Many people in the baby-boomer and later generations are having a hard time accepting the realities of aging, which experts suggest may be a positive thing, reports Kaiser Health News . "Baby boomers are redefining what aging is and what old age looks like," said University of Southern California Professor Jennifer Ailshire. Overall, people say they feel about 20 percent younger than their chronological age, and Michigan State University Professor William Chopik said this feeling is compounded with aging. "People who report feeling younger actually tend to live longer and healthier lives, and they don't tend to have as much of a pattern of decline," he noted. Chopik also observed that the perception of age is redefined as people are living longer. "How we view ourselves changes constantly as we age," he concluded.

A study in Sleep found that the growing severity of sleep-disordered breathing and sleep disruption are connected to epigenetic age acceleration, reports ScienceDaily . "Individuals whose biological age is higher than their chronological age exhibit age acceleration or fast aging," said Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's Xiaoyu Li. The preliminary results of the study demonstrated that each standard deviation elevation in the apnea-hypopnea index, a measure of sleep-disordered breathing severity, was linked to the equivalent of 215 days of biological age acceleration. Furthermore, each standard deviation increase in the arousal index, a measure of sleep disruption, was associated with the equivalent of 321 days of age acceleration. This linkage also was stronger in women than in men, suggesting women may be particularly susceptible to the negative consequences of sleep-disordered breathing. The researchers suggested future study should concentrate on whether treatment mitigates epigenetic age acceleration among those with sleep-disordered breathing.

A survey of 1,000 adults conducted by LendEDU found nearly 40 percent of Americans doubt they will ever save enough money to retire, while an even greater number of those 54 or older agrees, reports the Seattle Times . This is despite the fact that almost one in five Americans said having sufficient savings to afford retirement is their most important financial goal. More Americans said saving for retirement is more valuable, versus those who cited paying off credit card debt or building an emergency fund. However, slightly more respondents called purchasing their own house or apartment their most important financial priority. Generally, average monthly benefits for a retired American worker from the Social Security Administration are $1,468.39, or only about $17,600 annually.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland offers a Quality Improvement Framework for Dementia Post-Diagnostic Support . The framework consists of a service self-assessment tool which establishes the required criteria for high-quality post-diagnostic support for people living with dementia, and the recommended underlying policies, principles, rights, and standards. The framework supports post-diagnostic support practitioners and service managers, with consideration of where a service generates results that people with dementia experience due to good post-diagnostic support. Also considered is where certain aspects could be enhanced, and here a more transparent business case is needed to guarantee the service has suitable operational resources. The framework's advantages include tools to investigate how well post-diagnostic support services ensure positive outcomes for people with dementia and their caregivers, improve local decision-making to ensure staff have the skills and resources required to deliver high-quality post-diagnostic support, motivate service improvement, and offer a quality assurance system for post-diagnostic support.

A new ad campaign by the Ad Council and the Alzheimer's Association could help make dialogue between people with Alzheimer's disease and their loved ones less awkward, reports Associations Now . In collaboration with the ad agency The Community, the groups have crafted the "Our Stories" campaign, which highlights how close family members generally notice memory problems before any others, but are often uncertain about how to raise those issues. "Discussing Alzheimer's is challenging for families, and this campaign tackles the issue directly," said Alzheimer's Association Chief Marketing Officer Michael Carson. "Initiating conversations sooner can enable early diagnosis, which offers many important benefits, including allowing more time for critical care planning, better disease management, and providing diagnosed individuals a voice in their future care." The campaign employs an aesthetic evocative of watercolor-tinted pencil sketches to showcase five distinct narratives supplemented with animated videos. The campaign website also features interactive resources to help prompt a conversation with either a loved one or a medical professional. "The ad campaign is designed to encourage and empower people to have productive conversations before a crisis occurs," Carson noted.

The U.S. model for senior housing is being rethought by the baby-boomer generation, with providers spurred to make more personalized accommodations for residents, reports MarketWatch . Many of the best available housing options are typically in higher-density destinations, with residences designed for multiple generations, along with community support and stimulation to sustain retirees' activity and well-being. Other seniors are changing location to be closer to service and amenities without having to drive or rely on relatives, adult children, or other support. "There is certainly a move back to the city among a lot of groups, including a population of seniors who maybe left when they had kids, but always wanted to move back," notes David Block with Chicago's Evergreen Real Estate Group. "It's part of a broader move in real-estate development that says the way we built cities, with commercial space below and then we lived 'above the store,' so to speak."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed an executive order to build a "Master Plan for Aging" in preparation for a senior population boom by 2030, reports Becker's Hospital Review . To guarantee that "all Californians can age with dignity and independence," the order prioritizes the health and well-being of older citizens. It urges development of a plan by Oct. 1, 2020, for public-private strategies and alliances to promote healthy aging and build capacity to support a growing senior populace. The directive also sets up a workgroup for aging under the secretary of the state health department. It is forecast that 8.6 million older adults will reside in California by the end of the next decade. This demographic will be more ethnically diverse than previous generations, as well as more likely to live alone, work longer, and have less money for retirement.

A study published in the Journal of Pain associated poor sleep quality with increased pain and fatigue in older adults with symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA), reports Clinical Pain Advisor . The researchers observed 160 subjects, 71 years old on average, with hip and/or knee OA and mild to moderate pain and fatigue. Participants completed daily diaries for five days, recording symptom intensity on waking and at 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m., and bedtime. Subjects also self-reported sleep quality for each night and wore actigraphs to monitor sleep duration and efficiency, onset latency, and time awake after sleep onset. Average sleep quality was designated as fair, and actigraph readings showed that most participants experienced good sleep, with a median duration of 7.35 hours, 83.8 percent efficiency, latency of 16 minutes, and time awake after onset of 42 minutes. Poor sleep quality was connected to worse pain and fatigue in the morning, but no significant associations were noted between time of symptom measurement and actigraph-based sleep parameters.

A study by the American College of Surgeons' Coalition for Quality in Geriatric Surgery found as older adults submit to more operations, their outcomes are often worse than for younger persons, reports the Philadelphia Tribune . A study reviewing major, nonemergency surgery in 165,600 adults older than 65 found death and complications rose with age, as did length of hospitalization. Another study determined people in their 80s undergoing major surgery for lung, esophageal, and pancreatic cancer have significantly higher mortality rates than those 65 to 69, and are more likely to go to nursing communities afterward. Older people often have chronic health problems and take multiple drugs, while the hospital also can place them at risk of getting infections or losing mobility after days in bed. To address these challenges, the American College of Surgeons has crafted a new geriatric surgery verification program that sets 30 standards that hospitals should comply with to improve outcomes for older adults. Certain standards apply to staffing or physical modifications like "geriatric-friendly" rooms, while others cover medication management, with reduced opioid dependence.

A new Wonolo report says 31 percent of baby boomers are completing more than three gig jobs a week, according to Small Business Trends . This is allowing them to postpone retirement, as well as open up more employment options across different industries. This trend can help small business owners deal with a shortage of qualified workers, as hiring older employees with broad experience can provide many advantages. Wonolo has 300,000 gig workers on its platform, and the company analyzed all U.S.-based gigs completed across the platform last year. A little more than one in five millennials complete more than three gigs weekly, versus nearly one in three baby boomers. The top gigs boomers tend to complete include fulfillment/warehousing, general labor, and administrative jobs. The average American boomer makes $573.55 a month to supplement their income, a number that rises significantly in large markets. Boomers also earn more money than millennials in terms of hourly wages, and receive better feedback.