The first webinar in the Focus on Aging series will address important topics for public health and health care professionals, aging services organizations, the research community, and other stakeholders in aging, reports the National Institute on Aging . The webinar takes place on Monday, September 28th, 2020, 2:00 — 3:30 p.m. ET. Please register here . The series is a joint project of four of the federal agencies that support the health and wellness of older adults in the U.S.: the Administration for Community Living, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the National Institute on Aging. In addition to general topics of interest for older adults and those who work with them, each webinar will include information specific to individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, as well as their caregivers. A video recording of the webinar will be made available shortly after the live broadcast.

An August survey from the Pew Research Center of 13,200 Americans found 51 percent of U.S. adults expect their lives will remain significantly changed after the COVID-19 pandemic, while 48 percent expect things to return to normal. Looking at age ranges, 57 percent of adults 18 to 29 years old say their lives will remain changed following the pandemic, compared with 51 percent of Americans 30 to 49, 50 percent of those 50 to 64, and 47 percent of those 65 and up. Sixty-four percent of black adults say their lives will remain changed in major ways following the crisis versus 56 percent of Asian adults, 53 percent of Hispanic adults, and 48 percent of white adults. Democrats and those who skew Democratic also are much more likely than Republicans and those with Republican affinities to expect their lives will remain changed afterwards. Finally, the study found that more women than men are likely to say they expect their lives will remain substantially altered.

A survey by Duke-National University of Sinagpore's Center for Aging Research & Education (CARE) published in The Gerontologist determined that older adults encountered more difficulty using the Internet because of poor health, reports News-Medical . The researchers learned that users who were male, with lower levels of education, and those with limitations in instrumental activities of daily living like using the phone and doing housework, were more likely to face challenges in Internet use due to poor health. Persons of higher age, females, with less education, and based in low-income housing, were more likely to not use the Internet for non-health-related reasons. A particularly worrying finding is that health-related problems in Internet use created additional obstacles to online communication between older adults and their family and friends, and poor social connections and support — which reduced their quality of life on a cumulative level. "Our findings suggest that health-related difficulties are relevant in understanding the digital divide between the young and the old," said CARE Professor Rahul Malhotra. "Concurrent with optimizing the health of older persons, policymakers should consider supporting research and development into assistive technology and design aimed at helping older Internet users overcome health-related difficulty in Internet use."

With uncertainty in the job market rampant in the midst of a pandemic, it behooves older workers to take protective steps against job loss, writes senior economics contributor to Minnesota Public Radio Chris Farrell in the Minneapolis Star Tribune . "Maintain your network of colleagues, former workmates, and acquaintances," he advises. "Most job referrals come through personal connections, especially for older workers. Examine your household budget, figure out where you're most financially vulnerable, and take steps to reduce that particular risk now." Farrell also recommends that older workers consider their options if their job is eliminated. Also worth pursuing is expanding one's prospects for self-employment, freelance work, or gig jobs. Farrell cites UpWork's Freelance Forward: 2020 workforce survey , which observed modest growth in freelancing during the pandemic, helped along by many freelancers' teleworking long before the crisis hit. "When thinking about what might come next, I would see if self-employment is a practical option for you," he suggests.

Residents of the Watermark at Logan Square nursing community in Philadelphia are staging musical productions for their fellow residents, using the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown as an opportunity to mine humor from adversity, reports WHYY . The Watermark Players organized "Ain't Congregatin,'" a spoof on the Broadway revue "Ain't Misbehavin,'" modifying song lyrics to reflect life during the crisis. In one example, the song "The Best of Times is Now" from "La Cage aux Folles" was retooled as "The Worst of Times is Now." Live performances are held through Zoom, with performers telling corny jokes between musical numbers. The players' leader, Philly Senior Stage teaching artist Steve Hatzai, said the performers have adjusted to the platform well. "They have an ability to look on something which may have a downside, and look at it in a positive light, and with humor," he explained.

U.S. senior living community operator Capital Senior Living has announced the launch of its Virtual Engagement Program (VEP) to enable greater communication for its residents, reports GlobeNewswire . The operator will distribute tablet computers across its communities, in order to facilitate communications between residents and their families. The program was introduced in time to honor National Assisted Living Week, which ran from Sept. 13 to Sept. 19. The VEP program includes conducting scheduled virtual meeting times with families, live-streaming of certain community events, and the ability to highlight communities to future residents. To further augment the program and ensure greater access to key technology, Capital Senior Living determined that circulating tablets for National Assisted Living week would benefit all constituents as they will further improve communication, especially when residents must stay socially distanced in the community and from their loved ones. "While we had already been facilitating virtual communication between our residents and their families as well as amongst potential future residents, additional tablets will increase opportunities for our residents to stay close to their loved ones," said Capital Senior Living Chief Operating Officer Brandon Ribar.

A study in Pharmacotherapy suggests a substantial number of older patients receiving opioids at dental visits also use psychotropic medications, which could have potentially harmful interactive effects, reports EurekAlert . The researchers examined medical, dental, and pharmacy claims data from the IBM Watson MarketScan databases on 40,800 older adults who visited a dentist between 2011 and 2015 and were prescribed opioids. Average subject age was 69 and 45 percent of subjects were female. Ten percent were taking medications associated with heightened risks for harm with opioid prescriptions. A total of 947 hospitalizations or emergency room visits were observed among these patients. Ten percent of patients prescribed opioids by their dentist were already on a prescription medication that should not be prescribed with opioids. They were 23 percent more likely to be hospitalized or visit an emergency department in the 30 days after the dental visit where they were prescribed an opioid, versus those not prescribed opioids. "Although the percentage of opioids prescribed by dentists has decreased in the last 20 years, dentists must continue interprofessional collaboration with primary care physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers to address devastating and preventable drug interactions affecting vulnerable patients who look to them for safe and compassionate care," recommended Susan Rowan at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry.

A study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia determined that women with a longer reproductive period had an higher risk for dementia in old age, compared with those who were fertile for a shorter time, reports ScienceDaily . Researchers analyzed 1,364 women who were followed between 1968 and 2012 in the Prospective Population-based Study of Women in Gothenburg and the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies in Sweden. Of those examined with a shorter reproductive period (32.6 years or less), 16 percent developed dementia. In the cohort of women who were fertile longer (38 years or more), 24 percent developed dementia. The risk for dementia and Alzheimer's disease was found to grow successively for every additional year that the women remain fertile. This association was most pronounced for those with dementia onset after 85 years, and the effect was most strongly connected to age at menopause. However, no association was observed between dementia risk and age at menarche, number of pregnancies, period of breastfeeding, or exogenous estrogen administered via hormonal replacement therapy or oral contraceptives. "The varying results for estrogen may be due to it having a protective effect early in life but being potentially harmful once the disease has begun," said University of Gothenburg Professor Ingmar Skoog.

Some assisted-living communities in Louisiana are beginning to allow visits amid declining morale among residents isolated to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, reports WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge . Governor John Bel Edwards announced that only parishes with less than a 5 percent positivity rate for the virus would qualify to have communities open to visitors during Phase 3 of Louisiana's reopening. Lake Sherwood Retirement Community owner Neil Juneau said allowing visitation became necessary because residents' morale was very low, and this was permitted because the community is privately owned and unlicensed, freeing it from state mandates. "Family members would come and they would talk through a window and then we started letting them get out of their apartments," he explained. Juneau on Friday added that retirees are now allowed to start having one designated family member visit during certain times of the day — and they also could start leaving the community, with limits. "We don't allow any of our residents to go to any public venue like a grocery store or a salon or anything like that," he said. For parishes that can meet the requirements for state-licensed nursing community reopenings, Edwards said the state is developing a pilot program through the Louisiana Department of Health.

The state of Florida is pulling back from initiatives promoted by Gov. Ron DeSantis to keep down deaths and serious illnesses from COVID-19 among seniors, reports WOGX Fox 51 . The administration recently announced the elimination of state-supported, every-other-week testing of workers in long-term care communities, and the closure of 23 COVID-19 nursing communities committed to residents fighting the virus who cannot be properly isolated in their normal place of residence. The state government claims these measures are no longer necessary, even as nursing, assisted living, and other congregate living communities reinstate visitations. Florida Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew said the federal government's Sept. 2 requirement that nursing communities test staffers overrides the state's own staff-testing rule. The federal government also is supplying communities with rapid testing kits. However, no federal or state requirements for Florida's 3,111 licensed assisted living communities exist. AARP Florida State Director Jeff Johnson is opposed to the change in testing policy. "Frail older Floridians and their families have borne far too much of the pain and loss caused by this pandemic," he warned. "To protect them, long-term care staff, and the communities in which they reside, we need more testing, not less."