New U.S. Census Bureau projections anticipate the national population to become older and more diverse over the next 40 years, reports the Associated Press . A growing U.S. median age will be accompanied by a smaller ratio of employees in the workforce who can cover the payroll tax that funds Social Security payments, and Americans 65 and older will outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history in 15 years. "The youngest baby boomers are 55 and older now," said demographer Allison Plyer. "In 10 years, they will be 65 and older. And as those folks pass away over the decades, that's a very larger section of our population reaching an age where they will likely experience mortality." The Census Bureau also forecasts that no single race group will comprise more than half of U.S. children by 2020. Non-Hispanic whites are expected to fall below 50 percent of the population in four decades, from 199 million in 2020 to 179 million in 2060. Meanwhile, people who identify as biracial or multiracial will be the fastest-growing group in the next 40 years as births overtake deaths.

A number of companies still struggle to translate military skills into private-sector work, reports the Military Times . But retired Army Lt. Col. J.C. Glick urges business leaders to place greater emphasis on what veterans can learn over what they have already done. "Veterans have this thing called capacity, which is your ability to solve for the unknown," he told attendees at the recent Employing U.S. Veterans Conference. The event was the second in a series of planned forums on post-military employment, military spouse hiring, and corporate culture surrounding veterans. Representatives from Fortune 500 corporations, hiring firms, and other organizations discussed their veteran outreach and support programs along with the challenges in retaining such talent. Panelists agreed veterans still need to do their part to explain their skills and talents and how they can translate to the private sector.

The Broome County Office for Aging in New York hosts a program to smooth the transition from outdoor to indoor walking exercise routines for seniors as winter sets in, reports WBNG . The program has been around for more than two decades, and the office has begun to encourage participants to establish personal goals. "We encourage everyone who participates to try and get out and walk at the participating schools 25 times through the winter as a personal goal," said the Office for Aging's Sofia Rittenhouse. "We do provide a walking log for them so that they can keep track of their progress." The program seeks to promote the benefits of consistent senior activity. "Daily exercise, and walking in particular, help us with things like reducing high blood pressure, reducing stress, keeping our muscles strong, keeping us flexible," noted Rittenhouse. She added that the program's benefits can extend outside of physical wellness. "If you can find a partner, a buddy that you want to get out to the school and walk with every day, it's a social opportunity," Rittenhouse said.

Entrepreneur and developer Patrick Smith founded a company that uses voice technology to help residents in senior living communities stay active and engaged, reports Hypepotamus . Smith's company, Viibrant, markets a resident engagement platform that is now available in some 80 communities across the United States. One platform sign-in helps residents access social calendars, get reminders, make requests, view announcements, and manage community profiles. Meanwhile, a digital directory tool with built-in messaging helps residents identify new faces and reach out to others based on shared interests. Viibrant's customizable end-to-end platform also helps personnel keep organized by synchronizing all digital signage, dining menus, marketing materials, resident profiles and statuses, and resident onboarding. When residents' needs expand, the platform helps staffers transition and track community members to assisted living and hospice care. "Integrating Amazon Alexa and Google Home was really important to us," said Smith. "It was one of the first times that somebody could move in to the community healthy and using their mobile phones, and as they transition into a different level of living, they can use voice technology to communicate."

Allergan has agreed to pay $750 million to settle a class action lawsuit from a group of direct purchasers of Namenda, its Alzheimer's disease therapy, reports Reuters . Allergan will not admit to any wrongdoing, with the payoff recorded as a charge to its third-quarter earnings. The plaintiff claimed the drugmaker's Forest units worked to delay generic competition for Namenda, including entering an illegal agreement with rival Mylan. Forest, the original manufacturer of Namenda, discontinued the tablets taken twice daily in February 2014 and replaced the therapy with a version taken once a day prior to the rollout of a generic version in July 2015. Days later, Allergan announced its merger with Forest. The plaintiff said the plan to stop the older version of Namenda caused customers to switch to the newer version ahead of time, forcing them to pay for Namenda for customers who would otherwise be taking the generic version.

A report in the Boston Globe said many older Americans have difficulty finding a high-dose flu shot, according to Becker's Hospital Review . Few pharmacies and medical clinics have received shipments of Sanofi Pasteur's Fluzone High-Dose vaccine, with the drugmaker blaming a later-than-expected World Health Organization recommended flu shot formulation, and not a shortage of the drug, for the delay. "Three-quarters of the vaccine supply has been shipped," said Sanofi Pasteur's Monica Mercer. "We will continue to ship till November." The vaccine contains the same three flu strains as a typical flu shot, but is four times as concentrated and designed to offer additional protection for people older than 65.

A study of more than 77,000 older U.S. women published in JAMA Network Open suggests exercise can reduce their risk of suffering a broken hip, reports WebMD . On average, women who regularly exercised at any intensity were less susceptible to hip fracture than inactive women over 14 years. "This suggests that to lower your risk of hip fracture, you don't need to do anything fancy," said State University of New York at Buffalo Professor Michael LaMonte. "It can be as simple as walking." LaMonte acknowledged the study cannot determine whether starting exercise at an older age reduces hip fracture risk, although he stressed that "sitting less and moving more" is critical to older adults' health in general. Lower-impact activities do not have a big impact on bone density, but Richard Bockman at New York City's Hospital for Special Surgery said although bone density plays a role in hip fracture risk, other factors are also involved — including muscle strength in the lower body, balance, and agility.

An Addison Group study recently polled 1,000 full- and part-time U.S. employees to characterize intergenerational workforces, according to TechRepublic . Most employees in different age ranges were found to generally work well together, with workers in older ranges most appreciative of Generation Z and millennials' familiarity with technology. Generation X is most valued for their work ethic, and baby boomers for their leadership. Both Gen X and boomers consider the type of work they perform as most important to them personally, with salary rated as their second most important consideration. Gen Z respondents said work-life balance and salary were among their most important motivators, as did millennials. Rising college tuition debt is the most likely driver of these latter generations' salary prioritization. Meanwhile, boomers — unlike Gen X, Gen Z, and millennials — had more women than men negotiate their salaries throughout last year, adding urgency to Addison Group's call that this generation help younger ones to fairly negotiate pay in their companies. The report listed four employer strategies to ensure generational cohesion in the workplace: listening to worker feedback; open and transparent communication; intergenerational mentoring; and, finally, partnerships with recruiting firms to smooth leadership transitions.

Research from Oregon State University (OSU) published in Nature: Aging and Mechanisms of Disease suggests longer exposure to blue light accelerates aging, because the blue wavelengths generated by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) damage neurons in addition to retinas, reports Technology Networks' Cell Science . The team examined the response of flies to 12-hour daily exposures to blue LED light. Flies subjected to daily cycles of 12 hours in light and 12 hours in darkness had shorter lives versus those kept in total darkness or those kept in light with blue wavelengths filtered out. The insects exposed to blue light had retinal cell and brain neuron damage, in addition to impaired locomotion. Even eyeless mutant flies exhibited brain damage and locomotion impairment. "There is evidence suggesting that increased exposure to artificial light is a risk factor for sleep and circadian disorders," said OSU's Jaga Giebultowicz. "And with the prevalent use of LED lighting and device displays, humans are subjected to increasing amounts of light in the blue spectrum since commonly used LEDs emit a high fraction of blue light."

A study in the IZA Institute of Labor Economics suggests early retirement can speed up cognitive decline among seniors, reports News-Medical . The researchers looked at China's New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) and the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) to assess how pension benefits impacted individual cognition of persons 60 or older. CHARLS tests cognition by concentrating on episodic memory and other elements of intact mental status. NRPS was launched to relieve poverty in old age, especially in rural China. However, the team identified significant adverse effects, most notably delayed recall, a measure often cited in neurobiological research as a key predictor of dementia. The pension program had more negative effects among women, and the researchers said these findings support the theory that decreased mental activity exacerbates cognitive skills. "Over the almost 10 years since its implementation, the program led to a decline in cognitive performance by as high as almost a fifth of a standard deviation on the memory measures we examine," said Binghamton University, State University of New York Professor Plamen Nikolov. He expressed hope that this work will inform new policies to improve cognitive functioning of older generations during retirement.