A new study shows that the use of brain training exercises are more effective at improving cognitive function than simply performing knowledge or ingenuity games, like crossword puzzles. This is the preliminary analysis of the results of the first 511 of 681 participants to complete the Iowa Healthy and Active Minds Study (IHAMS) that was presentedat the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) 64th Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston. The study, which will be completed in January and for which the [...]

Jack Sanders doesn’t work in the Mayfair Manor Nursing Home, but you would never know it if you saw him there.  Jack is at the nursing and rehabilitation center more than most full-time employees, 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. seven days a week to be exact. Jack is there to be near his wife Esther, who has been a resident for over 2 years. Jack doesn’t limit his helpfulness to his wife, he chips in wherever help is needed for all residents [...]

Fortune reports that Nursing, once viewed as an important but not necessarily upwardly mobile field, has made a comeback, as younger people have come to view it as a safe, secure path. In the last decade, the number of young people (most of them women) between 23 and 26 years old to enter the field jumped by 62%, says David Auerbach, a health economist at RAND Health in Boston. The findings point to a turnaround after a several-decade decline in [...]

Discharge to skilled nursing facility a key factor, according to first national study Confirming many elderly patients’ worst fears, a national study has shown that being hospitalized for an acute event, such as a stroke or hip fracture, can lead to long-term institutionalization in a nursing home. Equally alarming, researchers found that direct discharge to a skilled nursing facility “” a common practice designed to reduce hospital stays “” put patients at “extremely high risk” of needing long-term nursing home [...]

Pioneer Network is pleased to announce that its Food and Dining Clinical Standards Task Force: A Rothschild Regulatory Task Force has finalized new Dining Practice Standards agreed to by the following twelve national clinical standard-setting associations: American Association for Long Term Care Nursing (AALTCN) American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordination (AANAC) American Dietetic Association (ADA) American Medical Directors Association (AMDA) American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Dietary Managers Association (DMA) Gerontological [...]

Get a rare (and funny) glimpse of the entire Guide to Retirement Living SourceBook team as they prepare for a special Holiday edition of the publication!

According to Gallup research sponsored by Pfizer and ReACT one in six people who have a full-time or part-time job say that they have to care for an elderly family member, relative or friend, or someone with disabilities, Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary outlines 7 creative and practical gifts to give to caregivers this holiday season. Listen. Offer encouragement. Help out. Create a gift certificate that gives the caregiver six 20-minute venting sessions. Find funny and encouraging greeting cards, and [...]

A group of seniors pulled off a dance performance inside a Target store in Kansas. Several shoppers got a special holiday treat at the Lawrence, Kan., but the video has also proven to be a YouTube sensation with over 500,000 viewers!

A Virginia based senior housing provider enlisted  students studying architecture at Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia to create a retirement community that can maintain a reasonable price with little or no rate increases, while adapting to the physical needs of aging residents. This isn’t just an academic exercise but one that the company will use as it plans to expand its campus beginning with construction on new residences in the spring. Read article