National Institutes of Health (NIH):
- Tips to Make Mealtimes Easier for People with Alzheimer’s
- Decoding Heart-Brain Talk to Prevent Sudden Cardiac Deaths
- Researchers identify a cellular defect common to familial and sporadic forms of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Device allows paralyzed man to communicate with words
- Scientists uncover how decisions about what we see are relayed back through the brain
- Scientists discover gene therapy provides neuroprotection to prevent glaucoma vision loss
- Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, are enrolling patients with kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma) into a gene therapy study– a new type of precision medicine that genetically reprograms your immune T cells to recognize and kill tumor cells. To learn more about this NIH study # 18-H-0012 or other studies, please call us at 866-444-1132.
- NIH unveils new online tool to improve Alzheimer’s clinical trials recruitment
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB):
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC):
- On July 27,2021 issued an alert that FBI Criminal Investigative Division and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) warn of fraudsters swindling investors while pretending to be registered brokers or investment advisers. Fraudsters may falsely claim to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or a state securities regulator in order to lure investors into scams, or even impersonate real investment professionals who actually are registered with these organizations. Fraudsters may misappropriate the name, address, registration number, logo, photo, or website likeness of a currently or previously registered firm or investment professional. If you suspect fraud, report it to the SEC.
From the VA and the Military Health System:
- Seeking Out Mental Health Care is the First Step to PTSD Wellness
- Enhancement allows Veterans to Self-Schedule care with community providers
- Military Medical Research Leads to 18 New Cancer Drugs, other Devices
- VA plans expansion of benefits for disability claims for conditions related to certain toxic exposures. Read more.
- New screening improves early detection of cognitive decline
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality:
- Statistical Brief regarding Clinical Conditions With Frequent and Costly Hospital Readmissions by Payer, 2018. Among their findings, in 2018, there were a total of 3.8 million adult hospital readmissions within 30 days, with an average readmission rate of 14 percent and an average readmission cost of $15,200. Read more.
- Investing in Primary Care to Ensure High-Quality Care for All Americans. Read more.
- The Role of Value-Based Payment in Promoting Innovation to Address Social Risks: A Cross-Sectional Study of Social Risk Screening by US Physicians. Read more
- Improving medication reconciliation with comprehensive evaluation at a Veterans Affairs skilled-nursing facility. Read more.
From the Administration for Community Living (ACL):
- Older Adults Equity Collaborative Library, a digital resource that includes materials from each member organization of the OAEC to provide resources for the aging services network, providers serving diverse communities and populations, and diverse older adults and family caregivers themselves. Announcement link.
- Webinar regarding CMS-Medicaid Resources for Housing Supportive Services Thursday, August 12, 3:00 – 4:30 PM ET. Register.
- Webinar regarding Supporting Youth with Disabilities Transitioning Out of Foster Care Summit. Wednesday, August 18 – Thursday, August 19. Register.
- Celebrating and looking beyond the ADA – 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the future of disability advocacy
- Collaborations to Reduce Social Isolation for Older Adults. Read more.
- Lifespan Respite Care Program: Reposting Funding Opportunity. Read more.
- National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center Funding Award
- The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center website is now at acl.gov/senior-nutrition. Content has been reorganized into key sections, including training and tools; success stories; and data and evaluation. A broad range of subsections further organize content into categories such as innovative models and events. Read more.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced:
- The U.S. General Fund – “America’s Checkbook.” For the benefit of our readers, this matters because SSI and Medicaid benefits are paid from general funds.
- Voters with Disabilities: State and Local Actions and Federal Resources to Address Accessibility of Early Voting. Read more.
The Consumer Federation of America released its report regarding 2020 consumer complaints. Georgia Attorney General Carr announced on July 26, 2021, that the top ten reported consumer complaints in 2020 were:
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- Debt Issues (debt collection, loan companies, credit report problems, title pawns, payday loans, credit card providers, credit repair, debt adjustment)
- Used Car Sales
- Price Gouging/Public Health State of Emergency
- Landlord/Tenant Issues
- Automotive Repairs
- Employment Issues
- Home Improvement/Repairs (home improvements, home repairs, security systems, roofing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscaping, pest control, swimming pools)
- Health-Related Services/Billing (medical services, billing by provider or in-house 3rd party collector, personal care services, pharmacy, hospital inpatient billing, home health services, health sharing plans, DUI/alcohol/drug risk reduction programs)
- New Car Sales
- Utilities (cell phones, landline phones, bundled services, cable, satellite, electricity, internet/email, natural gas, garbage, recycling, water/sewer, propane)
Selected links from Current Awareness in Aging Research E-Clippings No. 4385, July 19 through July 23, 2021, reported:
- How much of a cut to social security benefits can you expect based on your age? (USA Today, July 18, 2021)
- Nursing homes can deadname transgender seniors, court rules, (Associated Press, July 20, 2021)
- Home Health Aides, Who Help Elderly And Disabled People, Are In Short Supply, (US National Public Radio Weekend Edition Sunday, July 18, 2021)
- Unvaccinated staff eyed in rising nursing home cases, deaths, (Associated Press, July 21, 2021)
- CDC investigating deaths of immunized nursing home residents: report, (Hill, July 21, 2021)
- U.S. Life Expectancy Plunged in 2020, Especially for Black and Hispanic Americans, (New York Times, July 21, 2021)
- Though millions are at risk for diabetes, Medicare struggles to expand prevention program, (Kaiser Health News via Seattle Times, July 19, 2021)
- Drug Shows Promise in Easing Dementia-Linked Psychosis, (HealthDay, July 23, 2021)
- Alzheimer-linked enzyme complex ‘buckles up’ for safe trip through the cell, (Eurekalert, July 22, 2021)
- Older people are worse at learning to self-help, but just as good learning to help others, (Eurekalert, July 21, 2021)
From Benefits.gov:
National Centers for Health Statistics:
- The Data Linkage Program at the National Center for Health Statistics is excited to announce the release of the 2019 Linked Mortality Files (LMFs)! We have completed an updated linkage of the 1985, 1995, 1997, and 2004 National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS) to death records from the National Death Index. The updated NNHS LMFs provide mortality follow-up data through December 31, 2019. The LMFs combine data from the NNHSs with mortality follow-up, including date of death and causes of death, providing researchers the opportunity to investigate the association of a wide variety of health characteristics with mortality
Selected from NAELA E-bulletin:
- Most States Struggling To Fulfill IDEA Requirements (Disability Scoop)
- 1 in 20 Cases of Dementia Occurs in People Under 65 (HealthDay)
