A Do-It-Yourself Community Called Co-Housing

Suite 101 reports on a new community idea called co-housing. Co-housing comes from an idea started in Denmark in which residents live in private apartments or homes; however they share green space, recreation areas and a common house. They also share a philosophy of participation which has no religious, political or ideological requirements.

Read more: http://americanaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/a_doityourself_community_called_cohousing#ixzz0TGhJbyUt

Hairstylists Often Privy to Older Clients' Health Issues

Forbes reports on a study that demonstrates that hairstylists often are aware of older clients health problems and can be instrumental in steering them towards health-care services.

Full report is available
Link to abstract from Journal of Applied Gerontology

Balancing Money, Medicine, and Meaning

MetLife Mature Market Institute looks at life priorities, what constitutes "the good life" for older Americans.

Full report is available

Long-Term Care IQ: Removing Myths, Reinforcing Realities

MetLife Mature Market Institute has released the results of a survey which examined Americans' knowledge about long-term care. The study shows knowledge gaps: only 21% of survey participants scored 70% or higher, and on average,
the respondents correctly answered just over half of the quiz questions.

Full report is available
Quiz is available

Kaiser Family Foundation on Medicare

Kaiser Family Foundation presents two reports on Medicare economic issues:

Strategies for Reining In Medicare Spending Through Delivery System Reforms: Assessing the Evidence and Opportunities discusses proposed reforms that would stabilize Medicare.

Medicare Savings in Perspective: A Comparison of 2009 Health Reform Legislation and Other Laws in the Last 15 Years examines proposed Medicare savings in America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.

Building Adult Foster Care: What States Can Do

AARP examines adult foster care as an alternative to institutional long-term care. The report looks at programs started in Oregon and Washington as examples of the impact of these programs.

Full report is available

Preserving Affordability and Access in Livable Communities: Subsidized Housing Opportunities near Transit and the 50+ Population

AARP's Public Policy Institute discusses the need for transit-oriented developments - compact, walkable, mixed-use communities that are developed around high-quality public transportation. Five urban environments (Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul) were analyzed in detail to determine the issues surrounding the location of affordable housing

Full report is available

Publications from World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe

In How can health systems respond to population ageing?, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe examines policy options for the issues that will result from a decline in the working population, at the same time as there is an increase in the number of individuals making demands on the health and pension systems.

How can European states design efficient, equitable and sustainable funding systems for long-term care for older people? looks at pending rises in expenditures for long term care, and the policy changes that can help circumvent problems.

Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly

Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research has released a dataset of community-dwelling Mexican-Americans, aged 65 years and older, residing in the five southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Free registration is required to view data.

Link to dataset

Life Course Vaccination

The International Longevity Center looks at ways to improve immunization rates of adults.

Policy Brief is available

Transitions to Independent Living Communities: Life Satisfaction and Later Life Happiness

The International Longevity Center presents the results of a workshop from June of 2009 which encourages further research on ways of making the transition into assisted living environments more satisfactory.

Full report is available

The Future of Living: Independently

The International Longevity Center examines the challenges facing consumers and policymakers in creating an environment conducive to independent living. The report contains recommendations for the ideal independent living environment.

Full report is available
Report from Canada News