievements of the late Socialist president François Mitterrand. He cut it from 65 in 1982.
Link to article: France to raise retirement age to 62

Position Paper 3: Health

(UK) Football proves to be a beautiful game for people with dementia Spouses who are despairing about being football widows for the rest of this month, as their other halves become immersed in the saturation coverage of the World Cup, may take solace in the thought that their partner's football obsession could help them cope with dementia in later life. There is much humour in the pleasant conservatory of the Alzheimer Scotland daycare centre in Stenhousemuir. Hearts fan John Reid (not his real name), 89, and Hughie Hamilton, 78, who follows Rangers, are sifting through Falkirk FC historian Michael White's large collection of archive photographs. Reid is looking at a Falkirk team posing for a photo in 1934. Without hesitation, he recognises the faces that will remain forever young, and reels off the names, with snippets of background material: "Those two players married sisters. Oh, that's Hughie Hamill. He was lazy, but he was a good player – he was fast." Link to article: Football proves to be a beautiful game for people with dementia‎

(UK) Researchers explore potential interventions in a special issue of The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
Although effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been slow to emerge, there has been substantial progress in identifying AD risk factors and developing treatments that might delay or prevent onset of the disease. In a Special Issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, "Basics of Alzheimer's Disease Prevention," researchers report on key findings that point towards possible significant interventions. The significance of "Basics of Alzheimer's Disease Prevention" is that it provides for the first time, a strategic blueprint using the 4 pillars of preventive medicine. These pillars are: Identification of disease-related and lifestyle risk factors; Pathologic consequences and impact of AD risk factors; Detection of AD risk factors; and Treatment of AD risk factors.
Link to article: Researchers explore potential interventions in a special issue of The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

(US) Retirements by baby-boomer doctors, nurses could strain overhaul
Since the passage of the health-care law in March, much has been said about the coming swarm of millions of retiring baby boomers and the strain they will put on the nation's health-care system. That's only half the problem. Overlooked in the conversation is a particular group of boomers: doctors and nurses who are itching to call it quits. Health-care economists and other experts say retirements in that group over the next 10 to 15 years will greatly weaken the health-care workforce and leave many Americans who are newly insured under the new legislation without much hope of finding a doctor or nurse.
Link to article: Retirements by baby-boomer doctors, nurses could strain overhaul

(UK) Cheap cancer drug 'could save the sight of tens of thousands of older people'
A drug initially developed to fight cancer could provide a cheap way to save the sight of tens of thousands of older people, according to a new study. Doctors found that Avastin improved the sight of patients suffering from the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, a condition called age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The drug could cost as little as £350 annually, much less than the £10,000-a-year price tag of the current therapy.
Link to article: Cheap cancer drug 'could save the sight of tens of thousands of older people'

(US) Drugmakers to share data to speed brain drug research
Major drugmakers will share data from their clinical trials for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease in an effort to speed the development of new medicines to treat the brain disorders. The database, a public/private partnership to be announced on Friday, will give academic and industry researchers worldwide access to information from more than 4,000 patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Bringing the data together, rather than keeping pieces of it within each drug company, will give scientists a larger amount of information on how the diseases progress and how they differ in various patients.
Link to article: Drugmakers to share data to speed brain drug research

(AUS)Revolutionary change needed for dementia care‎
The sector needs to generate revolutionary, not evolutionary change if it is to ever reach its desired standard of dementia care in the future. This call was made by the CEO of Alzheimer's Australia, Glenn Rees, at HammondCare’s 8th Biennial International Conference on Dementia in Sydney. Throughout his speech, Mr Rees examined past aged care legislation and the progress made in dementia care over the last 30 years. Identifying key ideas on how to achieve change, he concluded that a revolution must occur to rid the sector of pervasive negative social attitudes towards people with dementia. Such movement, he said, could also mean that health policy would one day embrace dementia as a chronic disease and not just as a normal part of ageing.
Link to article: Revolutionary change needed for dementia care‎

Position Paper 4: Age-friendly communities

(MAL) Is there life after 50?
Their children have left the nest, employers are counting the months to their retirement and health problems may be lurking around the corner. However, with a renewed zest for life and ambition to live their golden years to the fullest, people over the age of 50 -- the "scary age" according to some and the "halfway point in life before everything goes downhill" to others -- are no longer willing to just sit around the house in their pyjamas. In fact, studies have shown that as people get older, stress, anger and worry tend to fade; replaced with a feeling of wellbeing and adventure.
Link to article: Is there life after 50?

(IRE) An age-old problem
It is estimated that up to 5 per cent of older Irish people are victims of elder abuse, although some advocates for older people believe this figure represents only the tip of the iceberg and that the actual extent of abuse still remains hidden in this country. Internationally renowned expert in elder abuse and self-neglect, Prof James O’Brien has just spent a six- month sabbatical in Ireland with Prof Des O’Neill at the Department of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin, investigating the largely unidentified problem of elder abuse in Ireland. While the results of the research project, entitled Elder Abuse in Ireland Within an International Context, have not yet been published, O’Brien says there is no doubt from a preliminary analysis of the findings that elder abuse is a problem in this country.
Link to article: An age-old problem

(AUS) Sons more likely to swindle their mums: says Australian study
Sons are more likely to cheat their elderly parents out of money than daughters, according to an Australian study that indicates the financial abuse of seniors may be on the increase. With Australians generally living longer and becoming wealthier, the issue of how families handle inheritances and the transfer of assets is becoming increasingly important, the report for Victoria's State Trustee found. "The data we were able to find confirmed that the majority of older people coming to the attention of organisations because of financial abuse are women," the report released this week said. "And that the people most likely to be perpetrating the abuse are sons and, to a lesser extent, daughters."
Link to article: Sons more likely to swindle their mums: says Australian study

(IRE) Elder abuse must be tackled - Age Action
Age Action is urging people to play a greater role in helping to tackle elder abuse in Ireland. The charity made its appeal to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (June 15). It pointed out that the while the latest figures from the HSE show that 1,870 cases of alleged abuse were referred to its elder abuse service last year, the real figure is probably far higher as many cases go unreported. "In the three years since the elder abuse service was established it has handled over 3,000 allegations of abuse. However, if Ireland follows international trends, there could be an estimated 14,000 to 24,000 victims of elder abuse in Ireland," it said. The charity believes groups working with older people can help address the issue of under-reporting. "Last year the majority of referrals to the elder abuse service were made by HSE and medical staff, while there were very few cases referred by voluntary organisations," noted Age Action spokesman, Eamon Timmins.
Link to article: Elder abuse must be tackled - Age Action

(US) Financial Abuse Victimizes One in Five Elderly, Nonprofit Says
One out of five Americans over the age of 65 has been the victim of a financial scam, according to a survey by a nonprofit organization. More than 7.3 million senior citizens have been taken advantage of financially through inappropriate investments, high fees or fraud, said the survey, which was released today by the Washington-based Investor Protection Trust. “We now know that a shockingly large number of older Americans are already victims of financial swindles and millions more are in danger of being exploited in such a fashion,” Don Blandin, chief executive officer and president of Investor Protection Trust, which promotes investor education, said in a statement. Forty percent of children who have parents age 65 and older said they are “very” or “somewhat” worried that their parents have already become or will become less able to handle their personal finances over time.
Link to article: Financial Abuse Victimizes One in Five Elderly, Nonprofit Says

Position Paper 5: Engagement

(UK) ‘It’s time we closed the inter-generation gap through Welsh schools’
A better understanding of ageing and older people should be taught in schools by the older generation themselves, claims a new report. One in four children born in Wales will now live to see their 100th birthday, amid existing concerns about the nation’s ageing population. But the Institute for Welsh Affairs (IWA) report, Adding Life to Years, says the changing demographic is presenting Wales with both challenges and opportunities. By 2030, the report says, 32% of the population will be over 65 years old, compared with 24% today, while 5% will be over 85 compared with just 2% today. The report’s author, IWA director John Osmond, wants the Older People’s Commissioner to work with the Children’s Commissioner to bring the two generations together as part of the National Curriculum, to help them become more resilient to age and the problems it brings.
Link to article: ‘It’s time we closed the inter-generation gap through Welsh schools’
Link to report: Adding Life to Years - Welsh Policy Approaches to Ageing (Please note there is a £5 fee for download)

(US) Social Media Popular Among Older Americans
Social networking is not just for the young: 27% of Americans age 50+ say they now use social media websites, with Facebook the most popular—used by 23% of adults age 50+—according to a survey from AARP. Among surveyed Hispanics age 50+, 21% say they use social media websites and 13% use Facebook. Most adults age 50+ who use social media sites are connected to family: 73% say they are connected (online) to relatives other than children and grandchildren, 62% are connected to their children, and 36% are connected to grandchildren. Among Hispanics age 50+ who use social sites, 77% say they are connected to relatives other than children and grandchildren, 68% are connected to their children, and 38% are connected to their grandchildren. Some 47% of adults age 50+ who use social media say they were introduced to social media by family members and 24% say they were introduced by friends.
Link to article: Social Media Popular Among Older Americans
Link to report: Social Media and Technology amongst the 50+

(UK) Older people mentor troubled teens in 'granny knows best' project
More than 50 “Grandmentors” will be assigned to young people in London, providing them with support and advice. The aim is that the retired volunteers will help the 14- to 19 year-olds in their care return to education or find work, improving their career prospects and turning them away from a life of crime. Lord Freud, the Conservative peer who is now a junior minister for welfare reform, proposed the idea to Community Service Volunteers. He said: “I think there is huge, untapped resource of older and retired people who could transform the lives of youngsters, many of whom don’t have someone independent to talk to. I also think there’s huge potential in jumping a generation to help tackle some of the serious problems facing young people in our society. I think it’s much harder to grow up with so many competing pressures, but there are many older people who could provide practical and emotional support.”
Link to article: Older people mentor troubled teens in 'granny knows best' project

Position Paper 6: Live in a place like home: Long-term care, independent living and carers

(US) Caregiving and Alzheimer’s: A Road Map
This guide, published the National Institute on Aging, is for people who care for family members or others with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) at home. AD is an illness that changes the brain. It causes people to lose the ability to remember, think, and use good judgment. People with AD may have trouble taking care of themselves and doing basic things like making meals, bathing, and getting dressed. Over time, as the disease gets worse, they will need more help. Sometimes, taking care of the person with AD makes you feel good, because you are providing love and comfort. Other times, it can be overwhelming. You may see changes in the person that are hard to understand. Also, each day brings new challenges. You may find yourself dealing with problem behaviours or just trying to get through the day. You may not even realize how much you have taken on because the changes can happen slowly over a long period of time. We’ve written this guide to help you learn about and cope with these changes and challenges.
Link to guide: Caregiving and Alzheimer’s: A Road Map

(IRE) Crossing the line between caring and bullying
It is all too easy to cross the line between caring for the elderly and bullying, writes Patricia Redlich: “My mother Mary Cribbon was buried this time last year -- on June 16 to be precise -- aged almost 92. Looking back, I now realise that the last five years of her life constituted a masterclass on how to tread that tight-rope between care and bullying, as osteoporosis slowly curtailed her capacity to roam free. Tough-minded, clear-headed, and stubborn to the last, she taught me a truly humbling lesson. Love and abuse can be uncomfortably close bed-fellows.”
Link to article: Crossing the line between caring and bullying

(AUS) Why our older people still want room to move
Older people are sitting on 500,000 spare bedrooms across Sydney. The past three censuses show that under-occupancy of established houses by older home owners is on the rise, with almost half their homes having one or two spare bedrooms. But 91 per cent of the over-55s regard their current home as matching their needs. They have an overwhelming desire to remain in their own home for as long as possible, with professional care services. It's not just the perceived suitability of their dwelling, but proximity to family and friends, shopping, transport and health services, and their familiarity with the local community and neighbourhood. Older people also have considerable concerns about the cost of entry fees and service levies of retirement villages, along with the isolation from family, friends and the outside world.
Link to article: Why our older people still want room to move

(UK) Number of older carers in Scotland is a ‘ticking timebomb’
Increasing numbers of older carers looking after disabled adult children pose a ticking timebomb for Scotland’s social services, according to an alliance of disability charities and campaigners. The coalition says nearly 7000 people caring for adults with learning disabilities are aged over 65, while 2202 people over 85 still have responsibility for the care of a person with a learning disability. The figures are much higher than previous government totals, highlighting the fact that many families are almost invisible to councils, campaigners say. The problem is growing, partly because due to better care and medical advances, people born with congenital conditions or suffering from disabling illnesses are living longer than would previously have been expected.
Link to article: Number of older carers in Scotland is a ‘ticking timebomb’

Assistive and Remote Technology Services for Independent Living

(EU) Investment forum for telehealth launched
The first ever Ambient Assisted Living Investment Forum will take place in Denmark this year in an attempt to stimulate more innovation and investment in the area. The event, which will follow Ambient Assisted Living Forum at the Odense Congress Centre on 14-15 September 2010, will bring together ICT companies in the market with potential public and private investors. It is aimed at private and public investors, entrepreneurs, market experts and customers and will include keynotes and panel discussions as well as a matchmaking session where innovators can pitch their ideas and systems to potential investors.
Link to article: Investment forum for telehealth launched

(EU) EU launches 27 health IT projects
The European Union has launched 27 e-health projects this year following a call under the EU Framework Programme 7 (FP7). The Seventh Research Framework Programme, which runs until 2013 with a budget of €50 billion, has launched projects in three key areas; ICT for personal health systems, ICT for patient safety, and international cooperation on virtual physiological human. The projects around Personal Health Systems look at key technologies, such as biosensors and secure communications, which can be built into ‘smart clothes’ and implants which help patients and their doctors monitor and manage their health status. Newly launched projects include the ICT4Depression consortium which is developing and ICT-based system for primary care to improve access to treatment by providing devices for monitoring activities and automatic assessment of the patient using mobile phone and web based communication.
Link to article: EU launches 27 health IT projects

The Business of Ageing

(US) How Many Buying Cycles Do You Have Left?
On May 4, General Motors made the first move I have seen that gives me any hope whatsoever that the company might be heading in the right direction. It hired Joel Ewanick, former CMO of Hyundai, to oversee GM marketing as well as the marketing of all GM brands, including Chevy, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. Finally, a decision from Detroit that makes sense ... hiring a decision maker. On Mr. Ewanick's watch, the game-changing and highly successful Hyundai Assurance Plan was created and launched in just 37 days. Ewanick oversaw the launch of the Hyundai Genesis, a Korean luxury sedan that will have as much or more effect on the luxury sedan market than Lexus did 20 years ago, and he introduced the new Sonata, sales of which immediately increased 50% year on year. So what has this got to do with a column about marketing to boomers? Well, to my way of thinking, Mr. Ewanick's Hyundai advertising is the only (yes, I said only) automotive advertising in the U.S. today that truly appeals to the boomer consumer.
Link to article: How Many Buying Cycles Do You Have Left?