AARP says more and more older Americans are participating in coding "boot camps" to gain programming skills and widen their career options, reports Money . This aligns with the increasing longevity of retirees. "You need continuous booster shots of skilling and upskilling," said Van Ton-Quinlivan at the Institute for the Future. There are presently more than 100 coding boot camps across North America, and about 23,000 coding students are expected to graduate this year, according to Course Report. About 10 percent of students who graduated from boot camps in 2018 were older than 40. Joining a boot camp now is a sensible move for older adults, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects demand for technology employees will outstrip supply by next year. Coding boot camps are less costly than graduate school programs, and they require a much smaller time commitment. Boot camps also are offered online, while many provide both free and paid classes so students can work at their own pace.

A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found a new healthcare strategy focusing decision-making on older adults' health goals and care preferences can reduce undesirable and unhelpful treatment, reports YaleNews . Yale University researchers and collaborators at New York University and Baylor College of Medicine developed an approach defining both older adults' health priorities in terms of specific goals — like improving fatigue to be able to garden and walk one-half mile daily — and the care they are willing and able to accept to realize these goals. Yale's Mary Tinetti said priorities-driven care is valuable because seniors with multiple ailments vary in their health outcome goals and the care they are able and willing to do. The investigators observed the approach's impact on specific treatment outcomes, including health decision-making, perceived burden of treatments, medications, self-care tasks, diagnostic tests, referrals, and procedures. Individuals who received this healthcare scheme perceived their healthcare to be less burdensome, and were more likely to have stopped certain medications, and less likely to have diagnostic tests and tasks related to their healthcare than those who received typical care. "In this population, with multiple different conditions and health outcomes that matter to them, one of the most effective approaches to optimizing care is to align their care with outcomes that matter to them," Tinetti said.

A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found oral anticoagulant medications that help prevent blood clots and strokes could find potential use for treating Alzheimer's, reports Being Patient . The researchers concentrated on the effects of dabigatran, which is usually prescribed to treat deep vein thrombosis, as well as prevent strokes or blood clots in people with atrial fibrillation. The team administered the drug to mice to assess its impact on cerebral circulation. After one year, treated mice exhibited no memory loss or impairment in the brain's blood flow, and dabigatran also alleviated certain Alzheimer's symptoms — including cerebral inflammation, damaged blood vessels, and amyloid protein plaques. "Winning the battle against Alzheimer's disease will require individualized combination therapy targeting the various processes that contribute to this disease," noted Marta Cortes Canteli at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares. "One goal is to improve the cerebral circulation, and our study shows that treatment with oral anticoagulants has the potential to be an effective approach in Alzheimer's sufferers with a tendency to coagulation."

California's San Diego County has a plan to strengthen senior services, known as the "Aging Roadmap," reports the San Diego Union Tribune . The regional plan will extend from the county's Age Well initiative, which concentrated on more affordable housing, intergenerational programs, and improving the community's dementia-friendliness. Issues the Aging Roadmap would target include delivering resources and support for caregivers, broadening prevention of senior abuse, promoting work and volunteer opportunities for seniors, and enhancing medical and social services. The plan also calls for each regional hospital to pursue Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation, designed to help hospitals provide competent, coordinated medical services to seniors through suitable equipment and supplies, staff training, and medical standards. "There are countless community-based organizations, there are hospital-based organizations, county departments that all have programs designed to keep older adults thriving and safe," noted San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Dianne Jacob. "However, we're not all working together like we should; it's not all coordinated. This is an effort to bring everything together, not just within the county government but also the other partners we have out in the community."

A study published in Communications Biology has localized regions with the earliest emergence of amyloid plaque in the brain of a mouse model of Alzheimer's, and the level of plaque in one of those same areas of the human brain strongly correlates with the progression of the disease, reports Medical Xpress . The researchers determined amyloid starts taking root in deep brain regions like the mammillary body, the lateral septum, and the subiculum before traveling along specific brain circuits that ultimately lead to the hippocampus. The team used the SWITCH technology to label amyloid plaques and to clarify the brains of 5XFAD mice so that they could be visualized in fine detail at different ages. The researchers consistently observed initial plaque formation in deep brain structures and then migration along pathways like the Papez memory circuit to proliferate throughout the brain within six to 12 months. They confirmed in postmortem human brain tissue that if the mammillary body is an early point of plaque manifestation, then plaque density should grow in proportion with the disease's progress. "Thus we propose that amyloid-beta deposits start in susceptible subcortical structures and spread to increasingly complex memory and cognitive networks with age," the researchers concluded. The team also quantified the excitability of neurons in the mammillary body of 5XFAD mice and found them to be more excitable than similar mice that lacked the 5XFAD series of genetic alterations.

A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found endurance exercise can retard the progression of atrophy in a brain region associated with memory among people at risk of Alzheimer's, reports Bicycling . The researchers compared cognitive function and brain volume in 70 sedentary, older adults with memory problems and mild cognitive impairment, split into two cohorts that respectively performed aerobic exercise and stretching. Each participant in the aerobics group progressively boosted the frequency and intensity of their exercise sessions over time. At 12 months, both cohorts exhibited slightly better neuropsychological scores, while their cognitive scores were about the same along with improved memory and executive function. However, those in the exercise group who had amyloid accumulation at the start of the study experienced slightly less volume reduction in their hippocampus, versus the other participants. The implication is if exercise can keep amyloid in check, then the progress toward dementia could decelerate. University of Texas, Southwestern Professor Ron Zhang suggested this effect may be related to how exercise enhances brain neurotrophic factors and blood vessel function, which could reduce amyloid's damage to brain cells.

U.S. business leaders must make a decision about how to manage their multigenerational workforce, by implementing recruitment and management strategies to keep millennial employees engaged and turnover low as baby boomers retire, reports the Williamsport Sun-Gazette . Several factors are essential for understanding millennial workers — they have more career choices than previous generations, which has led to high turnover rates, and their differing needs from predecessors feeds into high turnover because of disengagement. Modern employees prosper on short-term rewards and incentives, which is encouraging higher turnover. In consideration of these trends, managers who maximize generational proficiencies will enjoy the most growth, and an easier transition to future workforce realities by better understanding millennials. Boomers' embrace of helicopter parenting has hindered millennials' sense of independence, in general, cultivating impatience that has fueled some of the turnover in the workforce. Millennials mainly leave their jobs out of a desire for professional growth and/or work-life balance or to flee negative managerial behavior. Monthly or even weekly performance reviews can be positive for millennials, along with training and allowances for independent thought. Managers also should be encouraged to improve their conflict management skills and instill transparency in their dealings with younger employees.

Experts recently told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that seniors need a network of trusted family members, friends, and financial professionals as checks on each other to prevent targeting by financial scammers, reports Forbes . The experts warned financial professionals and others who rely on a single individual to protect a senior is that that person could turn out to be a fraudster. National Adult Protective Services Association Executive Director Lori Delagrammatikas said financial fraud can lead to physical harm by the perpetrators, who are mostly family and other caregivers. "If someone will steal your money, they will also neglect you," she noted. Delagrammatikas added that adult protective services employees can find hope for seniors who tell them they are afraid that removing an abusive caregiver will exacerbate the situation by leaving them without any care. Among the services they can provide is to have a police officer threaten abusers with prison if they do not behave. Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Managing Director and Associate General Counsel Lisa Bleier said one challenge for verifying claims of fraud is determining if a senior has lost money from fraud or bad decisions. She noted it is more effective when discussing financial abuse with seniors to use a positive message.

The Alzheimer's Resource of Alaska offers an art class in Anchorage that gives people with Alzheimer's or dementia opportunities to socialize and learn, reports KTUU . "The Art Links program's goal is to try to get our clients, those who have Alzheimer's or related dementia, back out of their house," said the organization's Kevin Silver. "We have a safe space for them to do something that is entertaining and also provides their care partner a place to talk to others." The 45-minute-class presents a new theme each week, with participants' caregivers working alongside them or conversing with other attending caregivers. "If you have any questions or needs, it's a fine place to be," noted attendee Tom Ward, who goes with his wife, Lena.

Technology is improving the quality of life for older adults at risk of social isolation and loneliness, reports The Oklahoman . "Unless they're living in a senior community they may have no interaction at all on a daily basis," noted LifePod CEO Stuart Patterson, whose company provides smart-speaker technology that engages with users, so caregivers can remotely watch and support seniors. LifePod utilizes a proactive voice and does not require activation by a command. A family member or caregiver instead encodes LifePod with programmed routines, schedules, and dialogue. The device can awaken a person with a friendly greeting, and offer reminders to take medications or perform other activities. Caregivers are sent text alerts to confirm what their charges have been doing. A recent study from the University of California, San Diego's Design Lab determined that seniors are often frustrated with new technology, with design obstacles and physical hindrances also noted. "You have to introduce the innovation and show them how to use it, but also give them the meaning and the purpose," said Davis Park with the Front Porch senior living provider. "If you provide that, they will light up and get excited about the technology. Curiosity is key."