Although modest in scale a Vanderbilt University study was the largest trial ever performed looking at how nicotine might improve memory. According to lead researcher Dr. Paul Newhouse,”There were improvements in attention and memory performance in patients who took the nicotine patch compared to those with the placebo patch.” Read article  

Americans’ sense of financial obligation to family members is strong and born out of love and generosity, but does have limits, according to a new study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute. Most Americans also believe that children have some obligation to help their aging parents financially if necessary, though many parents (42%) say they wouldn’t accept money from their children.  More than six in ten (62%) believe children should call their parents at least once a week to see [...]

Older folks may appear to react or process info slowly. But there may be a method to their meander-ness: they’re making sure they get it right. Scientists gave undergrads and adults over 60 visual tests. In one, a computer screen would show an array of asterisks and the subjects had to choose as fast as they could whether there were between 31 and 50 or between 51 and 70. In a second test, the subjects saw a string of letters [...]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in December the “first nationally representative survey” of residential care facilities to provide an overview of their role in the long-term care industry. Key findings Data from the 2010 National Survey of Residential Care Facilities In 2010, residential care facilities (RCFs) totaled 31,100, with 971,900 beds nationwide. About one-half of RCFs were small facilities with 4–10 beds. The remainder comprised medium facilities with 11–25 beds (16%), large facilities with 26–100 beds (28%), [...]

There were a couple of prominant articles this week on the topic of Gay Retirement Communities: Spain’s first Gay Retirement Community secures land for development The first gay retirement community in Spain overcame its first planning hurdle as developers have found a home for the project. Read article USA Today Article on the need for more Gay Retirement Communities Many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender seniors fear discrimination, disrespect or worse by health care workers and residents of elder housing [...]

Newton, Mass-based Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) received notice from McLean, VA-based Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. (NYSE: SRZ) that Sunrise’s leases for 10 senior living communities which have a total of 2,472 living units will be terminated effective December 31, 2013. Sunrise currently leases 14 senior living communities from SNH and its obligations under those leases are guaranteed by Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR). These leases would have been automatically renewed on December 31, 2013 for five years had [...]

The critically-acclaimed LGBT aging documentary, Gen Silent is streaming now through Sunday, January 8th. Simply go their webpage to watch Gen Silent for free. Rather than making you rent Gen Silent on Netflix or Amazon, we offer free home viewing events like this one so that price or geographic region doesn’t stop individuals around the world from hearing this important message. We will let you know about other free home viewing events throughout 2012 and hope will consider making a [...]

Join the American Case Management Association (ACMA) in our National Conference – dedicated solely to Hospital / Health System Case Management April 26-29 in Denver Colorado Collaboratively, Nurses and Social Workers provide the majority of Case Management Services. Case Managers positively influence patient care, facilitating care delivery and creating solutions for continuum of care progression that benefit hospitals, Medical Staff and, most importantly, patients. The demands for Case Management continues to increase and, consequently, so does the need for patient [...]

DocTalker are pleased to announce that one of our partners, Dr. Steven Simmons, recently has received licenses in both the District of Columbia and Maryland. Offering Housecalls & 24/7 Medical Consults by Phone As he has done in Virginia, Dr. Simmons will be focusing on offering housecalls to patients that may need it.  He currently will be serving the NorthWest part of DC and Montgomery County in MD. If you’ve a client who may benefit from a house call, please [...]