Many baby boomers want to age in their own home, but sometimes the economic realities of maintenance, the need for companionship and socialization, and even help around the house makes a more formal senior community more viable, reports U.S. News & World Report . Home sharing offers an alternative to senior living, whose costs can range from $2,500 monthly in an independent community to more than $100,000 annually in a skilled nursing community. The ideal situation is when the home sharer assists with specified tasks, with mutual support and companionship forming the core of home sharing. However, home sharing is not intended to replace formal home health caregivers. People considering home sharing should first consult with a local attorney to get an agreement drafted that outlines the expectations of both parties. The attorney and client should discuss including the ground rules in writing for the safety of both parties. Areas that might be in need of inclusion can refer to guests, kitchen use, parking, pets, privacy, TV/radio/phone and Internet use, and splitting expenses.

The U.S. Census Bureau forecasts that the older American adult population will exceed children by nearly 2 million in 2035, growing almost 5 million to 78 million by 2035, reports Bloomberg . This means members of the baby boom generation, whose average age is 65 and over, will outnumber younger generations for the first time. Children's growth rate is expected to be slower. This transition is in the developing stages for the United States, while the trend is already well underway in other countries, particularly Japan and some European nations.

Starting in April 2018, CMS will begin mailing new Medicare cards. The cards will have a new unique Medicare Number instead of a Social Security Number to help prevent fraud, fight identity theft, and keep taxpayer dollars safe. CMS has provided details and tips to help with the transition for health providers, states, and individuals on their website. Click here to learn more.

A research review published in the American Journal of Public Health suggests socially isolated older adults may not necessarily visit physicians or health clinics more frequently than those with wider social circles, reports Reuters . However, as their health worsens, older people lacking strong social relationships may be more likely to have long hospital stays and repeat hospitalizations. The researchers analyzed data from 126 studies involving more than 226,000 people in 19 countries. "The evidence is not quite there yet to indicate that increasing the quantity and/or quality of older adults' social ties will reduce healthcare utilization," says Christina Matz-Costa of the Boston College School of Social Work. Georgia State University's Ben Lennox Kail notes there may be many potential explanations for this trend. For example, people with few close relationships with friends or family may be more likely to have depression or other mental health issues than those with expansive social networks. Kail adds, "That said, if this were the primary explanation, we might expect to see more regular doctors' visits — and we don't."

The University of West Florida (UWF) is conducting its first-ever clinical trial as part of a national study on Alzheimer's disease and is seeking local participants, reports WUWF . "The TRIAD Study is designed around an investigational new drug to help alleviate the symptoms of agitation associated with Alzheimer's disease," says UWF Professor Rodney Guttmann. He notes some of the behaviors associated with Alzheimer's, particularly agitation, can be addressed. The phase 3 TRIAD trial is being performed with John Hayes, the medical director at the West Florida Memory Disorder Clinic. Participants and their caregivers in the 12-week study period must commit to eight visits to the study site on the UWF main campus to undergo memory testing and other evaluations. They must also take medication twice daily. Eligible participants must have an Alzheimer's disease diagnosis, experience Alzheimer's-related agitation, and be between 50 and 90 years old. "This is what we call a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial," says Guttmann. "Double-blind means that neither I nor the participant knows whether or not they're getting the active drug or not. And, the placebo control is they may or may not be getting the active drug. In our particular study, there's a 40 percent chance of placebo and 60 percent chance of receiving active drug."

Fear of making mistakes and broader concerns about their social responsibility are among reasons why seniors are rejecting digital technologies, a new Lancaster University study cited by ScienceDaily reveals. Following interviews with a wide cross-section of older men and women, researchers have discovered that resistance to using digital technologies is not primarily rooted in accessibility issues as widely believed. They determined that personally held values are also major factors holding back technology use among the older demographic. Some have been putting off using online tools because they see them as being arduous and time consuming. Security concerns were especially omnipresent among the older adults polled, with many of them expressing a lack of confidence in their own knowledge of how to properly use Web-based tools properly, in particular online banking. Finally, a strong sense of social responsibility was a major factor underlying many older people's rejection of digital technology. Their chief concern is that online shopping is taking business away from local merchants, threatening the town centers in which they socialize with their friends. They also are worried that if they do not go into the local post office or their bank, they may permanently close and people will lose their jobs.

While millennials are often described as "spoiled," "lazy," and "entitled," a new survey by Axios and SurveyMonkey shows they also appear to be more financially responsible than prior generations. The research cited a Discover study released in February, which found that 81 percent of millennials are saving for retirement — more than any other generation. The study went on to contrast the generations in other areas. For instance, 54 percent of millennials said that if money was not a concern, they still would not quit their jobs — a slightly higher percentage than Generation Xers and baby boomers. Meanwhile, 31 percent overall — and 33 percent of slightly older millennials — described their current debt situation as "overwhelming" versus just 22 percent of Gen Xers and the youngest boomers. The millennial generation is the most educated one ever, and those with a bachelor's degree have seen their wages continue to increase. At the same time, the less educated have watched theirs decline, which is widening the gap between stable, successful millennials and those at risk of falling into poverty. Milliennials now comprise the biggest proportion of the American labor force.

A study published in the Journal of Dental Research determined a lack of tristetraprolin (TTP), a protein essential to controlling inflammation, may lead to rapid and severe bone loss, reports ScienceDaily . The researchers found that removing the gene needed to produce TTP from healthy mice caused the animals to develop the bones of much older rodents. Those without the gene lost almost 20 percent of oral bone levels within nine months, while overexpression of TTP led to a 13 percent reduction in bone turnover compared to unaffected mice. "TTP is the brake on the immune system," says University at Buffalo Professor Keith Kirkwood. "Without it, inflammation and bone loss would go unchecked. We don't know all of the reasons why TTP expression decreases with age. So, understanding the factors behind its expression and relationship with bone loss is the first step toward designing therapeutic approaches." The researchers next plan to move their investigation toward human studies, especially among older adults.

BBC News reports that a Manchester Metropolitan University research team working with scientists from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, and the University of Manchester may have figured out why there is a natural loss of muscle in the legs as older people age. In tests on 168 men, the researchers found that nerves controlling the legs decreased by nearly 30 percent by age 75. This made muscles essentially "waste away." As human beings get older, their leg muscles become smaller and weaker, resulting in problems with such everyday movements as getting out of a chair or walking up a flight of stairs. Professor Jamie McPhee from Manchester Metropolitan University said, "The muscles need to receive a proper signal from the nervous system to tell them to contract, so we can move around." The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Physiology .