KGUN 9-TV reports that Banner Health has launched Dementia Untangled, a podcast on dementia and Alzheimer's that allows clinicians in Arizona to share their knowledge outside of clinics. Dementia Untangled has released five episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, and other platforms, each of which are produced to help educate the family and friends of people diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's. Physician's assistant Helle Brand at the Toole Family Memory Center in Tucson said knowing how to care for people with dementia and Alzheimer's is critical, especially for people in their close circle. "To know that somebody will hear the message and translate it into everyday care and reduce the stress, I think, is a 'win-win,'" she explained.

Researchers at the U.K.'s University of Bath and Portugal's Clínica do Dragão, Espregueira-Mendes Sports Center are exploring the use of virtual reality (VR) to improve balance and prevent falls in older people, reports Engineering and Technology Magazine . The researchers reviewed data from 19 studies to investigate the validity, reliability, safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of head-mounted display systems for assessing and training balance in older adults. In a study published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living , they found VR could not only effectively evaluate balance and help prevent falls and improve postural control and gait patterns, but also differentiate between healthy and balance-impaired individuals. "Using VR opens up a huge range of scenarios that are more natural and relevant to the real world," said Bath's Pooya Soltani. He added that "alternatively, VR could be used more like a video game where patients navigate virtually through a maze while doing additional cognitive tasks, like solving mathematical problems." Tests showed that in VR versions of traditional balance tests, older adults generally were more cautious and took more time to complete tasks.

Public Health Officer Howard Njoo with the Public Health Agency of Canada said nearly nine in 10 Canadian seniors were vaccinated from COVID-19, compared to seven in 10 for the flu, reports Saanich News . He added that at least one dose has been administered to more than eight in 10 people in their 70s. Nationally, nearly 12 million Canadians have been given at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, with almost 250,000 doses now being injected daily. Njoo said the more serious outcomes of COVID-19 for seniors may be prompting more to get vaccinated against it, but he hopes this will help encourage greater uptake of all vaccines.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 101 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to CBS News . Over 43 percent have received at least one dose, and the average daily coronavirus case count has decreased 16 percent. There are, however, worries about vaccine hesitancy plus new warnings about variants. Some states, like Michigan, are offering to expand reopening when more people get vaccinated. In other states, vaccination rates are decelerating. In Arkansas, which is one of more than 10 states not ordering all available doses, more than one-third of residents have received at least one dose — well below the national total. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci is adamant that Americans get vaccinated: "Bottom line of my message . . . A: get vaccinated, and if you're having a two-dose regimen, make sure you get that second dose," he said.

HealthDay News reports that few older Americans inform their doctors that they use marijuana, according to a study in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse . Although those who use medicinal marijuana are more likely to tell their doctors about it than recreational users, only a fraction of such users disclosed this. "Older adults may worry about how doctors would respond, as stigma about cannabis use as a psychoactive substance is still prevalent," said Namkee Choi at the University of Texas at Austin. Of more than 17,000 Americans 50 and older who participated in the 2018 and 2019 U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 10 percent used cannabis over the past year. Almost 20 percent used it for medicinal reasons like pain relief or to treat depression. Older users exhibited higher rates of mental illness, alcohol use disorder, and nicotine dependence compared with non-users, but medical users were less likely to have alcohol problems than recreational users. "It is really important to discuss with your doctors who know your preexisting conditions and medications that you are taking, and make a decision about cannabis use that will increase your safety and decrease any potential adverse effects," Choi advised.

CBS 4 News reports that Florida senior care communities have deployed robot pets to offer lonely dementia patients companionship. The available robot pets include a cat and a dog, which respond to affection. The more people pet and talk to them, the more responses they induce, like tail-wagging in the case of the artificial puppy. One hundred robot pets were covered by a state grant and are available at many long-term care communities in North-Central Florida. Wendy Crews, the Community Relations Representative for Community Hospice and Palliative Care, said her organization has been using robot pets as therapy for residents who cannot go outside and lack steady access to family visits. "This is a great companion for anybody who is alone who doesn't have the ability to feed or clean up after a real pet," she noted.

The Jacksonville Progress reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced expanded food assistance to low-income seniors, with nearly $37 million in additional support to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). States and Tribal nations will receive the additional funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act to support more seniors, plus up to $2.6 million in administrative funds from an earlier COVID relief bill. "By expanding the reach of CSFP and providing additional support to the states and tribes that administer the program, USDA is helping ensure that no senior has to worry where their next meal will come from," declared Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. ARP funding permits USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to broaden the reach of CSFP by meeting all 2021 requests from states to serve more seniors and adding the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes to the program. The extra $2.6 million apportionment will come from the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 to cover increased administrative costs due to the pandemic.

A new Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found staying six feet away from others indoors has little effect on the risk of exposure to COVID-19, reports Business Insider . The researchers said the rule is based on an outdated understanding of how the coronavirus spreads in closed spaces, while other factors — including the number of people in a space, whether they are masked, what they are doing, and the level of ventilation — were much more critical. The study suggests that making individual calculations based on variables for that space is a better approach for controlling indoor exposure. MIT professors Martin Bazant and John Bush devised a formula for estimating long it would take for someone to reach dangerous levels of exposure from one infected person entering a room. Based on this calculation, it could be that the exposure level remains high in some spaces, or lower than expected, even if people are more than six feet away. When the pandemic began, it was widely believed that the pathogen traveled via heavier droplets ejected during exhalation, sneezing, or speaking. However, evidence has long suggested that it instead drifts on lighter aerosol droplets that can stay suspended in air and travel much farther than first assumed.

According to Chain Drug Review , Walgreens says it will increase its COVID-19 testing capacity considerably by May 1. The company will offer drive-through diagnostic tests at 6,000 locations, with more than one-half in socially vulnerable areas. Walgreens currently has more than 5,000 of its locations offering tests, which are available at no cost. Walgreens President John Standley said, "With this latest move, Walgreens is furthering its commitment to help communities we serve across the country overcome the pandemic." Since Walgreens began COVID-19 testing in April 2020, the company has administered more than 7 million diagnostic tests. With the latest expansion, Walgreens will be able to administer roughly 3 million tests per month. Thousands of Walgreens testing locations also offer rapid diagnostic tests where results are received the same day.

AARP reports that President Biden vowed in his speech this week to Congress to empower Medicare to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs, fortify the Affordable Care Act (ACA), improve access to long-term care, and establish a national research agency to fight diseases that mostly target older Americans. Much of Biden's speech concerned elements within the infrastructure and families plans he recently unveiled, including enhancements to the country's long-term care system. He noted that 800,000 families are currently on Medicare's waiting list to get home care for aging parents or loved ones with a disability. Biden's infrastructure plan apportions $400 billion to expand access to long-term care, including home- and community-based care. He also explained that by enabling Medicare to save hundreds of billions of dollars by negotiating lower prescription drug prices, everyone — not just people on Medicare — would benefit. The president also asked for the establishment within the National Institutes of Health of a new agency, to "develop breakthroughs to prevent, detect, and treat diseases like Alzheimer's, diabetes, and cancer." Biden is also pushing to make ACA-directed subsidy increases permanent, along with reducing deductibles for working families on the ACA.