A study in PLOS ONE assessed a new program in Japan demonstrating that participation and activity is crucial for rehabilitating older adults in long-term care communities, reports EurekAlert . "Participatory programs that encourage older patients to be active need greater emphasis in senior care communities," said former Tohoku University researcher Yoshihiko Baba. The Adachi Rehabilitation Program (ARP) nurtured participation in activities like gardening and shopping and was deployed at 13 small-scale, multifunctional, care communities in Tokyo. The study indicated that step counts increased on days participants went to parks and shopping centers, while participation in ARP also boosted step count even on non-session days. "ARP may have led to a behavioral change in which those under long-term care became more motivated to go out," suggested Baba.

A study in JAMA Network Open found tai chi can help older adults treat insomnia, reports Medical Dialogues . Through its low-impact exercises, tai chi can offer an alternative way to improve sleep among people resistant to conventional regimens. The researchers studied individuals 60 and older with chronic insomnia who participated in 12-week tai chi sessions, compared to participants randomized to 12-week conventional exercise training and non-interventional controls. The exercise and tai chi groups showed improved sleep patterns compared to controls, including better sleep efficiency, less wake time after onset of sleep, and number of awakenings as determined by actigraphy at postintervention. Moreover, actigraphy-assessed benefits persisted in both intervention groups at follow-up.

Elected officials in Florida's Miami-Dade County, which has the highest concentration of Latinos in the state, are demanding more COVID-19 vaccines for people older than 65, reports NBC News . According to Florida International University epidemiologist Mary Jo Trepka, just 29.6 percent of the county's 65 and older population has received at least one vaccine, versus the state average of 34.5 percent. "We're trying to keep down the morbidity and mortality and until we get our seniors vaccinated at higher levels, we're not going to be able to take a big bite into hospitalizations," she explained. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava submitted a letter to state Gov. Ron DeSantis requesting that he "urgently increase the volume" of vaccines in the county. Florida Sen. Annette Taddeo (D) lamented that "we're not getting vaccines from the governor. This is about fairness and making sure that we are not playing favorites." She and others believe a workable alternative would be to get the shots directly from the federal government. The University of Miami Health System's Olveen Carrasquillo blames a lot of unequal vaccine distribution on poor state and federal planning, and particularly worrying is the spread of misinformation that is making some community members reluctant to get vaccinated.

Even as more people are vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci said over the weekend that wearing a mask to blunt the spread of the coronavirus may remain a part of Americans' routines into 2022 if active case counts stay relatively high, reports MassLive . Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, told CNN on Sunday, "If we have 20,000 cases per day . . . that's still a very high level of virus in the community. I want to see it go way down. When it goes way down and the overwhelming majority of the population are vaccinated, then I would feel comfortable saying we can pull back on the masks." President Biden has pledged to see at least 100 million Americans vaccinated during his first 100 days in office. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 28 million Americans have contracted the virus to date.

The Christian Post reports that a church in the state of Georgia has opened a new outreach center to help both those with dementia and their caregivers. First United Methodist Church of Albany has been ministering to the two groups since 1988. In July 2020, the church completed a new building for their Margaret Jo Hogg Alzheimer's Outreach Center, whose opening was delayed until January due to the pandemic. For a daily fee of $5, the center offers a morning and afternoon snack and a hot lunch. Patients have several daily activities, including crafts, music, pet therapy, and reminiscence therapy. "When families come to us after a recent diagnosis, we can give them information packets, individual guidance, and help them navigate the new normal," said Executive Director Nancy Goode. "We are available by phone anytime should emergencies arise."

According to research newly published in PLOS ONE and reported on by Healio , choir singing improves verbal flexibility — a domain of executive function and cognition — in older men and women. Emmi Pentikäinen, a doctoral student in the Cognitive Brain Research Unit at the University of Helsinki, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study that included a main cohort group of 162 participants and a sub-cohort study that included a randomly selected sample of 74 participants who underwent neuropsychological tests. Those included in the research were 60 and older and did not have neurological or psychiatric disorders. Among all participants, a total of 106 were people who'd been singing in a choir for at least one year, while 56 were controls who had not sung in a choir during the past decade. All participants completed a half-dozen questionnaires to measure such things as their cognitive function and social well-being. Those randomly selected for neuropsychological testing underwent 1.5 hours of testing from a trained psychologist to evaluate their general cognition and working and episodic memory, among other things. The study found that choir singers had substantially higher verbal flexibility than controls. Also, when comparing low- and high-activity groups with controls, Pentikäinen's team learned that social integration scores were higher in high-activity choir singers vs. low-activity singers and controls.

The pandemic resulted in many people missing or delaying medical care, leading to more serious disease and more costly treatment, notes the New York Times . However, experts say the pandemic is also revealing ways health care can become less expensive, more efficient, and more effective at protecting people's health. For instance, Dr. Amol S. Navathe at the University of Pennsylvania says the pandemic demonstrated how convenient and effective it can be to use telemedicine for many routine medical problems. Dr. William H. Shrank at Humana suggests instead of instantly turning to surgery for things like a bad back or bum knee, patients are being encouraged to undergo physical therapy, do certain exercises while sheltered in place, or use topical remedies to achieve relief.

One out of 10 U.S. workers likely will have to leave their current jobs and obtain new ones by 2030 as the pandemic's after-effects decimate big swathes of the employment market, notes Bloomberg . Women, minorities, the young, and the less educated likely will be the hardest hit by what McKinsey & Co. forecasts in a new report will be an unprecedented erosion of work in retail, hospitality, and other sectors. McKinsey Global Institute, the consultancy's research arm, foresees the pandemic accelerating three trends that will continue to upend the labor market going forward: more remote work and working from home; rising e-commerce and a larger "delivery economy;" and increasing use of artificial intelligence and robots.

Montana's state senators recently voted unanimously to pass a telehealth expansion bill out of committee, confirms Healthcare IT News . At a hearing about the bill, Montana State Auditor and Insurance Commissioner Troy Downing said, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, we've seen an expansion of telemedicine used in Montana. The tools provided have proven useful, and often necessary, in rural communities, with our seniors, with those with mobility issues, with veterans, and for increased access to mental health care professionals." The bill, which came from a collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders, calls for prohibiting contract provisions that impose site restrictions on telehealth. It also allows for audio-only communications, while acknowledging there may be limitations by provider type.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE not only generates robust immunity after one dose, but can also be stored in ordinary freezers rather than at ultracold temperatures. The new data released by both companies provides strong arguments in favor of delaying the second dose of the two-shot vaccine. Additionally, the findings could have substantial implications on vaccine policy and distribution worldwide, simplifying the logistics of distributing the vaccine. According to a peer-reviewed study conducted by Sheba Medical Center in Israel and published in the Lancet medical journal, a single shot of the vaccine is 85 percent effective in preventing symptomatic disease 15 to 28 days after being administered. Pfizer and BioNTech recommend that a second dose is administered 21 days after the first. According to the article's author, "the finding is a vindication of the approach taken by the U.K. government to delay a second dose by up to 12 weeks so it could use limited supplies to deliver a single dose to more people, and could encourage others to follow suit."