Closures of inner-city hospitals disproportionately hurt minority patients and the poor. Bonnie Castillo, executive director of National Nurses United, a national nurses' union, states, "Urban hospital closures are more apt to happen in racially segregated communities and especially in African American neighborhoods. The effect on these communities is devastating, as research shows that nationally urban African Americans receive their primary and other care at a hospital compared to one in six for whites." Robert Bonar, a professor at the George Washington University, says such closures are a symptom of a larger, more complex problem in healthcare. He says technological advances in medicine have created increasingly cost-effective options for both patients and caregivers, most notably outpatient treatment for conditions that had once been inpatient-only. "In most cases the era of the free-standing hospital, unaffiliated with any other health care organization, is likely drawing to a close," concludes Bonar.

Massachusetts lawmakers want to make low-income seniors' access to medical services less financially onerous, reports WWLP . Sen. Jo Comerford aims to raise the amount of money seniors make so they can afford healthcare. The current state healthcare system bars healthcare compensation to people making more than $2,313 monthly. "If you make $2,500 a month in income and that can be retirement, it could be pension, it can be some savings. We'll let you make that much money provided you pay what is a modest premium that gets you to that $2,313 limit," Comerford says. She proposes that a person making $2,500 a month should only have to pay $187 in healthcare costs.

Researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center (BIDMC) are urging older adults to cut their aspirin intake, reports Earth.com . Though previous medical guidelines have recommended aspirin for people without elevated bleeding risk, three studies conducted in 2018 have found that aspirin is more harmful than beneficial. The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology now advise adults over the age of 70 without existing heart disease or stroke to forgo taking aspirin. But a study from BIDMC found that many older adults regularly take aspirin either without their physician's knowledge or against their physician's advice. Indeed, some 29 million people over the age of 40 are taking aspirin daily, and almost 50 percent of adults over the age of 70 with no history of heart disease are taking aspirin daily.

An estimated 25 percent of older adults take anticholinergic drugs and are highly susceptible to negative responses to these medications, reports Kaiser Health News . Since 2012, anticholinergics — a wide-ranging class of medications used to treat allergies, insomnia, diarrhea, dizziness, motion sickness, asthma, Parkinson's disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and various psychiatric disorders — have been featured prominently on the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria list of medications that are potentially inappropriate for seniors. "The drugs that I'm most worried about in my clinic, when I need to think about what might be contributing to older adults' memory loss or cognitive changes, are the anticholinergics," said Dr. Rosemary Laird, medical director of the Maturing Minds Clinic at AdventHealth in Winter Park, Fla. In addition to prescription medications, many common over-the-counter drugs have anticholinergic properties, including antihistamines and sleep aids. Common adverse events include disorientation and agitation. Older adults are more susceptible to adverse effects from these medications for several reasons. Chiefly, their brains process acetylcholine less efficiently and their bodies take longer to break down these drugs.

People concerned about putting an aging parent on a senior home waitlist should be made aware of several facts, reports the Cincinnati Business Courier . Getting on a waitlist early ensures seniors have options, while offering their children peace of mind. Argentum Chief Operating Officer Maribeth Bersani warned this is not the case for families who wait too long, and make "crisis-driven" choices. The first thing to note is that seniors who continue living at home after they are no longer safely able to do so by themselves are at an elevated risk of problems ranging from malnutrition to falls to social isolation. "There's a huge, scary disparity between the types of homes growing numbers of older Americans will need over the next 20 years and their availability and affordability," adds Next Avenue's Richard Eisenberg. Children who delay their aging parents' addition to waitlists may lower their chances of finding a spot for them in a senior living community if such a move becomes unavoidable. Encouraging aging parents to get on a waitlist while they can still be involved in the decision-making process is actually empowering in many cases, not least because many senior living communities let people on their waitlists reserve their preferred accommodations.

The American College of Surgeons on Friday kicked off a program designed to help hospitals optimize surgery on patients who are 75 and older by adopting a set of 30 standards, reports ABC News . Older adults currently account for about 40 percent of surgeries, but they face significant risks during the recovery process. Prolonged periods of time spent bedridden can lead to a drastic muscle loss, exacerbating the problems seniors face due to frailty. Meanwhile, older men and women are also susceptible to illness following surgery. The new standards focus on clear communication about the risks of surgery, team-based care, and pre-surgery screening to influence the post-surgery care plan. Eight hospitals have already tested the program and have reported positive results.

WTAE-TV Action News in Pittsburgh reports that insurance companies have long sold small policies to seniors to cover funeral and burial expenses. However, as people live longer, experts say policyholders frequently pay more in premium costs than their policy would ever pay out. Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman observes, "That's part of the risk being borne both by the insurance company and the policyholder." She and others say seniors and their families should discuss any life insurance policy with family members or trusted advisers before buying it. Specifically, they should check to see whether the policy has what is called a "paid-up policy option," which allows policyholders to stop making payments if they have already paid what the policy is worth.

Low levels of vitamin D may contribute to depression in older adults, according to new research . Psychiatry Advisor reports that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were linked to depression in the large group of older adults analyzed in the study. Researchers split more than 16,000 adults aged 55 or older into six groups and carried out a dose-response meta-analysis. They found more than 1,157 cases of depression and studied those people's vitamin D levels. While analyzing their results, researchers found that each 10 ng/mL increase in hydroxyvitamin D levels corresponded with a 12 percent reduction in the risk of depression. Though further studies are necessary to reinforce their findings, "increasing serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels may be a useful approach to reduce the risk of depression in older adults," the research team concluded.

There is a generational split in opinion over whether artificial intelligence (AI) will create more jobs than it will destroy in the years and decades to come, with baby boomers and Generation-Xers more optimistic about AI's impact on the workforce than younger adults, reports the Silicon Valley Business Journal . A new report from KPMG found that 96 percent of baby boomers and 88 percent of Gen-Xers believe that AI will create more jobs than it will eliminate. More than 33 percent of millennials believe AI will kill more jobs than it creates, however, and these younger men and women will comprise 75 percent of the national workforce by 2025. Evidence suggests that the older workers may be correct. The World Economic Forum released a report last fall forecasting that AI will create 133 million jobs and eliminate 75 million jobs. And those people who do lose their jobs because of AI should be able to find a "good-fit" job after retraining in digital skills, according to a January report from the World Economic Forum.

Researchers found that older adults with chronic pain experienced relief because of their pets, reports Reuters . The study consisted of focus group interviews with 25 dog and cat owners over the age of 70 who had regularly experienced persistent pain for a six-month period leading up to the interviews. The participants lived full-time with their pets and interacted with them at least four times per day. They reported that they were more active because of their pets and also indicated that their pets made them relax, smile, and laugh. The participants also said that their pets not only forced them to maintain a regular daily routine, but also kept them from a downward spiral of sadness or inactivity. On the downside, some pet owners also reported that they experienced stress or anxiety from worrying about their pet's health, affording their pet, and anticipating the loss of their pet. The research team is now interested in exploring the ways pets can positively influence cognitive function.