Americans who are planning to still be working past retirement at age 65 should consider the role of Medicare, reports CNBC . "The advice I give is to calculate the financial impact for each option," said Lewin & Gavino founder Elizabeth Gavino. "Figure out your cost based on your usage and your medication, and do a comparison on what your outlay may be." Many people enroll in Medicare Part A even if they remain on their employer's plan because it is free, provided they have at least a 10-year work history of contributing to the plan through payroll taxes. However, employees with a health savings account coupled to a high-deductible health plan through their employer should know that they cannot make contributions once enrolled in Medicare, even if only Part A. When adding up costs to compare options, workers should determine their best option coverage cost, going by assumptions about their use of the healthcare system and the cost of their prescription drugs. Moreover, the rules for enrollment when someone already has insurance depend partly on whether they are employed by a large or small company.

The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) Consortium on Aging is spearheading efforts to improve healthcare for older adults across the United States, reports News-Medical . The organization has helped clinical practices and hospitals including the UT Physicians Center for Healthy Aging, UTHealth Harris County Psychiatric Center, Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, and Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital attain age-friendly recognition. The program is part of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, which has recognized 122 hospitals and healthcare practices nationwide. The initiative is committed to making 20 percent of U.S. hospitals and health systems age-friendly by 2020. "We are the first in Texas to earn the committed-to-care excellence designation," said Consortium on Aging Executive Director Carmel Dyer. The program, which is designed to tailor care for older adults to their goals and preferences, is urging healthcare providers to assess older beneficiaries about their drugs, mental state, and mobility. UTHealth is testing and deploying evidence-based interventions proven as the essential initial elements needed to provide older adults with better care.

A study in Gut suggests a Mediterranean diet could yield benefits for older adults within just one year by boosting levels of "good" bacteria in the gut while decreasing "bad" bacteria concentrations, reports USA Today . The researchers looked at 612 people 65 to 79 years old in five European countries who adhered to a Mediterranean diet regimen, and experienced slowdown in the loss of gut bacteria diversity, along with a boost in bacteria associated with better brain function. Those older adults also exhibited more indicators of less frailty like grip strength and walking speed, and reduced production of harmful inflammation. Consumers of Mediterranean diets also had more bacteria tied to production of short chain fatty acids, which can significantly help maintain health and ward off disease, while concentrations of bacteria associated with certain bile acids connected to cancer and other adverse effects declined. The "good" bacteria generated by study participants also functioned as "keystone" species in their guts, increasing the stability of the gut microbiome and lowering "bad" bacteria levels. Age and weight did not impact the outcomes, and changes in bacteria appeared to be consistent as diet changed regardless of subjects' nationality.

A Conference Board report concludes that blue-collar industries like manufacturing and construction are facing a "severe" employee shortage that will only exacerbate as young people fail to fill jobs left by retiring baby boomers, reports Fox Business . The authors said young people are turning to college for white-collar jobs rather than trade school or apprenticeships in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction, and transportation. Concurrently, many baby boomers are retired or approaching retirement. "This shortage is . . . a result of several long-run demographic and educational trends that converge in a perfect storm-like fashion, and that could make these shortages even more severe in the coming decades," warned The Conference Board's Gad Levanon. "These shortages are a much more immediate and important problem than the risk of massive unemployment due to robots taking our jobs at some point in the future." Potentially rising costs and quality of blue-collar services is a greater concern than previously because companies are more willing to hire candidates who are unqualified or have been out of the workforce for years. "Without a concerted effort by companies and governments, the nation's overall standard of living will decline, along with profits in blue-collar-heavy industries such as transportation, warehousing, and manufacturing," The Conference Board concluded.

Entrepreneur Michele Speed founded a free pop-up thrift store program to spread hope, joy, and commerce to seniors and senior care community residents in eastern North Carolina, reports WCTI NewsChannel 12 . Speed, a cancer survivor who was confined to a wheelchair for three years, envisions her Care Center Thrift Stores concept providing seniors with small things that could make a big difference in their lives. "I had 24-hour nursing care; they even chose what I ate," she recalls. "I understand what it's like not having those choices. This program gives them their choices back. They can choose the color of the pencils they want, the toothbrush they want — it also lets them know that they aren't forgotten." Speed is now collecting contributions of everything from books to cosmetics to toiletries to help seniors shop for items at her pop-up stores at no cost.

A study of 4,700 older adults in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice found that asthma symptoms and outcomes in African Americans and Hispanics persistently diverged from whites, reports Healio . The researchers gauged social factors that included healthcare access and costs, and demographic data. African Americans and Hispanics were younger, and had higher body-mass index and lower education levels and household incomes than white subjects — and were more likely to be smokers. Moreover, African Americans and Hispanics were more likely than whites to report impaired access to healthcare due to cost and gaps in health insurance coverage. Those same ethnic groups also tended not to use asthma medication or only use rescue medication, while white subjects more often used inhaled corticosteroids or another single agent, as well as two controller medications. Thirty-two percent of African Americans and 23 percent of Hispanics visited the emergency department (ED) for asthma symptoms during the previous year, compared with 14 percent of whites. The chances of having at least one asthma-related ED visit during the previous 12 months were twice as high for African Americans and Hispanics versus whites — yet African Americans and Hispanics were 40 percent less likely than white subjects to report uncontrolled daytime asthma symptoms.

An Alzheimer Europe (AE) analysis reviewed 16 recent prevalence studies and listed dated prevalence rates for dementia in Europe, reports Medical Xpress . The review indicated a reduction in the prevalence of dementia among men across all age groups over the past decade when compared to 2008 estimates. Women also experienced a reduction in the prevalence of dementia over the past 10 years, apart from those between 75 and 79 years old. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU27) population with dementia was estimated to be about 7.8 million, and about 9.7 million in countries represented by AE members — a significant reduction from roughly 8.7 million for EU27 and about 10.9 million for the wider European area. Europeans with dementia will almost double by 2050, increasing to more than 14.2 million in EU27 and about 18.8 million in the broader European region. "If people with dementia, their families, and carers are to receive the high-quality and person-centred care they need, governments must ensure their health and care systems are ready to meet this demand, and greater investments in research into the treatment and prevention of dementia are needed," said AE Executive Director Jean Georges.

Brookdale Senior Living executive Mary Sue Patchett says the assisted living sector is in transition, reports the Nashville Business Journal . She says more communities are being established in trendy areas because thanks to extended longevity, Americans "want to continue doing the things that make them happy. They want to be near entertainment options, parks, sports venues, restaurants, and shopping centers." Patchett also notes that most new assisted living residents choose to live in places where a sense of community already exists, near churches, friends, and so forth. In terms of modern technology, Patchett says Brookdale and similar companies "continue to look for things that enhance the safety of our residents, lowering the impact of falls with sensors, with engineered flooring, or the risk of falls with motion-sensing lights." Of particular interest to residents is using technology to help them connect with others. "Many of our residents expect the ability to stream movies and FaceTime with their families, so making sure our communities have the infrastructure for new technology has been key," Patchett concludes.

A new study found women are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, reports WMC Action News 5 . Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center analyzed 400 brain scans of older adults to explore this propensity, which they think may be linked to concentrations of the tau protein in the brain. Tau buildup was more widespread in women's brains, easily migrating from one region to another, which suggests biological factors rather than just women's longer life expectancy. "I can predict that sex will be more strongly integrated in future precision medicine in Alzheimer's disease," said Vanderbilt Professor Sepi Shokouhi.

Seniors in New Mexico can avail themselves of daily and weekly activities ranging from tai chi to yoga to book clubs at five Bernalillo County senior centers, reports KRQE . Each center serves as a gateway to the county's senior populace by connecting them with community services that can help them maintain their health. The centers are open to seniors ages 50 and older, generally from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Persons 60 and older can qualify to receive free meals, and those younger than 60 can receive meal discounts. One program offered at the senior centers is Walk with Ease, designed to help participants manage arthritis pain while socializing and recultivating the habit of healthy walking. Another class offers seniors ukulele lessons to exercise perception, thinking, and motor skills while building community bonds. Four of the centers host Live Music Fridays on a rotating schedule, and field trips are being planned as well.