90+ Population Growing
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| That’s Philomena, my mom, 90! |
According to an Associated Press report, nearly 2 million people are now are 90 or over, nearly triple their numbers of just three decades ago. Count my mom in there.
Unfortunately they are more likely than the merely elderly to live in poverty and to have disabilities. My mother is lucky in that regard.
The oldest old are projected to increase from 1.9 million to 8.7 million by midcentury äóî making up 2 percent of the total U.S. population and one in 10 older Americans.
An Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll in June found that more than one in four adults expect to live to at least 90, including nearly half of those currently 65 or older. A majority of adults also said they expected people in their generation to live longer than those in their parentsäó» generation, with about 46 percent saying they expected a better quality of life in later years as well.
According to the report:
- the share of people 90-94 who report having some kind of impairment such as inability to do errands, visit a doctoräó»s office, climb stairs or bathe is 13 percentage points higher than those 85-89 äóî 82 percent versus 69 percent.
æ - Among those 95 and older, the disability rate climbs to 91 percent.
æ - Census figures show that smaller states had the highest shares of their older Americans who were at least 90. North Dakota led the list, with about 7 percent of its 65-plus population over 90. It was followed by Connecticut, Iowa and South Dakota. In absolute numbers, California, Florida and Texas led the nation in the 90-plus population, each with more than 130,000.
- Among the 90-plus population, women outnumber men by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1.
æ - Non-Hispanic whites made up the vast majority of the 90-plus population, at 88.1 percent. Thatäó»s compared to 7.6 percent who were black, 4 percent Hispanic and 2.2 percent Asian.
æ - Most people who were 90 or older lived in households alone, about 37.3 percent.
æ - Some 37.1 percent lived in households with family or others, while about 23 percent stayed in nursing homes.
æ - About 3 percent lived in assisted living or other informal care facilities.
æ - Those who were 90 or older had median income of $14,760, about half of it from Social Security.
æ - About 14.5 percent of the age group lived in poverty, compared to 9.6 percent for Americans who are 65-89.
The older people get, the more resources they consume because of health care, and disability rates significantly increase. This creates demands for daily care, and for families the care burden increases dramatically, said researchers.
What struck me most was the amount of 90+ living alone. We need to keep an eye on these folks. Programs like Lotsa Helping Hands can help.
Brain Strengthening iPhone Games for Techie Grandmas and Grandpas
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| @Comstock Images, Getty Images |
The following is a guest post from Mariana Ashley.
Just because you’re a senior doesn’t mean that you aren’t hipäóîyou have a shiny iPhone, you know what’s “in.” But while it’s great that your sense of style as remained fresh throughout the years, it’s important that you also work to keep your mind fresh as well.æ
No, an iPhone isn’t just a fashion accessory, you can actually download specific apps that if used on a daily basis, can help strengthen your mind and perhaps battle dementiaäóîafter all, health experts say the cognitive exercises stimulate blood flow to the brain, making it stronger and healthier. That said, below are 4 iPhone app games that can if played on a regular basis, may just be able to keep your mind sharp throughout the years.
1. Who Has the Biggest Brain
Similar to the successful Nintendo DS game Brain Age, Who Has the Biggest Brain is a cheaper, more simplified way of giving the brain a good daily workout. What it does is give you 12 different mini games, all of which are designed to test and challenge four different parts of your brain: calculation, visual, logic, and memory. The results should be able to give you a peek into the strongest areas of your brain, as well as the areas you need to improve on. æThe game also promises to give you some insight into your rationale of thinkingäóîfor example, do you tend to think more like a scientist or an extraterrestrial? No matter what the case you can choose to play with friends or stimulate your brain solo. æPrice: 99 cents
2. Sudoku
Sudoku, the popular logic-based numerical puzzle that can typically be found in every Sunday’s national paper, comes in an “on-demand” digital form for iPhone users (no more waiting for the paper boy). It comes in various skill levels and does not repeat puzzles. Price: Free
3. Words With Friends
Similar to Scrabble, Words With Friends is a fun way to test your vocabulary and spelling. You are given a set of letters and must formulate a variety of words using only the letters given. If you’ve laid out an incorrect word, the game will immediately notify you and you must either come up with a correct spelled-word or pass your turn and lose an opportunity at earning points. You can play with people in your iPhone contact list like your son or daughter (granted they’ll need to download the app as well) or play with strangers. Price: Free
4. NYTimes CrossWords
Lastly, with NYTimes CrossWords you can further improve word recognition by solving the daily crossword puzzles that are featured in the renowned New York Times. Price: Free
Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.
Nursing Home Patients Face Higher Surgical Risk
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| Beware the surgical knife! @TS Photography, Getty Images |
Nursing home residents’ frailty puts them at a higher risk for dying after surgery a new study reports. Well no kidding. did they need a study for that? About a year ago we were about to go through surgery – neurosurgery no less – for my 90-year-old mother. Essentially for two weeks they prepared us for her dying on the table. She didn’t. Separate story but that says more about her attitude and desire to live plus some really great genes than anything else.
I digress.
Elderly nursing home residents experience more surgical complications than other elders their age. Residents typically have other advanced medical problems and may often be too frail for many ordered procedures, researchers said.
Physicians might be far too aggressive when ordering surgeries for nursing home residents, according to researchers from the University of California in San Francisco. They studied data from 70,000 nursing home residents and one million non-institutionalized Medicare beneficiaries over age 65.æ
They found that mortality rates after surgeries such as gall bladder, appendix or colon removals, as well as bleeding ulcers, were consistently higher in nursing home residents than other seniors.
Bottom line – be educated on the risk. Question your physician and the surgeons. Remember we are still under a reimbursement system that awards more procedures. And there are unscrupulous physicians who are simply out to make as much money as they possibly can. Not all. But some.æ
So be cynical and question everything.
Guides to Care Choices Available
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