A study from the University of Manchester in the U.K. published in PLOS One determined the rate of mental decline among older adults was halved after participants underwent cataract surgery. A separate study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found persons who got hearing aids slowed the rate of cognitive decline by 75 percent. Experts suggest the relationship between hearing and visual problems and cognitive decline could be caused by combined isolation, stigma, and physical inactivity. The first study was conducted with 2,068 individuals who underwent cataract surgery between Wave 2 and Wave 6 of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging survey from 2002 to 2014. They were compared with 3,636 individuals with no cataract surgery. The other study involved 2,040 participants in the American Health and Retirement survey from 1996 to 2014. Both studies assessed cognitive decline by testing memory, asking participants to recall 10 words immediately and then at the end of the cognitive function module. "Age is one of the most important factors implicated in cognitive decline," notes Manchester's Asri Maharani. "We find that hearing and vision interventions may slow it down and perhaps prevent some cases of dementia, which is exciting — though we can't say yet that this is a causal relationship."

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 67 million Americans will increase 2.8 percent next year. The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will commence with benefits payable to more than 62 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2019, while higher payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will start on Dec. 31, 2018. The Social Security Act connects the yearly COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additional adjustments that are enacted in January of each year are based on the rise in average wages, and the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax will climb to $132,900 from $128,400. For the first time this year, most people who receive Social Security payments will be able to see their COLA notice online via their my Social Security account, which can be accessed at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount . Data concerning Medicare changes for 2019, when announced, will be provided at www.medicare.gov . For beneficiaries receiving Medicare, Social Security will be unable to compute their new benefit amount until after the Medicare premium amounts for 2019 are announced. Final 2019 benefit amounts will be relayed to beneficiaries in December through the mailed COLA notice and my Social Security Message Center.

Many have praised artificial intelligence as a great tool for employee hiring because it can hide demographics and avoid the biases of hiring managers, reports the Washington Post . However, a recent Reuters report about a project at Amazon to use artificial intelligence to recruit workers found the tool was trained to evaluate applicants by observing patterns in resumes submitted over 10 years, most of which came from men. According to the wire service, the system "taught itself that male candidates were preferable," and penalized resumes that included the word "women's" or graduates from two all-women's colleges. The tool, which was scrapped by the start of 2017, was "never used by Amazon recruiters to evaluate candidates," according to a company spokeswoman. Researchers say the study is a good example of what to watch for when using artificial intelligence in hiring. "This is the biggest risk of AI in recruiting, that it will it perpetuate all the biases we've had," said Josh Bersin, an analyst who studies workplace technology and advises companies. Brian Kropp, group vice president for Gartner's human resources practice, added that he has 10 to 20 examples of how companies have tried to create algorithms to eliminate bias in the hiring process, but "all they've done is institutionalized biases that existed before or created new ones."

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection and the FDIC are now offering a Spanish version of Money Smart for Older Adults (MSOA) Version 2.0. MSOA's curriculum features new topics and fresh graphics to help seniors and their caregivers identify and prevent fraud, scams, and other types of financial exploitation. The MSOA program raises awareness of common frauds and scams and encourages seniors to ready themselves for the loss of the ability to manage their finances. MSOA also can be provided in brief segments over time. An Instructor Guide with a corresponding PowerPoint presentation enables senior service providers, legal professionals, financial service professionals, and community volunteers to lead the presentation. The standalone Resource Guide is for participants to take home and use as a reference tool. All materials are available in English and Spanish and printed in large print to ease legibility.

Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) researchers have developed eNightLog, a nighttime monitoring system for seniors with dementia, to track their breathing and activities in bed for preventing falls or wandering off, reports Medical Xpress . The system, which was designed for Hong Kong nursing communities, will greatly improve the quality of life for seniors while enhancing the efficiency and lessening the workload of healthcare staff. The eNightLog incorporates event sequence tracking and various remote sensing and imaging technologies, using an innovative algorithm. Seventeen eNightLog systems have been installed and tested in a nursing community over two months for nighttime monitoring. A total of 380 incidences of seniors leaving bed alone were recorded, with 100 percent successfully detected and only 0.5 percent of incidents of false alarm occurring. The system also recorded 525 events of caregivers responding to nighttime wandering, for an accuracy rate of 100 percent. "Being a multi-sensing system and platform, eNightLog is greatly scalable in connecting with other devices, including wearable, non-contact, or remote-control ones," says PolyU's Eric Tam. "The further applications and development of eNightLog with advancing rehabilitation health technologies can be very promising."

A survey published in RetirementLiving.com found failing health is by far the primary driver for relocation to assisted living communities The website polled 2,352 people aged 50 to more than 81 years, and 75 percent cited failing health as the top motivator for the move. The finding was consistent with 10 years earlier although the new survey saw a 10 percent uptick in respondents choosing that option. Generally, the data indicated that the factors that lead to older adults losing independence in some way are the ones that have the most "push." Thirty percent of respondents identified the loss of driving ability as underlying their relocation, while 22 percent cited the loss of a spouse or partner. "It's important to note that loneliness may be a strong push factor for some, with 514 respondents saying the loss of a spouse or partner would cause them to move into an assisted living community," RetirementLiving noted. Financial crisis, home disrepair, family pressure, and nutrition challenges also were listed.

The sixth annual Long-Term Care Poll published by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found many Hispanic adults are worried about finding a Spanish-fluent home health aide, reports Home Health Care News . Fewer than 50 percent of Hispanics older than 18 said an older individual in that demographic group could easily find a home health aide in their local area who speaks Spanish. Still, Hispanic adults widely note it would be easier to find a home health aide who meets their needs versus finding a nursing community or assisted living community that does. In addition, almost 33 percent of older Hispanics expect to rely on government programs to cover care costs, but only 20 percent expect Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid to continue providing the same level of benefits in five years. "In 2017, the average yearly income through Social Security for retirees was about $17,000," the study says. "But part-time home health aide costs an average of about $49,000 annually in the U.S." Policies being proposed to help Americans prepare for the costs of care include coverage via Medicare Advantage and government-administered long-term care insurance, which is popular among older Hispanics. Most Hispanics 40 and up also support employers offering long-term care insurance as a benefit similar to health insurance.

President Trump on Wednesday signed bipartisan bills, including one allowing pharmacists to tell consumers when they could save money by paying the full cash price for prescription drugs instead of using health insurance with large out-of-pocket costs, reports the New York Times . Pharmacists around the country say they have often been forbidden to share information on drug pricing with customers. The new law will "completely end these unjust gag clauses once and for all," Trump said. He signed two bills. One bill, introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), bans gag clauses in commercial health insurance, including coverage offered by employers and plans bought by individuals and families on their own. The other bill, introduced by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), applies to outpatient drug coverage in Medicare, whether provided by the traditional fee-for-service program or by private Medicare Advantage plans. "Insurance is intended to save consumers money," Collins said. "Gag clauses do the opposite. They prevent pharmacists from telling patients how to pay the lowest possible price for their prescription drugs."

President Trump signed two bills Wednesday prohibiting "gag order" clauses in contracts between pharmacies and insurance companies or pharmacy benefit managers, reports Kaiser Health News . Such provisions ban pharmacists from disclosing to customers when they can save money by paying the pharmacy's lower cash price instead of the price negotiated by their insurance plan. Congress passed both bills — one for Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries and another for commercial employer-based and individual policies — in September. "Banning gag clauses will make it easier for more Americans to afford their prescription drugs because pharmacists will be able to proactively notify consumers if a less expensive option may be available," said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). The change was one of the proposals in the president's plan to slash prescription drug prices released in May. The National Community Pharmacists Association's Ronna Hauser said many association members "say a pharmacy benefit manager will call them with a warning if they are telling patients it's less expensive" without insurance. A study published in JAMA in March estimated that people with Medicare Part D drug insurance overpaid for prescriptions by $135 million in 2013, and copayments in those plans were higher than the cash price for nearly one in four drugs purchased in 2013. Beneficiaries overpaid by more than 33 percent for 12 of the 20 most commonly prescribed drugs.

Starbucks announced on Tuesday that it is expanding its care benefits, following similar moves by Apple and Home Depot to entice employees, reports Fox Business . Through a partnership with Care.com, the company plans to offer all employees — corporate, in-store, and part-time — 10 subsidized backup care days annually. In-home care will only cost Starbucks workers $1 per hour, with in-center backup childcare costing $5 per day. All employees will have access to limitless senior care planning and a premium membership at Care.com at no charge. Starbucks already provides mental health benefits via the Employee Assistance Program and paid parental leave, while earlier this year it announced a Partner and Family Sick Time benefit permitting U.S. partners to accumulate paid sick time based on hours worked and use it for themselves or for a relative who needs care. In 2017, Apple announced via backup care firm Bright Horizons that employees are eligible for up to 10 days of care per calendar year. Home Depot has a similar program, also offered through Bright Horizons, for all workers who have been with the company at least 12 months, in addition to a childcare center offering full-time spots for any of their associates in Atlanta.