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In this issue

• Stats: 40% of 65+ adults, caregivers say depression is normal with age
• Workplace ban on sugared drink sales boosts employee health
• Peer mentoring curbs loneliness, depression
• Assisted living occupancy up, construction down: NIC
• Healthy longevity grand challenge launches
• Tech Talk: Wearable tech top global fitness trend: ACSM

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Stats: 40% of 65+ adults, caregivers say depression is normal with age

“Driving Towards Age-Friendly Care for the Future,” a survey of more than 2,700 adults ages 65 and older and their caregivers, found that 40% considered depression a normal part of aging, and nearly 40% didn’t know that certain prescription medications can impact cognition. The findings point to opportunities for active-aging organizations to educate staff, constituents and families about depression and its treatment, as well as mobility issues and, of course, dementia, which many survey respondents also felt were inevitable.

A joint effort between WebMD and The John Hartford Foundation, the survey also revealed that 75% of older adults are not aware of their right to ask for, and receive, health care tailored to their needs and wants. This concept is part of “Age-Friendly Health Systems,” an initiative of the foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States. The focus is on prioritizing the “4Ms”: what matters to patients, promoting mobility, ensuring medications don’t interfere with quality of life, and treating dementias, depression and other mentation-associated conditions.

Practically speaking, a majority of older adult survey respondents (70%) noted that having a checklist of questions to ask doctors and online resources that are focused on health topics for older adults (60%) would help them feel more comfortable requesting the care they need. Organizations can consider providing this information to constituents.

SOURCE: WebMD and The John Hartford Foundation (October 29, 2019)

KEYWORDS: Depression, Age-friendly, Mobility, Medications
To read the full report, click here
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Workplace ban on sugared drink sales boosts employee health

A workplace ban on the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages led to a 48.5% average reduction in the consumption of these drinks and significantly less belly fat among 202 University of California, San Francisco employees (mean age, 41; about half women). The findings point to a simple way to help improve employee health and wellness at any organization.

Participants had described themselves before the sales ban as frequent consumers of sugar-sweetened drinks, defined as drinking more than 12 ounces per day. At baseline, participants drank an average of 35 ounces of sugared drinks daily, but by the end of the study, their average consumption was down to 18 ounces.

Half of the study participants were randomly selected to also receive a brief motivational intervention on sugared-drink consumption, modeled on standard workplace alcohol-use interventions. Among that group, consumption went down by an average of 25.4 ounces, to 9.6 ounces a day.

Almost 70% of participants had a decrease in waist size (about an inch, on average) and the majority also lost weight. Those who reduced their sugary-drink intake tended to show a decrease in insulin resistance, as well, although this was not true of all participants.

"This was not a ban on the consumption of sugared beverages," emphasized senior author Laura Schmidt, PhD, MSW, MPH. "People could still bring them from home or buy them off campus. This study demonstrates the value in rigging workplace environments to support people's health... UCSF simply took sugary drinks out of workplace vending machines, break rooms and cafeterias, and wound up improving employees' health."

SOURCE: University of California – San Francisco; JAMA Internal Medicine (October 28, 2019).

KEYWORDS: Employee wellness, Physical wellness Nutrition, Obesity
To download the free whitepaper, “Across Generations: Millennials and Baby Boomer Advance Healthcare Communications,” click here and fill out the form
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Peer mentoring curbs loneliness, depression

Providing a peer mentoring program in a long-term care setting led to "significant decreases" in participants' depression and loneliness scores in a six-month proof-of-concept study. Peer mentoring is defined as "a supportive relationship between two individuals who share a common experience or characteristic." It's something life plan and assisted living organizations, in particular, might consider.

The program involved resident and community volunteer mentors who met weekly for a team meeting and education. The program was facilitated by a recreation therapist or volunteer coordinator who used standardized education modules and a training manual.

Forty-eight resident mentors (mean age, 60; 88% women) were enrolled, and 28 completed the program. One mentor described the personal impact of helping others: "It's changed my life. It makes me feel like I'm needed."

The authors noted, "Despite a desire among residents for more purposeful activities, recreational programming provided overall tends toward entertainment and distraction, rather than opportunities for meaningful contributions or connections. Peer mentoring may allow residents to reshape their social worlds in ways that reflect their agency."

SOURCES: Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (October 17, 2017)

KEYWORDS: Emotional wellness, Social wellness, Mentoring, Loneliness, Depression
To read the full study, click here
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Assisted living occupancy up, construction down: NIC

Of interest to many active-aging industry stakeholders, third-quarter 2019 data from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC) show that senior housing occupancy increased to 88%, up from its lowest level in eight years (87.7%) recorded during the previous quarter. Against this backdrop, assisted living occupancy increased to 85.4% from a previous record low of 85.1% for the past three quarters, as relatively robust demand outpaced new inventory growth. In addition, the occupancy rate for independent living increased to 90.2%, 10 basis points higher than year-earlier levels, but below its rate earlier in 2019.

“The data suggest strong consumer demand for assisted living and independent living, which supported the overall increase in the national occupancy rate that we’ve experienced,” said Beth Burnham Mace, NIC’s chief economist. “Meanwhile, the construction starts data suggest a slowdown in development activity, especially for assisted living. This should lay the groundwork for improving sector performance, provided there are no significant hiccups that could affect demand."

Of the 31 metropolitan markets that comprise NIC’s primary markets, San Jose (95.5%) and Minneapolis (91.3%) experienced the highest occupancy rates in the third quarter. Las Vegas (82.3%) and Houston (81.5%) recorded the lowest.

Further, preliminary data suggests that property sales transaction dollar volume totaled $2.8 billion, and points to a significant increase in price per unit.

SOURCE: NIC (October 10, 2019)

KEYWORDS: Housing, Assisted living, Construction, Trends, Market research
To read an abridged presentation from NIC, click here
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Healthy longevity grand challenge launches

Recognizing that “unprecedented extensions of the lifespan” across the world bring both challenges and opportunities, the US National Academy of Medicine has launched a Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge – a worldwide initiative to improve physical, mental and social wellbeing for people as they age. Active-aging organizations and clinicians may want to apply to one part of the grand challenge: the Healthy Longevity Global Competition.

According to the grand challenge website, this is a multiyear, multi-million-dollar international competition that will accelerate breakthroughs in healthy longevity through a series of monetary awards and prizes. The competition is open to innovators of any background (see the website, link below, for details).

The other part of the challenge is a Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity that will assemble an independent International commission to author an evidence-based report with recommendations for all societies.

Overall, the grand challenge aims to: 1) comprehensively address the challenges and opportunities presented by global population aging; 2) catalyze breakthrough ideas and research that will extend the human healthspan; 3) generate transformative and scalable innovations worldwide; 4) and build a broad ecosystem of support by enabling scientists, engineers, innovators, entrepreneurs, health leaders, policy makers, and the public to work together to achieve the promise of healthy longevity.

SOURCE: US National Academy of Medicine (October 30, 2019)

KEYWORDS: Physical wellness, Emotional wellness, Longevity, Health promotion
To learn more about the challenge and apply, click here
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Tech Talk: Wearable tech top global fitness trend: ACSM

More than 3,000 health and fitness professionals surveyed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) say wearable tech will be the top fitness trend in 2020. This points to the perceived value of these devices by consumers and health professionals alike, and the value to organizations of facilitating their use.

“Tech advances have made it easier than ever for users to collect important health metrics and work with fitness professionals and health care providers to improve exercise efficiency, develop healthy lifestyles, manage chronic diseases and increase quality of life,” said ACSM Past President Walter R. Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM, lead author of the survey and associate dean in the College of Education and Human Development at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

Wearable technology was followed by high-intensity interval training (HIIT), group training, training with free weights, and personal training to round out the top five. "Fitness programs for older adults" was number eight out of 20, highlighting the growing importance of the boomer market. Health/wellness coaching, also relevant to the active aging industry, was number nine.

The survey was published in the November/December issue of ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal®. A companion article compares the top 20 trends in North America, China, Europe and South America.

SOURCE: American College of Sports Medicine (October 29, 2019)

KEYWORDS: Wearables, Technology, Physical wellness, Fitness
To see all the trends for 2020, click here
To read the regional comparisons, click here

--reported by Marilynn Larkin

Suggestions? Email mlarkin@icaa.cc
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Disclaimer

ICAA Research Review shares knowledge and information. The newsletter is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not medical advice. The ICAA encourages you to make health and business decisions based upon your own research and in partnership with a qualified professional.