ElderSource's Caring Connections phone program is getting an $83,000 boost through a new grant, to offer solace to lonely older adults in Jacksonville and other Florida markets during the COVID-19 crisis, reports News4JAX . Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has banned visitors from long-term care communities until September, adding urgency to maintaining human connections for older populations. Caring Connections offers seniors a pen pal-like relationship over the phone. ElderSource employees pair volunteers with seniors, and then they call their seniors twice a week, just to check in. "They make phone calls to them, just to provide a friendly voice and a listening ear to someone who just doesn't have that person to talk to and needs to talk to somebody," said ElderSource CEO Linda Levin. Seniors older than 60 and living alone, as well as long-term care community residents, qualify for the program.

A study published in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences found adults 60 and older have fared better emotionally during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to younger and middle-aged adults, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers analyzed daily diary data collected between mid-March and mid-April, revealing that older adults experienced greater emotional well-being and less stress and anxiety related to the pandemic. They looked at data from 776 participants aged 18 to 91 who lived in Canada and the United States, and the University of British Columbia's Patrick Klaiber thinks the difference in reported stress levels could stem from age-related stressors and how well different age groups react to stress. "Younger and middle-aged adults are faced with family- and work-related challenges, such as working from home, homeschooling children, and unemployment," he explained. "They are also more likely to experience different types of ongoing non-pandemic stressors than older adults, such as interpersonal conflicts." Older adults, meanwhile, have more coping skills to contend with stress thanks to their age and wisdom. Older and middle-aged adults also had more daily positive events, like remote positive social interactions, in 75 percent of their daily surveys, which helped boost positive emotions compared to younger adults.

A study in Neurology concluded that personal perception can be a valuable indicator for early detection of Alzheimer's disease, reports ScienceDaily . Researchers looked at 449 women and men, average age about 70, who went to a memory clinic, of whom 240 were assessed as having subjective cognitive decline (SCD). "We were able to show that those people who turned to a memory clinic because of SCD had measurable, albeit only mild cognitive deficits," said Steffen Wolfsgruber at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). He explained that "participants considered to be healthy generally scored better in mental performance than memory clinic patients with SCD. These differences are hardly detectable with standard methods of analysis and in small groups of people." On average, individuals with subjectively perceived memory problems also had measurable cognitive deficits associated with abnormalities in their cerebrospinal fluid, specifically proteins indicative of early Alzheimer's disease. "Current therapies against Alzheimer's start too late. Then the brain is already severely damaged," said DZNE's Michael Wagner. "A better understanding of SCD could create the basis for an earlier treatment."

The Administration for Community Living touts The Profile of Older Americans, an annual summary of the available statistics related to America's older population. The Profile illustrates the shifting demographics of Americans age 65 and older and includes such key topic areas as income, living arrangements, education, and health. This year's report also contains special sections on obesity, aerobic activity, and muscle-strengthening activities. Among the main sources of data for the Profile's findings are the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Researchers found that, between 2008 and 2018, the population age 65 and older increased 35 percent. This demographic is projected to top 94.7 million by 2060. Furthermore, the number of Americans age 45 to 64 who will reach age 65 during the next two decades rose 7 percent from 2008 to 2018. Finally, racial and ethnic minority populations have increased from 7.5 million to 12.3 million over that same time span.

A National Center for Health Statistics data briefing said shingles vaccinations among older adults have risen significantly over the last decade, reports Pharmacy Times . Data from the 2008-2018 National Health Interview Survey estimated that the shingles vaccination rate among adults 60 and older increased from just 6.7 percent in 2008 to 34.5 percent in 2018. The shingles vaccine was much more common in the West-North-Central region of the United States with a 42.8 percent vaccination rate for adults over age 60, while the East-South-Central region had a 26.3 percent rate. The vaccination rate also was higher for those who were not poor and had more than a high school education. The rate was similar between men and women, but non-Hispanic white adults had a vaccination rate of 38.6 percent, making them twice as likely as non-Hispanic black adults and Hispanic adults to be vaccinated. Finally, adults 70 years and older were more likely than those 60 to 69 to have received a shingles vaccine.

Generus has established a program allowing volunteers to produce pre-recorded "Video Visits" to let older adults and people with dementia know they are not forgotten, ignored, or alone during the COVID-19 pandemic, reports PR Newswire . Those who make Video Visits are mostly regular people, including hundreds of high school students across the country. The one- to three-minute-long videos share music, a talent, story, hobbies, or how-tos. The large number of student volunteers has allowed the program to grow nationally, and it is now drawing the interest of international volunteers. "Because of the limited opportunities for students to volunteer currently, and because we are dealing in a medium that students know well, they think of us as 'TikTok' for volunteering," said Generus CEO Jamie Larsen. "My favorite day of the week is our Zoom call with student volunteers from the U.S., Mexico, Argentina, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. We discuss a cause we all care about and the ways different cultures and countries are dealing with this pandemic and aging." Toby Stigdon at Columbus Transitional Care in Indiana said Video Visits are a source of joy for residents in the community's memory care unit, especially those hit hard by the suspension of visitations.

A study published in Neurology found that people with a genetic predisposition to dementia can reduce their risk by improving their cardiovascular health, reports News-Medical . Dementia-associated common gene variants or the APOE-4 genotype can elevate dementia risk by more than twofold, but good cardiovascular health can halve that risk. Moreover, genes and cardiovascular health can independently raise or lower the risk. The researchers rated participants on the American Heart Association's seven components of cardiovascular health — physical activity, cholesterol, healthy diet, blood pressure, weight, blood glucose, and smoking status. Those with a favorable cardiovascular health score were 55 percent less likely to develop dementia than those with an unfavorable score. "We have long maintained that genetics is not destiny, that the impact of your family history and genetic risk can be lowered by healthy lifestyle choices," said University of Texas Professor Sudha Seshadri. "This is true for persons with low genetic risk and also for persons with high genetic risk of dementia, so it is never too soon and never too late to adopt a 'heart-healthy lifestyle."

Clemson University's College of Behavioral, Social, and Health Sciences (CBSHS) has established a new endowed chair position to research aging and its effects on issues related to brain functioning, reports the Clemson Newsstand . Lesley A. Ross has been appointed the college's first SmartLIFE Endowed Chair in Aging and Cognition. She will be a tenured faculty member in the psychology department, and will work collaboratively across the CBSHS and the university on research into aging and cognition. Ross also will be associate director for the Clemson University Institute for Engaged Aging, and have dedicated laboratory space at the Oconee County Campus of Prisma Health. She noted that such endowed chair positions are increasingly vital on account of multidisciplinary requirements in the field, and the growing global population of older adults. This behooves proportional changes in healthcare and technology. "My research, and the work of this position, focuses on keeping older adults happy and independent as long as possible while fighting the negative stereotypes associated with aging." Ross declared. She also emphasized the importance of researchers and students engaging with older populations, most critically for translating research findings into usable products that help the community.

A preliminary study at Harvard Medical School found that older adults are routinely excluded from participating in COVID-19 clinical trials, reports the Stanford Daily . The researchers determined that 15 percent of clinical trials for COVID-19 exclude adults between 65 and 80 years old. Harvard Professor Marina Martin said senior underrepresentation in trials may lead to inaccurate data and exacerbate the situation for older adults, who are already highly vulnerable to virus-related complications. "With vaccine research, if we only test a vaccine in a younger population, we run the risk of having a vaccine that doesn't work on older adults," she warned. "And then, the most vulnerable population will still be at an increased risk and will remain a group in which the virus can thrive and proliferate." Another 12 percent of trials indirectly excluded older adults by disqualifying those with health conditions that disproportionately affect seniors, like hypertension and diabetes. Researchers and medical professionals blame exclusions on the higher number of comorbidities in older adults, such as dementia, which can potentially lead to challenges in performing trials. Because increasing numbers of older adults are living longer, Martin said they should be included in clinical trials more often in order to measure the effect of COVID-19 treatments in older populations.

A study published in Neurology suggests maintaining heart health may play a role in keeping memory sharp as people age into their 90s, reports NBC News . "What's good for the heart seems to be good for the brain and seems to be very important in avoiding Alzheimer's disease," said University of Pittsburgh Professor Beth Snitz. The researchers tracked 100 people who initially showed no signs of Alzheimer's for 12 to 14 years, with the average participant concluding the study in their 90s. Participants took cognitive tests and provided information about their health history at the beginning, then underwent positron-emission tomography scans of their brains every two years and a clinical evaluation that included cognitive tests once annually. Those with healthy blood vessels were less likely to develop plaques, as were participants who carried a variant of the APOE gene. "We can't decide what genes were inherited, but hopefully they can be a sort of a mechanistic clue as to how we can develop new drugs," Snitz said. Meanwhile, certain factors appeared to play a role in whether people who developed amyloid plaques maintained a sharp memory, including being a nonsmoker and scoring the normal range on the cognitive test given at the start of the study. "I think this is really encouraging that some of the things like staying active in work and other types of stimulating activities might be protective even into the 90s," declared Reisa Sperling at Brigham and Women's Hospital.