Senior tennis pro and coach Arthur Carrington Jr. has in recent years tailored his instruction methods for older adults in senior centers and assisted living communities in Massachusetts to help improve their mobility and reduce falls, reports Next Avenue . His lessons typically start with Carrington attaching a diagram of the infinity symbol to the tennis net and having participants trace the shape in the air with one hand, then the other, then both. They are encouraged to practice this motion with ribbon wands, a medicine ball, and maracas as part of a combined physics/kinesiology regimen. Carrington learned that waving ribbon wands and moving maracas to a reggae beat helped players maintain balance and move rhythmically, and applying these exercises to older adults can help them avoid falls. The local Council on Aging's Brendan Rogers and Kim Jensen lauded Carrington, noting he "has a vision to use his experience to help seniors understand how to hold and move themselves in space to promote confidence, balance, awareness, and flexibility."

As part of the annual Older Kansas day celebration, seniors from across the state of Kansas attended a recent event with lawmakers at the state house in Topeka, reports WIBW 13 . The event included a meal where attendees could talk with legislators about pressing issues, including Medicaid expansion and funding for the Senior Care Act. Among those in attendance was North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging CEO Julie Govert-Walter. She wants elected officials to continue to understand how vital community-based services are for older residents. "The program that area agencies throughout the state that agencies provide are all focused on community-based services, low-cost services that enhance the well being and dignity of older Kansans and caregivers and people living with disabilities," she said.

State and local government agencies warn that U.S. seniors are increasingly unable to care for themselves, which can lead to serious health problems as well as death, reports the Wall Street Journal . For example, seniors who no longer drive often cannot make medical appointments, worsening health problems that compound self-neglect. Falls also can cause injuries that leave older adults bedridden, while failure to pay bills for utilities could lead to service terminations. Forgetting rental payments could result in eviction. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that self-neglect cases in 2018 involved 144,296 people across the United States, constituting more than 50 percent of reports of alleged senior abuse or neglect investigated by adult protective services. Many senior health professionals expect such cases to continue to increase as the older population ages and more seniors live alone. Illness, dementia, depression, and poverty are just some of the reasons why seniors stop looking after themselves.

A study in eLife suggests men who are taller as young adults may be less prone to dementia in old age, reports ScienceDaily . "We wanted to see if body height in young men is associated with diagnosis of dementia, while exploring whether intelligence test scores, educational level, and underlying environmental and genetic factors shared by brothers explain the relationship," said University of Copenhagen Professor Terese Sara Høj Jørgensen. The researchers examined data on 666,333 Danish men born between 1939 and 1959, including 70,608 brothers and 7,388 twins — and found that 10,599 developed dementia later in life. Moreover, every 6 centimeters of height in individuals above average height corresponded with a roughly 10 percent reduction in dementia risk. When accounting for the potential role of intelligence or education, the unadjusted relationship between height and dementia risk fell only slightly. The relationship between height and dementia also was present when studying brothers with different heights, suggesting genetics and family characteristics alone do not explain higher dementia risk among shorter men.

Members of the Phoenix Symphony participate in the B-Sharp program, performing for locals with Alzheimer's and dementia, reports Fox 10 . "I love performing on stage, but I am reaching out to people individually here and actually seeing how the music powerfully affects them," says Associate Concert Master Maggie Martinic. Doctors call music offered by programs like B-Sharp a form of medicine for such persons. "We know that music transcends the boundaries of dementia, and reaches deeply into the heart and soul of a person with dementia," said Hospice of the Valley's Maribeth Gallagher. "This is a neurochemical cascade that occurs more quickly than an IV push medication. Our heart rates, blood pressure." The B-Sharp program visits Hospice of the Valley once a month, and also performs for Valley homeless shelters and hospitals.

A study in Injury Prevention suggests some older drivers with chronic health issues may drive less, but still be at a higher risk of crashes, reports Reuters Health . Moreover, other drivers with medical problems may be at a higher crash risk yet not cut back on how often they drive or how far. "Specific chronic conditions could hasten the manifestation of driving inabilities, especially in challenging circumstances e.g., dark, rainy, or heavy traffic conditions," said scientist Junaid Bhatti. Among such ailments are hearing problems, joint and muscle disorders, and depression, anxiety, and stress. Potentially risky conditions that led older adults to reduce how far or long they drove — including heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and glaucoma — did not appear to increase the likelihood of crashes. The University of British Columbia's Ediriweera Desapriya said relatives of senior drivers may need to watch out for signs of unsafe driving, such as an inability to share the road, more frequent near misses that could have been collisions, and any unexplained dents or scratches on the vehicle. "It's important that primary care physicians and family members monitor . . . older drivers and have a supportive and ongoing discussion about their driving," he added.

A clinical trial of experimental drugs from Eli Lilly and Roche Holdings found the medications did not stunt the progression of a rare hereditary form of Alzheimer's disease, reports the Wall Street Journal . The trial assessed the two drugs' ability to decelerate worsening cognitive function in carriers of genetic mutations linked to dominantly inherited Alzheimer's. The subjects either had no symptoms or mild dementia at the outset, with some given Lilly's solanezumab, others administered Roche's gantenerumab, and still others receiving a placebo. Neither solanezumab nor gantenerumab, which are designed to reduce beta amyloid accumulations in the brain, effectively slowed cognitive declines. Lilly said it will not pursue an application for regulatory approval of its drug to treat dominantly inherited Alzheimer's, while Roche said it cannot make firm conclusions about gantenerumab's effect on people with the disorder.

Senior Planet, an organization aimed at keeping older adults up to date on the latest technology trends, has set up a satellite hub in downtown Palo Alto, Calif., reports Palo Alto Online . Avenidas@450Bryant is the only Senior Planet hub on the West Coast, offering classes on iPad fundamentals, social media, cryptocurrency, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, and more. "We're seeing a lot of quality of life issues — how to use Facetime, how to put birthdays on your smartphone or calendar, how to use Google calendar to balance a very busy lifestyle," said Senior Planet Regional Director Ryan Kawamoto. The program offers more current and practical courses than traditional classes through a unique curriculum model and tech support from Senior Planet's head office in New York. Avenidas CEO Amy Andonian notes, "Senior Planet made a name for itself by focusing not on technology for the sake of technology but on how tech can be a tool to empower people in different areas of their lives — health and wellness, art and creative expression, financial literacy, civic engagement, and social connection."

A National Council on Aging (NCOA) survey of over 200 community-based nonprofit organizations in their aging network from 40 states and Puerto Rico found 70 percent of organizations are spending more time dealing with opioid-related issues affecting older adults or their caregivers, reports Next Avenue . One in five noted they have increased their efforts by over 25 percent to help their older clients and caregivers cope with opioid-related issues. Some approaches involve holding evaluations to identify problems, referrals to treatment programs, individual and group counseling, and teaming with other community groups to meet the challenge. One observed trend is that doctor-prescribed opioids and refills given to older men and women for pain management are increasingly creating needless dependency issues due to over-prescribing and a lack of education about the ramifications. Among the non-opioid alternatives NCOA suggested for treating chronic pain is exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, and complementary/alternative approaches like acupuncture or tai chi.

Head count at businesses with fewer than 20 employees was essentially unchanged in 2019, according to an analysis of ADP payroll data by Moody's Analytics and cited by the Wall Street Journal . This marks the first time small employers haven't added to their payrolls since 2010, when businesses of all sizes were recovering from the financial crisis. Larger businesses continued to expand their payrolls for a record 10th consecutive year. More than 5.3 million businesses have fewer than 20 employees, based on the latest data available from the U.S. Small Business Administration.