A study published in the Academy of Management Journal suggests employees in customer-facing businesses tend to be happier than those who work in places further removed from customer interaction, reports Futurity . "We're trying to make the point that it's broader than the people who are directly engaged with customers," says Washington University in St. Louis Professor Andrew Knight. The researchers measured worker happiness in terms of "workforce strain," including sick time, absenteeism, and job burnout. Using more than 24,000 survey responses by employees, leaders, and HR workers at 161 companies in Germany, the researchers determined organizations that value outward emotional expressions tend to have happier employees. Meanwhile, those same happier workers in more customer-facing organizations also are less negative. These findings may invert conventional beliefs suggesting that dealing directly with the public might be frustrating and emotionally taxing as workers endure difficult interactions. "For every customer who is a pain in the neck, there's probably a customer who is a true delight," Knight concludes.

June 15 marks World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), an opportunity for communities worldwide to raise awareness of senior abuse and neglect and to renew their commitment to preserving older adults' rights, reports the Administration for Community Living (ACL). WEAAD also lines up with the United Nations International Plan of Action, which concedes the significance of senior abuse as a public health and human rights issue. In the next 90 days, ACL and its partners are offering participation in various activities, including hosting a commemoration event and sharing plans on the 2018 WEAAD event map; using #WEAAD in all WEAAD social media posts on Facebook and Twitter so the country and world can view participants' commitment and planned activities; producing and submitting art to the WEAAD Virtual Art Gallery; and staying updated on a collaborative WEAAD-inspired webinar with partnering organizations as well as the National Center on Elder Abuse's four-week social media countdown, which will concentrate on sharing resources, information, and notable news. Aspiring participants can access more ideas and resources by visiting the WEAAD website , where they will find the WEAAD outreach guide, tips for taking action, and other useful tools to encourage community engagement and mindfulness.

Fulfilling the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the health of seniors demands that businesses and entrepreneurs make it more affordable and encourage its adoption by caregivers and seniors' children, reports Next Avenue . It is speculated that AI can help fill a forthcoming caregiving void, amid an increase in the number of older adults who wish to stay at home. It also has been reported that AI may reduce or mitigate the burden of caregiving and help people live at home longer thanks to talking devices, sensors, and machines. However, many of AI's promised benefits have accompanying risks. Connectivity can bring older adults closer to family and friends, but AI also can estrange people from the physical world by replacing human engagement. Others lament that the medical benefits of AI tracking personal data are offset by the erosion of privacy. These problems can be addressed if companies design safe AI and take steps to ameliorate concerns about the proper role for these machines. AI systems also have to address reimbursement for medical applications and resolve socioeconomic and cultural disparities in access and connectivity.

Temple University's Lewis Katz School of Medicine has established a new Alzheimer's center with help from a gift by alumnus and current trustee Phil Richards, states Philly Voice . The Alzheimer's Center at Temple (ACT) will combine research, training, clinical, and educational activities that study the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's and related disorders. ACT projects will seek to develop new treatment strategies based on a deeper understanding of the onset and progression of Alzheimer's. "ACT is committed to promoting brain health and foster discoveries for a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias through cutting-edge research, clinical studies, and innovative educational programs, with the ultimate goal to find a cure," notes Domenico Praticò, who was appointed the first occupant of the newly established North Star Charitable Foundation Chair for Alzheimer's Research at Temple. ACT's initial research initiatives will examine diet and Alzheimer's risk, environment, and neurodegeneration and neurobiological pathologies.

A study published in Neurology determined women with high cardiovascular fitness were 88 percent less likely to develop dementia than moderately fit women, reports CNN . "I was surprised that it was such a strong association between the group with highest fitness and decreased dementia risk," notes University of Gothenburg Professor Helena Hörder. The study examined 191 women in Sweden between 38 and 60 years old who completed an ergometer cycling test in 1968 to gauge their cardiovascular fitness, while their workload was simultaneously measured based on how much weight or resistance could be added to the bicycle before they grew fatigued. The women were then monitored over 44 years until 2012. The researchers estimated that 23 percent developed dementia from 1968 to 2012, but this rose to 45 percent among those who interrupted their cycling test at submaximal workload. "Many of those who interrupted the test at submax, very low watt level, probably had indications for a poor cardiovascular health status," Hörder says. "This might indicate that processes in the cardiovascular system might be ongoing many decades before onset of dementia diagnosis." In addition, the average age at dementia onset was 11 years older in the "high fitness" group than in the "medium fitness" group, and the most dramatic risk reduction was observed among those with the highest fitness. "The picture that is really emerging from the literature is a picture about the importance of fitness in midlife, not just old age, when it comes to protecting your brain health and preventing or delaying Alzheimer's disease and other dementias," says Keith Fargo with the Alzheimer's Association in Chicago.

A study by Yale University Professor Danya Keene published in The Gerontologist investigated why some older Americans opt to take out reverse mortgages, and how racial and socioeconomic factors can influence their decision-making, reports Reverse Mortgage Daily . Keene and her team contend the study's qualitative outcomes can offer guidance for future queries into the convergence of race and reverse mortgages. For example, black respondents often cited troubles with selling their homes or obtaining other forms of credit as reasons why they turned to a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (or HECM). "These racially structured constraints and opportunities may similarly contribute to the need for reverse mortgages as foreclosure prevention tools among black homeowners," the team states.

A study published in the Lancet Public Health found alcohol use disorders are a major risk factor for the onset of all types of dementia, especially early-onset dementia, reports Radiology Advisor . Dementia onset was defined by the age at first dementia diagnosis, and diagnoses that occurred when a person was less than 65 years old were classified as early-onset dementia. Out of 31,624,156 adults released from French hospitals between 2008 and 2013, 1,109,343 were diagnosed with dementia and were included in the study. Among 5.2 percent (57,353 of 1,109,343) of the cases of early-onset dementia, many were either alcohol-related by definition (38.9 percent) or had an additional diagnosis of alcohol use disorders (17.6 percent). It was the researchers' conclusion that based on the study's findings, screening for heavy alcohol use should be included in routine medical care, with treatment interventions offered when deemed necessary.

Federal law has been revised so eligible Medicare beneficiaries will still be able to use therapy services even if they exceed their allotted yearly benefits, reports Kaiser Health News . The federal budget plan approved by Congress in February eliminates annual caps on how much Medicare pays for physical, occupational, or speech therapy and simplifies the medical review process. It is applicable to people in traditional Medicare as well as those with private Medicare Advantage policies. Since Jan. 1, Medicare beneficiaries have been eligible for therapy indefinitely, provided their doctor — or in some states, physician assistant, clinical nurse specialist, or nurse practitioner — verifies their need for therapy and they continue to meet other mandates. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told healthcare providers about the amendment last month. Another key revision permits private Medicare Advantage plans in 2020 to offer special benefits to members with a chronic illness and meet other criteria. These plans currently limit members to a network of providers and give all members identical treatment, but the budget law says benefits targeting those with chronic illnesses do not have to be primarily health-related and only require a "reasonable expectation" of improving health.