A small number of U.S. life insurance providers — including such major players as Prudential Financial, Lincoln National, and Protective Insurance — are temporarily halting applications from older adults amid the coronavirus pandemic, reports The Hill . Prudent, Protective, and Lincoln will temporarily suspend applications from persons 80 or older. Mutual of Omaha Insurance is preventing applications for those who are 70 years or older, and Penn Mutual Life Insurance will suspend applications from those 71 and older until at least June 15. Certain firms will halt applications for people in their 60s who previously qualified, but are now prohibited if they have pre-existing conditions like diabetes or asthma. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculates that Americans 65 and older constitute eight out of every 10 deaths from COVID-19. Although insuring older Americans can be risky for companies, most insurers charge larger premiums for older enrollees. Some insurers said policies for people in their 70s comprise about 2 percent to 3.5 percent of sales.

The New York Times is reporting that several methods are effective at killing the new coronavirus on N95 masks — primary protective gear for health care workers — for two or even three rounds of use. The new research was conducted at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Researchers used live novel coronavirus, formally known as SARS-CoV-2, to test the mask material. They not only determined which decontamination procedures were most effective, but also how they affected the integrity of the masks. Vincent Munster, one of the study's co-authors, notes that the work built on over 10 years of studies into decontamination. "We showed that it actually works as well for SARS-CoV-2 as for influenza," and for bacteria, he remarked. Vaporized hydrogen peroxide was deemed effective and left the masks still functioning for at least three rounds of decontamination, as did UV light.

A study of a potential COVID-19 vaccine by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna is being expanded to include older Americans, the age group most at risk from the novel coronavirus, reports the Associated Press . The mRNA-1273 vaccination test is currently focused on healthy young and middle-aged adults in Seattle and Atlanta, but Moderna announced its expansion for those aged 51 to 70 and those older than 70. NIH is seeking 60 older adults, bringing the total number of initial test subjects to 105. Moderna also announced new funding from the U.S. government to accelerate mRNA-1273 development, including preparations to step up production and prepare for larger, next-step studies. The NIH vaccination is one of three leading candidates in the international search for a vaccine. A candidate developed by CanSino Biologics has started the second phase of testing in China, while a candidate from Inovio Pharmaceuticals launched its first U.S. study last week and just got funding to begin similar test vaccinations in South Korea.

Cary Medical Center in Maine has joined an initiative to improve healthcare for older adults, contributing to a goal of realizing 20 percent age-friendly U.S. hospitals and health systems this year, reports The County . Partner organizations in the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative are helping hospitals and other care settings deploy evidence-based interventions, which can be tested and adapted by participating in Age-Friendly Health Systems Action Communities. Such communities are collaborative entities made up of healthcare teams across the nation committed to sharing data and cooperative learning. The program is founded on practices designed to provide four essential elements, including knowledge and alignment of care with each older adult's health outcome goals and care preferences; use of age-friendly medication that does not interfere with the other three elements; mentation, or preventing, identifying, treating, and managing dementia, depression, and delirium across care settings; and guarantees of mobility of older adults every day in order to maintain function. Cary Medical Center joins more than 100 health systems participating in the initiative. Cary CEO Kris Doody said the initiative "is an important part of our overarching vision to provide every older adult with the best care possible."

The entry of Generation Z into the federal workforce should up the pressure on supervisors to integrate a new generation of workers, heighten the tension and intergenerational divide between colleagues, and add emphasis on coaching and other management programs to upskill generations, writes InsideOut Development CEO Bill Bennett in Government Executive . Supervisors can prepare by making an effort to understand that different generations of workers differ in their backgrounds and their expectations of work. Bennett's company learned that baby boomers prefer face-to-face communication while Generation X favors email, and millennials and Gen-Zers desire fast, brief communication through the latest technology. Boomers also are motivated by recognition, while Gen X needs stimulating projects, Gen Z likes work that appeals to their competitive spirit, and millennials generally flourish in a team setting. Supervisors also should attempt to manage the intergenerational divide by highlighting strengths. "Each generation has a core work value that motivates them (and should be celebrated)," Bennett writes. "Baby boomers value success and loyalty, Gen X values time and productivity, for millennials it's individuality and contribution, and for Gen Z the core work values are inclusion and opportunity." Bennett also advocates intergenerational unity through coaching practices, citing the Goal, Reality, Options, and Way Forward model, which prevents micromanagement.

A life plan or continuing care retirement community combines an active adult community and other types of senior housing as an alternative option to aging in place, reports the Washington Post . Most active adult communities cater to people 55 and older, while life plan communities are designed for residents at different ages such as 60 or 62, or perhaps older. Such communities typically include sections that offer independent living, skilled nursing, assisted living, and sometimes a memory care center for residents with dementia. One such community under development at Tysons Corner, Va., is the Mather, whose amenities will include dance classes, play-reading groups, seminars, an art studio, and concierge services. "Life plan communities typically appeal to people who want a lifestyle component similar to an active adult community and are also planners who want their future care secure," said Beth Mace with the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care. "They don't want to wait for a health event to occur or to have to go to a place they don't want if they need assisted living in the future."

A commentary by JAMA Internal Medicine stressed that older adults at risk from COVID-19 should continue to receive necessary care, support, and medical treatment, United Press International reports. "Older people should not neglect their health conditions and care-giving needs due to fear of COVID-19 — a balance is required," said commentary co-author and University of California, San Francisco Professor Michael Steinman. "It is prudent to pull back on in-person contacts with clinicians or caregivers if the situation is routine and can safely be deferred for a few weeks or months, but staying away from doctors and hospitals when there are urgent or time-sensitive healthcare needs, or staying away from caregivers when the services they provide are important for keeping someone healthy and safe, can create more dangers than it prevents." The authors noted that older adults — especially residents in nursing and assisted-living communities — need care beyond COVID-19. The isolation created by social distancing can amplify loneliness and depression, and affect residents' exercise routines, diets, and other regimens. The authors recommended continued care and management of older adults' chronic conditions via telemedicine.

Stamps.com has announced a program to provide its online mailing and shipping software to all U.S. seniors 65 and older without its customary monthly service fee during the current COVID-19 pandemic, reports Business Wire . The company hopes that seniors across the country will be able to safely mail and ship their letters and packages without leaving their own homes through the program. With the Stamps.com online postage software, any user can print postage for any U.S. Postal Service letter or package, domestic or international, using their computer and an ordinary printer. Users can then place the mailpiece or package in their mailbox, schedule a convenient pickup at home, or leave it for their mail carrier to pick up at a safe social distance. Stamps.com's online mailing and shipping software also currently allows users to buy and print labels for UPS domestic and international packages, which will be offered without a monthly service fee to all seniors 65 and older. The company also offers customers UPS discounts of up to 62 percent off Daily Rates in partnership with UPS.

University of Waterloo researchers Victoria Atabakhsh and Joe Todd write in The Conversation that video chats can help mitigate older adults' forced isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Video calling platforms can help support the development of a stronger sense of connection and maintain already existing relationships," they note. Free video chat apps accessible to older adults include WhatsApp, FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom. "While many have the means to connect with the outside world, roughly one-third of Americans over the age of 65 say that they never use the Internet, and 49 percent say they do not have a home Internet service," the authors point out. "This makes it likely that many older adults will need some help with technology. If you are a younger family or community member, you can help." Atabakhsh and Todd write that when dropping off essentials for older adults, loved ones should "remind them of the available apps on their phone that enable video calling. If someone does not have a smartphone, look for spare or old phones you could use to set them up with essential numbers and apps."

A study in Nature identified a cell-surface receptor that enables the dementia-associated tau protein to move between neurons — offering a clue on the mechanism of its spread within the brain. The researchers speculated whether a member of the low-density-lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) protein family could be critical to tau's proliferation — and demonstrated that the loss of LRP1 lowered tau internalization into neurons, and disrupted the internalization of all forms of soluble, physiological tau and of aggregating clumps of pathological tau. The implication is that LRP1 could mediate the transfer of both physiological and pathological tau. Moreover, LRP1 loss only partially impeded the uptake of larger "fibril fragments" of tau, although these fragments also might be internalized through less specific engulfing mechanisms that occur in neurons. Further, tau competes with known LRP1 partners, including the lipid transporter ApoE, for binding to LRP1. The researchers plotted out the areas of tau and LRP1 that interact, finding two domains in the portion of LRP1 located outside the cell, and a series of lysine amino-acid residues in tau that are exposed on the pathogenic protein. Targeting these residues via chemical inactivation blocked neuronal tau uptake. This could potentially enable the design of molecules that target tau to combat its propagation.