Flu +You Campaign: A Collaboration between Actress Judith Light and the National Council on Aging

The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is teaming up for the third year with award-winning actress Judith Light to raise awareness that getting an influenza ("flu") vaccination is one of the things you can do to help maintain your health. The 2016 NCOA Flu+you campaign's goal is to educate older adults and their loved ones about the seriousness of the flu, the importance of getting an annual flu vaccination and flu vaccine options. There is a higher dose of the vaccine designated for those 65 years or older, and Light is assisting the NCOA to get the word out. Read more about the initiative here. 

Preventing Disease with Exercise

Researcher Karen Schon at the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center was inspired after a fitness course to research the potential link between exercise and disease prevention. Schon has found promising data regarding brain function and exercise. The Aging Well Institute's Dr. Rhoda Au is a mentor and collaborator on the project, which has the goal of finding preventative measures for degenerative brain disease. Read more about the fascinating study here. 

Diagnosing Alzheimer's: Looking for a better way to detect disease early

The Aging Well Institute's associate Wendy Qiu, the principal investigator of the Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry and Aging at Boston University, has been featured in a five part series on Alzheimer's research at Boston University. Wendy's research focuses on finding an early and inexpensive diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease. Read more about Wendy's research here.

Zika Virus Outbreak in Miami - Potential Public Health Impact →

Zika is a term that has been heard all over the world in the past few months. It seemed like a far away disease causing horror to those we have never met-until now. The Zika virus has spread to Miami, Florida, and will most likely pop-up in other areas of the United States and the world. David Hamer, a BU School of Public Health professor and researcher, was recently interviews regarding the disease, its effects, and how much we have left to learn. 

 

http://www.bu.edu/today/2016/zika-virus-miami/

The U.S Government's Task force to Excel Preventative Medicine →

As our population ages, there has been a slow shift in the focus of those fighting disease. We began attempting to react to diseases once they occur, but overtime, focus has shifted to trying to prevent disease in the first place. This tide has created changes in both public and private companies, government, universities, and individual researcher's and practitioner's goals. An example of this, is the United States government's task force focused on advancing preventive medicine. 

Created in 1984, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine. The Task Force works to improve the health of all Americans by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings, counseling services, and preventive medications. All recommendations are published on the Task Force’s web site and/or in a peer-reviewed journal.

Aging Federal Workforce Bucks Retirement Trends, Georgia State University Public Policy Study Shows →

 

 

The percentage of federal white-collar workers eligible to retire doubled between 1999 and 2007, but the number of federal retirements has not, according to the study. The Government Accountability Office estimates 600,000 federal employees (about 30 percent) will be eligible for retirement by September 2017. What could this change mean for the future of employment,retirement, and aging well? 

 

Population-based resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates to pyrazinamide and fluoroquinolones: results from a multicountry surveillance project →

With 9.6 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths estimated in 2014, tuberculosis represents a major global health problem and ranks alongside HIV as a leading cause of infectious-disease-related deaths. Although global incidence has been falling slowly during the past decade, the number of people affected every year remains daunting. Among the most serious obstacles to successful prevention and treatment of tuberculosis are the inadequate identification of individuals with latent tuberculosis infection who are at highest risk of developing the disease, insufficient capacity of health systems to rapidly identify and diagnose all tuberculosis cases (especially those with drug resistance), inappropriate management of contacts of infectious cases, long duration of treatment (especially for drug-resistant tuberculosis), concurrent infection with HIV, and worldwide spread of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains that are resistant to the most effective antituberculosis agents.

To accelerate global progress in the control of tuberculosis, new drugs and shorter, easily administered regimens are needed to treat all forms of tuberculosis, including multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Investing in Healthcare – A Comparative Study in Healthcare Financing Across Countries, Lessons Help India Improve Its Health Delivery →

In the context of healthcare benefits to all, political will at both the Centre and state levels is critical for implementation of various government health programs. As ACCESS Health compares data among countries that have been successful in achieving universal health coverage, they see several common strategies: prioritizing primary care, improving the quality of healthcare services, transitioning from incremental budgeting to a more performance and needs based budget allocation, defining the purchasing and providing split, emphasizing evidence based decision making. Moreover, across all countries, the success of universal health coverage reforms rests upon strong political commitment and leadership.

In Thailand, universal health coverage became a political priority in the 2000 elections. Reformers, civil society, and technocrats mobilized together to create a political force that led to almost full universal health coverage in a middle-income country, in seemingly record time.

This case study was discussed in detail at a recent high level policy consultation on health financing in India, hosted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. Representatives from several member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) attended, the conference, in addition to representatives from Thailand and the Philippines. The countries came together to share experiences in achieving successful universal health coverage The conference focused at length on health financing in the context of the many challenges and variations across India.

International and national experts debated the role of the different central ministries and state governments in healthcare financing, particularly in the context of fiscal devolution, and suggested a way forward.

Key lessons learned from various country experiences focused on five areas, which ACCESS Health discusses in greater detail, at http://accessh.org/feature-investing-in-healthcare-a-comparative-study-in-healthcare-financing-across-countries-lessons-help-india-improve-its-health-delivery/

The Gross Domestic Product and Health Care Spending →

How much will the United States spend on health care during the next decade or two? The answer matters greatly to physicians, federal and state governments, businesses, and the general public. The answer will determine the type and extent of care that physicians can provide to their patients, as well as the amount of physicians' take-home pay. It will also determine how much everyone else can consume or invest in other goods and services. Unfortunately, forecasting health care spending is extremely difficult. Future spending depends in part on developments within the health care sector and in part on developments in the economy as a whole. The former include changes in the prevalence of health problems such as obesity, infectious diseases, and dementia, as well as changes in medical technology such as new drugs, imaging devices, and surgical procedures. The economy as a whole includes variables such as the unemployment rate, trends in average wages, and prices of securities and housing.

Buurtzorg: A Neighborhood Model of Care →

Buurtzorg Nederland is a not for profit homecare provider with a reputation for delivering high quality and affordable elder care services. Buurtzorg means “neighborhood care” in Dutch. Buurtzorg is centered on neighborhood resources, including family members and neighbors. This is a summary of an interview with Jos de Blok and the transcript of an interview with Gertje van Roessel. The interviews highlight the Buurtzorg philosophy and working methods in homecare management. Buurtzorg methods are being replicated worldwide.

Screening for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease →

About 14% of US adults aged 40 to 79 years have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and it is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Persons with severe COPD are often unable to participate in normal physical activity due to deterioration of lung function. The USPSTF recommends against screening for COPD in asymptomatic adults. (D recommendation)

Aging and Place: Designing Housing and Communities for an Aging Population →

The Joint Center For Housing Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design hosted a symposium to discuss opportunities in architecture, planning, and policy to enhance older adults’ well being through affordable, accessible, well connected housing, as well as through models of long term care that support aging in place. This report summarizes the presentations from the Harvard symposium.

Cohousing: Community Living for All Ages →

Loneliness and social isolation contribute to the incidence of many chronic diseases, including obesity, heart disease, depression, and dementia. Cohousing offers elders an alternative model of aging in place and community. Joani Blank is a seventy eight year old resident of Swan’s Market Cohousing Community, in Oakland, California and she shares her personal experience living in cohousing.

Touch Home Care →

Worldwide, rapidly aging populations are forcing a paradigm shift in how to treat those with chronic diseases. While many patients are placed in nursing homes or hospices for their sunset years, they express an almost universal desire to continue living at home. This trend has created demand for homecare services so the elderly can be cared for without having to abandon their homes or independent lifestyles.