Editor’s Picks: Aging Affects Everything

Readers were hot on the update that Silverado’s COO Shamim Wu stepped down from her role, and that 100 communities are set to roll out a new bistro concept from Sodexo.

 

Here in the newsroom, a new study that says humans probably won’t increase their lifespans beyond 115 years caught our eye, as did an article from The Atlantic about the deep impact of aging on the economy. 

 

 

Silverado President Shamim Wu Exits Company—Less than a year after assuming the role of president and chief operating officer at memory care giant Silverado, Shamim Wu has left the company. Wu and Silverado Chairman and CEO Loren Shook mutually agreed upon the separation last week.

 

100 Communities to Roll Out New Senior Living Bistro Model—Senior living operators have been experimenting with a variety of new dining options in recent years, including wine bars, rooftop restaurants and grab-and-go markets. Now one of these on-trend offerings, bistros, is set to become even bigger, thanks to a new offering being rolled out by a major senior living dining services provider, Sodexo. 

 

Court Revives Brookdale $35 Million Medicare Fraud Case—Following a long investigation and dismissal of Medicare fraud allegations brought against the nation’s largest senior housing provider in 2012, the case against Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) was given another look last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals. The whistleblower case accused the company of approximately $35 million in Medicare fraud related to home health payments.

 

How One Provider Has Kept Executive Director Turnover at Zero—Turnover among executive directors is a sore subject in the senior housing industry, but one provider has managed to keep turnover at an all-time low—zero. Now, the company is entering a growth phase and hopes to prolong that perfect streak even with more communities. 

 

 

The Invisible Revolution: How Aging is Quietly Changing America—The population of elderly Americans continues to expand every day, yet the issues related to aging and their affect on the economy should be given more attention on the election circuit and in Washington D.C., according to The Atlantic. “The greying of America will touch every station of economic and political life: the size of the labor force, the jobs the economy will require, the ethnic makeup of the country and productivity of the workforce. In short, aging affects everything,” the article reads.

 

Why the Next 20 Years Will See a Lot Less Technological Disruption Than the Past 20—Advancements in technology have helped push new limits of science and medicine, resulting in breakthroughs in health, wellness and aging. However, the IT revolution that may be over, according to one expert. 

 

My Son Loves Visiting His Grandmother, But Does an 8-Year-Old Belong in a Nursing Home?—A mother writes of her worries of exposing her son to aging and dying in frequent visits to his grandmother.

 

102-Year-Old Crosses ‘Arrest’ Off Her Bucket List—At 102 years old, Edie Simms was able to fulfill a long-time goal of getting arrested after being handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car. Though she didn’t commit a crime, her wish came true thanks to efforts from local law enforcement and Five Star Senior Center in St. Louis.

 

What’s the Longest Humans Can Live? 115 Years, New Study Says—Though the average human lifespan has risen over the last several centuries, the limit of human life appears to be around 115 years old, a new study has found. “It seems likely we have reached our ceiling. …Humans will never get older than 115,” Dr. Veijg, an expert on aging at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told The New York Times.

 

Doll Therapy May Help Calm People With Dementia, But It Has Critics—Playing and taking care of dolls may help people with dementia as a sort of therapy and a way to ease anxiety, but some worry the practice is demeaning for older adults and may infantilize seniors, an NPR story explores.