Most Americans Predict Alzheimer’s Cure in Their Lifetimes

Fifty-four percent of Americans believe researchers will find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease in their lifetimes, according to a recent CBS News report, which also examines the latest clinical trials underway and Medicare costs associated with treating individuals with Alzheimer’s.

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Caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease triples the average Medicare expenditure per [...]

Caring for Seniors’ Mental Health

Even the healthiest, most engaged senior living residents may suffer from bouts of depression—particularly if they’ve recently experienced the loss of a friend.  
There are several effective strategies caregivers and family members should use in these situations, experts say, including consultation with a geriatric psychiatrist. However, like many medical fields, there is a lack of psychiatrists [...]

Teaching the Press a Lesson

Senior living executives, residents, family members, and advocates of senior living everywhere are singing the praises of Bob Elmer, administrator of The Elms Assisted Living community in Westerly, Rhode Island. Elmer recently had issue with an article in his local newspaper. Like many members of the press with little experience in the senior living space, the reporter [...]

New York’s Center for Living Has Celebrity Support

Seniors in and around New York now have access to the Martha Stewart Center for Living. The lifestyle empress and celebrity financed the center, part of Mount Sinai Medical Center, in honor of her late mother.
In an interview with CNN.com’s Alina Cho, Stewart – whose mother, also named Martha, passed away two years ago [...]

More Seniors Seek Adventure Activities

The so-called experiential marketplace is seeing a surge in older consumers interested in adventure activities, such as wing-walking, biking tours, and global travel – a trend senior living communities may want to tap.
The New York Times reports on a new George Washington University study, which shows that the “the so-called experiential marketplace – sensation, education, [...]

ALFA Award Nominations Deadline Draws Near

Just one more week until the January 15 deadline for the ALFA Heroes and Best of the Best Awards programs. These awards programs and the recognition they bring to deserving senior living companies and staff do so much more than give credit where credit is due. They help to advance the mission of operational excellence [...]

New Year, New Challenges,
Cutting-Edge Solutions

As senior living providers throughout the country begin their 2010 operations, it’s certain that they’ll be met with new opportunities and challenges. ALFA will continue to provide the strategic solutions to those challenges through a bevy of resources, including its publications and tool kits, advocacy efforts, recognition programs, social media efforts – and now, just [...]

Health-Care Bill Secures Senate Vote

The Senate moved the health-care bill closer to passage by approving it with a 60-40 vote on Saturday. The $871 billion package had to overcome a Republican filibuster and Democratic holdouts.
“This is major reform,” White House senior political adviser David Axelrod said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “It’s not perfect. And over time, it [...]

Seniors Could Benefit From
Older Physicians

Recent research among Australian doctors reveals that older doctors and those with more experience with seniors have a more positive attitude toward them than other doctors. ALFA Update recently reported on this topic.
Published in the Internal Medicine Journal, the study analyzes interviews with 122 doctors, who answered questions specific to their feelings and attitudes toward [...]

iPod Therapy Connects Residents
and Caregivers

Donated iPods provide residents in the Bronx, New York, with customized playlists – part of a life-enhancing music therapy program that is also helping caregivers connect with residents. ALFA Update reports on this next week.
A video report by The Wall Street Journal documents how residents with advanced dementia are benefiting from the music therapy program [...]