Alzheimer's specialist John DenBoer, whose experiences and knowledge of the disease inform his new Netflix documentary This is Dementia , discusses with Newsweek what the average person can do to lower the odds of developing the disorder. "It's important for us not to live in fear or worry," DenBoer states. "Instead, we should use that emotion to educate and empower ourselves and, most importantly, to take action against this disease via early identification and intervention." Reducing stigma, boosting awareness, and having honest dialogues with loved ones are vital initial steps, according to DenBoer. He attributes dementia's rising prevalence to population growth, expanding life expectancy, and baby boomers entering into the phase of mild cognitive impairment and dementia. DenBoer suggests efforts to create a cure have been obstructed "by a misunderstanding of the true causal mechanisms of the disease and neuroimaging technology that is still in its relative infancy." He adds that treating dementia "involves approaching it as a progressive disease that begins with mild cognitive impairment, the clinical precursor to dementia. It's at this point we need to intervene." DenBoer's advice for average people is to educate themselves, noting that "a combination of aerobic and cognitive exercise is really beneficial."

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) estimates that Americans aged 60 and older owe more than $86 billion in unpaid college loans, reports CBS News . Forty percent of borrowers 65 and older are in default, with many now having their Social Security benefits garnished to cover those debts. "The fastest growing segment of student loan borrowers are actually older Americans," warns former CFPB employee Seth Frotman. He adds that the federal government is offering seniors zero relief from this policy. "They will literally seize your Social Security benefit," Frotman warns. "Because of student loans, we are literally driving tens of thousands of older Americans into poverty."

U.S. states are dramatically cutting health benefits for current and future retirees to deal with mounting liabilities and budgetary austerity, reports the Wall Street Journal . The National Association of State Retirement Administrators says states have been reducing benefits, hiking premiums and fees, and narrowing eligibility requirements. According to Eaton Vance, the gap for post-employment benefits, mainly comprised of retiree healthcare, comes to about $600 billion. Meanwhile, the Pew Charitable Trusts calculates that states must pay $1.4 trillion for promised pension benefits. Compounding the issue are U.S. Governmental Accounting Standards Board regulations that forced many states to quantify retiree healthcare obligations. Last year, the board mandated that governments report these liabilities prominently in their yearly financial statements. The Kansas Health Care Commission elected to charge retirees the full cost of coverage starting in 2017. Despite 75 percent of enrollees dropping out as a consequence, Kansas' retiree healthcare liability slipped from $6.1 million to $508,000. In 2011, North Carolina government officials raised the premiums for a key retiree plan. Six years later, they rescinded the benefit completely for new employees starting in 2021.

A University of Chicago study published in Health Affairs predicts the percentage of middle-income seniors who cannot afford senior housing by income alone will grow to 81 percent in the next 10 years, reports National Real Estate Investor . These individuals will have $60,000 or less in annual income and other annualized assets, below the probable average yearly assisted-living rental rate of $62,000. Fifty-four percent of middle-income seniors with housing equity will have annual income of or below $60,000, and the gap will be especially significant among 75- to 84-year-olds. The study also determined the privately-run senior housing sector has overcompensated with high-income residents, and 16 million middle-income seniors will likely find housing unaffordable by 2029. Even if 46 percent of seniors are hypothetically able to afford housing, they must be willing to deplete their assets completely and discard nest eggs. The study concludes that these and other trends will establish a major unmet need in the senior housing sector, with potential remedies including private-investor pools interested in pursuing socially responsible investments with a suitable risk profile.

Americans who stay employed beyond retirement age are either doing it out of choice or necessity, depending on their income strata, according to Marketplace . "The people who are working well into their late 60s, and possibly into their early 70s, tend to be in professional jobs," notes Nari Rhee at the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center. Higher-income workers tend to have more job security, while those most in need of income often find obtaining and maintaining employment a tougher challenge. In pricey and affluent locales such as Southern California, residents are more likely to be employed, and older workers range from real estate agents to tax preparers to university professors. For lower-income American seniors, ageism and the physical rigors of blue-collar jobs can force them into early retirement. Fewer than 10 percent of seniors are employed in lower-income areas in Southern California, for instance.

The Pennsylvania Port Authority has started issuing thousands of photo ID ConnectCards to seniors so they can take advantage of free public transit rides beginning next year, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Port Authority spokesperson Adam Brandolph said state rules will no longer let seniors get free rides using Medicare cards after Jan. 1, 2020. The ConnectCards are good for four years and expire on the holder's birthday. "We will be rolling out a big marketing campaign over the summer and everybody will have plenty of time to get the new card," Brandolph promised. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) said the cards are designed to deter fraud from non-senior riders who use a Medicare or PennDOT card to get free rides unlawfully. "These cards . . . have passenger's photos on them, and agencies can turn off the fare portion if it is reported lost or stolen," noted PennDOT spokesperson Alexis Campbell.

The University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine's Dementia Friendly Hospital Initiative will employ 3,900 workers in four state hospitals to raise awareness of the care experience for persons with dementia, reports EurekAlert . The program will provide dementia-friendly training to certain UNC Health Care system hospitals and could service nearly 5,500 seniors annually. The effort focuses on the complete cycle of recipient and family interactions that occur during hospitalization. All personnel who engage in any way with persons with dementia will receive training in approaches for improving quality and safety. The program also aims to reduce rates for in-hospital injuries, length of stay, and 30-day readmissions. "The . . . Initiative moves beyond a provider-centric focus to involve the whole hospital in connecting effectively with people with dementia and making them feel safe and well cared for," concluded UNC School of Medicine's Jan Busby-Whitehead.

Walmart and the National Council on Aging (NCOA) have announced a joint national pilot program to help seniors better protect themselves against financial fraud, reports Business Wire . The program's components will include a tested educational curriculum on financial exploitation, founded on NCOA's Savvy Saving Seniors program. The curriculum will showcase common scams targeting seniors, and offer avoidance strategies as well as next steps for victims. Also to be included is in-person education at senior centers, with NCOA's National Institute of Senior Centers piloting the curriculum in four communities, holding workshops and webinars to educate seniors on protecting themselves from scams. "NCOA believes every person deserves to age well," said NCOA President Jim Firman. "Most older adults are living on a fixed income, making it critical that they protect and maximize their resources to maintain their financial well-being. Partnering with Walmart will help us reach more older adults with this important information."

A recent panel took differing views on the prospects of older U.S. workers staying gainfully employed to offset fewer retirement savings, reports Next Avenue . Journalists Chris Farrell and Carol Hymowitz offered a positive outlook, with Farrell citing research debunking common stereotypes about older workers, as well as entrepreneurship among older Americans. He said the Internet and increasingly affordable technology are making midlife business launches easier, "so now, with most of these businesses, the owners are not touching their 401(k) or 403(b) retirement plans. That makes starting a business less risky for their retirement." Hymowitz pointed to a trend of certain employers and fields revising policies to better suit older workers' preferences and needs. "In manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, energy and — most surprising of all — Hollywood, I found companies now want older people due to the labor shortage," she commented. However, Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging Fellow Peter Gosselin was less upbeat, citing "gutted" age discrimination laws that have diluted protection for older workers from layoffs. "When you combine older people who have had involuntary job separations with those forced out due to problems with their health or the health of someone in their family, two-thirds will retire involuntarily," he lamented. "That is not the 'golden years' story we are told."

Accenture Interactive has created a project for Sweden's Stockholm Exergi energy supplier that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle loneliness among seniors, reports The Drum . The "Memory Lane" project employs Google Voice Assistant integrated with conversational AI to record stories for future generations. "In the two years we spent developing the software and the concept of the platform, we observed the urge to share stories by lonely participants was incredibly strong," noted Accenture Interactive's Adam Kerj. "To this end, we not only wanted to develop something that could hold a human-like conversation with them, but also capture those memories so they didn't end up untold." Through Google Voice Assistant, Memory Lane invites a lonely individual to tell their life story, with the narrative discussion converted into both a physical book and a podcast. "Initially, we're looking to help improve senior health and take a step towards a more inclusive and socially sustainable Stockholm," said Stockholm Exergi's Thomas Gibson.