You are Cordially Invited to   Denim and Diamonds Reception at the Innovations in Aging 2012 Gaylord National Hotel and Conference Center Cherry Blossom Room Friday, May 4, 2012 6:30PM to 9:30PM    This is a friendly reminder to join us in conjunction with the “Innovations in Aging Expo 2012″ for our V.I.P. Denim and Diamonds Reception at the Gaylord National Hotel and Conference Center in the Cherry Blossom Room. The evening will be  filled with exciting entertainment, complimentary refreshments and cash [...]

Former 1960s teen pop idol Bobby Vee says he’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The 69-year-old, born Robert Velline in Fargo, N.D., says on his website that he was diagnosed last year. Vee was catapulted to stardom after the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP “Big Bopper” Richardson in a 1959 plane crash en route to Moorhead, Minn. Vee and his friends filled in for the trio at the Moorhead performance and soon after that he recorded his [...]

The Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) today announced the winners of the ALFA 2012 Best of the Best Awards. These annual awards honor new innovations in the field of senior living that promote resident quality of life and business excellence. ALFA will recognize the winning best practices at COMMUNITY 2012, the ALFA Conference and Expo, May 16-18 in Dallas. “This year’s Best of the Best award winners raise the bar for excellence and as a result, set a new [...]

Older Americans Month begins today!  A perfect opportunity to show our appreciation for the older adults in our communities. Since 1963, communities across the nation have come together to celebrate Older Americans Month—a proud tradition that shows our nation’s commitment to recognizing the contributions and achievements of older Americans. The Administration on Aging offers 3 ways you can get involved on this year’s theme Host a Day of Play.The Administration on Aging is encouraging Aging Network partners and other organizations around [...]

It’s been well-documented that the Baby Boomers caused significant changes to the sociological, financial and economic picture in the U.S. over the past 65 years, but a new white paper commissioned by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, written by historian W. Andrew Achenbaum, advances a number of theories about the impact the Boomers have had on American society. In How Boomers Turned Conventional Wisdom on Its Head: A Historian’s View on How the Future May Judge a Transitional Generation, Dr. [...]

Active Living for All Ages: “Creating Neighborhoods Around Transit” shows how transit-oriented development (TOD) facilitates the independence and mobility of older adults. This new six-minute video features conversations with residents, local officials and experts in TOD in Arlington, Virginia—a walkable, mixed-use community with access to a variety of public transit options, entertainment and recreation, and basic services such as shopping and medical services. Produced by AARP’s Public Policy Institute in collaboration with Streetfilms, the video highlights design features that create [...]

Research appears in May issue of Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety Accredited nursing homes report a stronger resident safety culture than nonaccredited facilities, according to a new study published in the May 2012 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. The study shows that senior managers at more than 4,000 facilities across the U.S. identify Joint Commission accreditation as a positive influence on patient safety issues such as staffing, teamwork, training, nonpunitive responses [...]

Nicknamed “Granny Nav”, the technology is being developed as part of a 12 million pound ($19.34 million) program by the UK’s Research Council to help the elderly better navigate while driving.  ”For many older people, particularly those living alone or in rural areas, driving is essential for maintaining their independence, giving them the freedom to get out and about without having to rely on others,” Professor Phil Blythe who led the research said in a press statement. “But we all [...]

The trustees who oversee Social Security and Medicare release their annual financial reports today. An aging population and an economy that has been slow to rebound are straining the long-term finances of Social Security and Medicare, the government’s two largest benefit programs. Medicare is in worse shape than Social Security because of rising health care costs. But both programs are on a path to become insolvent in the coming decades, unless Congress acts, according to the trustees. Last year, the [...]