The U.S. Department of Labor on Saturday announced the allocation of up to $312 million to establish job training and employment search services for older Americans, reports the Manistee News Advocate . The Senior Community Service Employment Program targets low-income, unemployed seniors under the auspices of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, with grants awarded competitively via a Funding Opportunity Announcement. The department will apportion grants to organizations that provide individuals 55 and older with career services, engagement in community service activities, and work experience and job skills training that nurtures greater self-sufficiency. "The Senior Community Service Employment Program makes a difference in the lives of older Americans and communities throughout the country," said Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training John Pallasch. "These grants will help older Americans gain valuable job training while supporting their local communities." Labor will award grants to about 10 to 22 applicants, and applicants must have a clear service delivery model that will allow qualifying individuals to participate in the program and realize goals outlined in their Individual Employment Plan.

For older Americans with diminished vision or coordination, the lifting of shelter-in-place restrictions may present unexpected difficulties, reports Next Avenue . Uneven sidewalks, cracked or missing curb ramps at street crossings, and other obstacles are examples of mounting challenges for such people — especially in older, historic cities and towns with aging infrastructures and slim budgets. A 2018 AARP survey found that about 75 percent of people 50 and older "want to be able to age in their community." Although well-kept streets and sidewalks are a priority for respondents, "there's a general perception that sidewalks aren't maintained, and buckling really does pose an impediment," said Danielle Arigoni with AARP's Livable Communities program. To cost-effectively improve infrastructure, an AARP community challenge grant has funded demonstration projects that include walk audits and traffic calming in a Washington, D.C. neighborhood; the reactivation of a neglected alleyway in Newnan, Ga., and a partnership with artists to fix potholes in Chicago. Meanwhile, Boston has reserved more than $1 billion over five years for improvements to sidewalks, roads, and bridges. "We have improved over 4,000 curb cuts, replaced miles of sidewalk with age-friendly materials such as concrete, and filled hundreds of tree pits to lessen tripping hazards," said Boston Age Strong Commissioner Emily Shea.

The Pittsburgh-based Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) has expanded its Virtual Senior Academy (VSA) to seniors isolated by the coronavirus pandemic, reports the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . The online platform offers interactive classes for older adults, and enrollment has nearly tripled and attendance doubled in the past two months. The VSA's offerings include sessions on topics like health and wellness, history and the arts, book clubs, and music. Users must have access to a computer, a webcam, and an Internet connection, while additional options have been implemented in response to the pandemic. Persons 50 and older are invited to participate, with community members of all ages serving as facilitators. Young volunteers with computer proficiency act as "tech buddies" to help get seniors connected. Classes are held live to maintain the emphasis on interaction. JHF is starting to transition management of the VSA to the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Pittsburgh, and JCC's Fara Marcus says the academy's "network of professionals make all the difference with their expertise and way of making participants feel welcome."

Financial advising startup Kindur has developed an app called Silvur, designed to help track retirement goals like buying or selling a house, leaving an inheritance, or planning for a big event, to extend retirement income and ease planning for baby boomers, reports CNET . "Every day, thousands of Americans are reaching retirement age, with many finding it difficult to find a solution that makes planning for a stable financial future manageable," said Kindur CEO Rhian Horgan. "During an economic crisis like the one we're facing currently, this becomes even more essential to have a plan to weather the storm." Silvur users must first enter their financial information either by linking their accounts or estimating assets, and the proprietary SmartDraw software makes financial projections based on data like current income, spending, assets, and account balances. Silvur makes suggestions on reaching savings goals from this information, and it can automatically calculate Medicare costs and Social Security benefits. "Using strategies suggested by Silvur and SmartDraw, retirees can save up to $61,000 by avoiding unnecessary taxes and fees," Horgan said.

A study in Advanced Functional Materials detailed how researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the Korean Institute of Science and Technology, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology developed a technique to prevent the formation of plaques that cause Alzheimer's disease by creating nano-sized devices that capture ß-amyloid peptides before they achieve cohesion, reports EurekaAlert . "The idea is that, eventually, a slurry of our nanodevices could collect the peptides as they fall away from the cells — before they get a chance to aggregate," said Argonne's Elena Rozhkova. The team coated the spherical surface of the silica nanodevice with fragments of an antibody that detects and binds to Aß peptides. The porous surface of the nanodevice maximizes the available surface area for the antibodies to cover. Experimental observations indicated that the nanodevices appeared to reduce peptide aggregation, and demonstrated that they do not have a toxic effect on cells.

A study in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery found that the chances of postural instability are higher in older adults with moderate or worse hearing loss, even when the loss is on one side only, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers analyzed data of 3,864 Korean participants, more than half of whom were women, and whose average age was 57.8 years. Female gender was associated with higher odds of postural instability compared to male gender, while the odds of postural instability grew with every 12-month increase in age. No connection between an increase in the odds of postural instability and unilateral or bilateral mild hearing loss was observed. However, when adjusting for age and sex, moderate hearing loss on at least one side was associated with higher odds of postural instability. "It may be helpful to consider these findings when making recommendations or research on hearing rehabilitation to prevent postural instability," the authors suggested.

The Trump administration on Thursday announced new initiatives to protect nursing care community residents amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the New York Post . The White House directive calls for the establishment of a commission composed of industry experts, patient advocates, and state and local officials that will confer in May and devise recommendations to protect seniors. Meanwhile, The Hill reported that the White House will spend $81 million to accelerate inspections of nursing communities to ensure compliance with infectious disease protocols. Nursing communities also will be mandated to report information about coronavirus cases to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "The tragic reality is the coronavirus seemed almost tailor-made to put major pressure on nursing homes," said CDC Administrator Seema Verma.

A study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society assessed the effectiveness of the Preoperative Risk Estimation for Onco-Geriatric Patients (PREOP) score in predicting how older adults fared following surgery for cancer, reports Medical Xpress . The investigators analyzed the findings of an earlier study on 229 adults 70 or older who had surgery for suspected cancerous solid tumors. Participating medical centers collected additional data on survival for up to five years post-surgery. Overall, 84 percent survived one year after surgery, 77 percent survived two years after surgery, and 56 percent survived five years after surgery. Of those who were still alive one year after surgery, 26 percent moved to an assisted-living or nursing community, and by two years 46 percent moved to a care community or had died. Post-surgical survival at one year was worse for persons with a high PREOP risk score, compared with a normal PREOP risk score. However, the risk score could not predict whether subjects were at a higher risk of needing care in a health community or institution. The researchers suggested that the PREOP score can be used to guide older adults' discussion with physicians about the goals and expectations of surgery.

Framingham State University in Massachusetts and the Framingham Public Library's collaborative Adventures in Lifelong Learning program is relaunching in a remote format to provide seniors with engagement opportunities amid COVID-19 restrictions, reports the Framingham Source . The program will offer courses remotely throughout May and June via the Zoom audio and videoconferencing platform. The program's offerings include courses in literature, political science, storytelling, and songwriting at no charge.

A study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers published in Sleep suggests that older adults with depression may be at a significantly higher risk of remaining depressed if they experience persistent or worsening insomnia, reports EurekAlert . The investigators examined data from 599 people older than 60 who visited primary care centers in the Northeast United States. Subjects with a pattern of worsening insomnia over the following year had almost 30 times greater odds of being diagnosed with major depression at the end of that year, versus those whose sleep had improved during that year. Those with worsening insomnia also were much more likely to be diagnosed with minor depression, and more likely to report thoughts of suicide at the end of the year. In addition, older adults with persistent but not worsening insomnia symptoms were more likely to have persistent major or minor depression, but their risk was not as elevated as those with worsening sleep. "The results suggest that older adults who are being treated for depression and whose sleep problems are persistent or worsening need further clinical attention," said Bloomberg School Professor Adam Spira.