The Elderly

Autonomous Vehicles
commentary
If You Build Automated Vehicles, Will Older Adults Come?
Laura Fraade-Blanar, Marjory S. Blumenthal @marjorysb, Ryan Best
Apr 28, 2021
Inside Sources
Whether older adults benefit from autonomous vehicles may hinge on taking explicit steps. Lessons can be learned from experiences with other technologies.
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Demographics
commentary
Humans Are Living Longer, So What Do We Do with All This Extra Time?
Andrew R. Hoehn, Bonnie Hagemann, Krishna B. Kumar @kbkumar_
Feb 5, 2021
Dallas Morning News
Medical and public health improvements over the past century have led to dramatic increases in longevity. New policies may be needed to ensure these extra years become mutually beneficial to all generations.
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Social Services and Welfare
commentary
Learning from Existing Novel Approaches to Solving the Adult Social Care Crisis Is Better Than Reinventing the Wheel
Tom Ling, Jon Sussex, Susie Finlayson
Oct 14, 2020
The RAND Blog
The growing gap in the UK between the need for social care for older people and the provision of support arises not only from a crisis of funding, but also from a failure to learn from what is already being done well. Closing the gap might be achieved by learning from creative approaches already being tried and then implementing them.
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Long-Term Care
commentary
Should You Consider Taking a Loved One Out of a Long-Term Care Facility Now?
Lori Frank @LoriBethFrank, Sharon Inouye, Gary Epstein-Lubow, Robyn Stone, Lewis Lipsitz
Mar 30, 2020
NextAvenue
As modern living is changing during this pandemic, so is assisted living. Already, many of us are facing difficult decisions about whether someone we know should stay in an assisted living facility or be taken out due to the coronavirus crisis. If you're in the position to bring someone to hunker down with you, is it even a good idea?
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Wildfires
commentary
Turning Off Power to Combat Wildfires Could Harm the Very People Who Need Protection
Joie D. Acosta, Regina A. Shih @ReginaShih
Oct 28, 2019
CalMatters
While intentionally shutting off power may be a practical way to prevent power lines from sparking wildfires, is it worth the risks? Until more thoughtful and comprehensive decisions are made, planned power outages need to be planned better.
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The Elderly
commentary
How AVs Could Provide Independence for Older Drivers
Laura Fraade-Blanar
Sep 21, 2018
Axios
Giving up driving has been linked to depression and isolation in older adults, as well as early entry into nursing home facilities. Autonomous vehicles could help improve the well-being of older adults by allowing them to maintain independence while still giving up their car keys.
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Retirement and Retirement Benefits
essay
Why Unretirement Is Working for Older Americans
Mar 6, 2018
Significant numbers of older Americans move in and out of the workforce. One in five workers today is 55 or older. By 2024, that number will be one in four. Older workers report having more meaningful work and more workplace flexibility than their younger peers.
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The Elderly
commentary
An Uneven Future: An Ageing Population Needs Innovation, but Not at the Expense of Equal Care
Camilla d'Angelo
Oct 5, 2017
Health Service Journal
Expected increases in life expectancy together with increasingly complex physical and mental illness will continue to exert huge pressures on health systems. How should the UK prepare for the challenges ahead?
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Urban Parks and Recreational Facilities
commentary
The Neighborhood Park: An Underused Oasis
Deborah A. Cohen, Catherine J. Nagel
Nov 9, 2016
Parks & Rec Business
Most neighborhood parks are underutilized, especially in the mornings and on weekdays. But with a modest amount of redesign, investment, and marketing, parks could lead more people to engage in routine physical activity.
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Employment and Unemployment
commentary
Living Longer, Working Longer
Michael D. Hurd, Susann Rohwedder
Aug 25, 2016
The RAND Blog
When people live longer, the costs of Social Security and Medicare increase and threaten the sustainability of these programs. Households also worry about how to finance more retirement years. But people are working longer, and if they continue to do so, they will reduce some of the problems.
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Affordable Care Act
commentary
Charging Older Adults Higher Premiums Could Cost Taxpayers
Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner, Evan Saltzman
Sep 15, 2015
The Commonwealth Fund Blog
Under the Affordable Care Act, older adults cannot be charged more than three times as much as 21- to 24-year-olds for the same plan. Changing this rule to 5-to-1 may not be a cost-effective way to encourage enrollment among the young and healthy.
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Economic Development
commentary
China at Home: Marrying Prosperity and Well-Being
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich
Aug 21, 2015
The RAND Blog
As China strives to sustain its upward economic trajectory, it must also address its domestic problems—such as its air pollution and the challenges presented by its aging population—if its people are to share fully in the rewards of economic development and expansion.
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Alzheimer's Disease and Dementias
essay
Struggling with Dementia
Aug 10, 2015
The costs of dementia are staggering. A recent RAND analysis quantifies the scope of the problem in the United States and serves as a wake-up call to policymakers everywhere.
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Medicare
commentary
Medicare at 50: How Reforming End-of-Life Care Could Benefit It for Years to Come
Erin Audrey Taylor
Jul 30, 2015
U.S. News & World Report
As Medicare turns 50, skyrocketing health care costs and the aging of baby boomers both threaten the program's long-term viability. One solution that could go a long way would be to change the way the program handles and pays for end-of-life care.
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The Elderly
commentary
Aging in Asia: Can the 'Tigers' Continue to Roar?
Rafiq Dossani, Rachel M. Swanger
Jun 16, 2015
The RAND Blog
Changing demographics will force Japan and the “Asian Tigers” — Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan — to find ways to remain economically dynamic while increasingly looking after their elderly. How might public policy help accomplish this?
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Cardiovascular Disorders
commentary
What Does the Future Hold for Atrial Fibrillation?
Catherine A. Lichten
Jun 2, 2015
Longer-term thinking, enhanced public awareness, and more thorough engagement among stakeholders are critical components of a strategy to deal with atrial fibrillation.
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Health Care Delivery Approaches
blog
Innovations in Health Care: New Treatments, Changing Systems
Nov 18, 2014
From the Affordable Care Act and new advances in medical technology to the impact of the aging population, panelists at RAND's Politics Aside discussed a wide-range of topics affecting America's health care system today and into the future.
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Caregivers
commentary
Meeting the Caregivers Challenge
Emily K. Chen, Jeffrey Wasserman
Aug 25, 2014
The RAND Blog
Ill or injured military personnel and veterans and people with dementia are unique populations, but they give us a preview of the enormous long-term care challenges Americans will face in the decades to come.
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Methodology
commentary
Response to 'Study on Parental Longevity Is Short on Causation'
Esther M. Friedman @friedmanEM, Robert D. Mare
Aug 11, 2014
New York Times
The possible effects of families on health and mortality is an extremely complex topic. No single study or type of study is exactly a test of the argument. We need more studies that advance possible interpretations and describe patterns of associations in broad populations of interest.
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Alzheimer's Disease and Dementias
commentary
Demographics Add Urgency for Action on Dementia Long-Term Care
Esther M. Friedman @friedmanEM
Jul 28, 2014
Modern Healthcare
Dementia takes a huge toll on those afflicted with it. But it also has major consequences for those who must care for them, most often family and friends.
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Caregivers
commentary
Parallel Caregiver Crises, Military and Civilian
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich
Jul 9, 2014
The Hill
Among American caregivers, there are two expanding populations: those caring for military servicemembers struggling with physical or emotional wounds of war and those looking after people with dementia. Both face incalculable financial stresses and threats to their own health as a result of their caregiving roles.
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Alzheimer's Disease and Dementias
commentary
A Global Focus on Dementia
Regina A. Shih @ReginaShih
Dec 11, 2013
The RAND Blog
The Group of 8 industrial nations is convening a special session to seek an international approach to dementia research at a time the disease is being recognized as a 21st century global health crisis of historic proportions.
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Geriatrics
blog
RAND Summer Institute July 7–10, 2014
Oct 22, 2013
Applications are being accepted now through March 21 for the 21st annual RAND Summer Institute (RSI), a pair of conferences on aging that will be held next July 7–10 at the RAND Corporation headquarters in Santa Monica.
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Neurological Disorders
commentary
The Cost of Dementia: Who Will Pay?
Michael D. Hurd
May 1, 2013
The Health Care Blog
It is time for the government in partnership with industry to return to the drawing board to craft a plan that will provide protection for the more than 9 million people who will need care for dementia by 2040, writes Michael D. Hurd.
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Alzheimer's Disease and Dementias
commentary
Dementia's Growing Cost to Caregivers
Kathleen J. Mullen @KathleenJMullen
Apr 29, 2013
the RWJF's Human Capital Blog
At the rate that the U.S. population is aging, the total cost of dementia could reach half a trillion dollars a year by 2040. Those who care for impaired relatives and friends are acutely aware of the effects of dementia, and unfortunately they are all too familiar with its costs, writes Kathleen J. Mullen.
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Labor Markets
commentary
Economy Needs 'Unretired'
Nicole Maestas
Dec 12, 2012
The Orange County Register
Though work at older ages can benefit both the economy and retirees themselves, public policy does not always facilitate it. The retirement earning test in the early years of Social Security eligibility, for example, is perceived as a disincentive to work, writes Nicole Maestas.
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Nurses and Nursing
blog
Giving “Voice” to Nursing Home Residents: A Revolution in Quality Assessment
Debra Saliba
Oct 9, 2012
It seems obvious to ask nursing home residents about their own health. But until a quiet revolution that took place in 2010, it didn't work that way.
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Traffic Accidents
commentary
A Risk to Themselves
David S. Loughran
Oct 20, 2010
New York Times
Drivers 65 and older are only 16 percent more likely per mile driven to cause a traffic accident than are drivers ages 25–64. And their total contribution to the nation's traffic accidents is surprisingly small, writes David S. Loughran.
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commentary
Redefining 'Old Age': 60 Is the New 40
Linda G. Martin
Apr 27, 2009
Shanghai Daily
China's population is aging quickly.To address the issue, there are basically two options: try to slow it down; develop policies and programs to deal with whatever negative consequences there might be, writes Linda G. Martin.
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Demographics
commentary
Consequences of a Graying World
Jonathan Grant, Stijn Hoorens @StijnHoorens
Jun 29, 2007
Christian Science Monitor
Consequences of a Graying World, in Christian Science Monitor.
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commentary
Saving Money and Saving Lives in Nursing Homes
Lisa R. Shugarman
Mar 30, 2007
Washingtonpost.com
Published commentary by RAND staff: Saving Money and Saving Lives in Nursing Homes, in Washingtonpost.com.
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