Geriatrics

Family and friends are the invisible workforce in long-term care

Family and friends continue to provide substantial amounts of care in nursing homes, amounting to an invisible workforce, providing more than an extra “shift” of care every week in nursing homes and two “shifts” in assisted living facilities, a new study finds.

From Penn LDI

Older adults’ access to primary care during the pandemic

Older patients who accessed primary care via telemedicine had lower hospitalization rates, but racial disparities in outcomes of in-person primary care persist, with Black older adults more likely to be hospitalized after a telemedicine visit.

From Penn LDI

Nursing home staffing during the pandemic

While the pandemic hit nursing homes especially hard, one area it did not suffer is in staffing. A new study finds that staffing levels in nursing homes did not decrease during the pandemic.

From Penn LDI

A new vision for the Population Aging Research Center

For more than 25 years, PARC has been a hub for work on disparities in aging and mortality. Co-directors Hans-Peter Kohler and Norma Coe, who took over in July, want to expand its reach.

Michele W. Berger



In the News


CNN

Have this talk with your parents now to reduce heartache later

A 2017 study of 800,000 Americans by the Perelman School of Medicine found that only 29% had completed a living will detailing their care wishes and only 33% had designated a health care power of attorney.

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Wired

A new blood test may predict your Alzheimer’s risk. Should you take it?

Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine cautions that the uncertainty of learning one’s Alzheimer’s risk from test results might be difficult for some people to handle.

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Men’s Health

How saunas benefit your brain

Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine says that saunas aren’t a silver bullet for dementia but might represent one of several combined ways to counteract it.

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The Scientist

Integrate and innovate with NGS and multiomics

A group of researchers from Penn found that protective pathways involved in healthy aging are disabled to initiate epigenetic changes that drive Alzheimer’s disease.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

We can’t drug our way out of despair over Alzheimer’s

Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine wrote an opinion piece calling for a more holistic approach to funding Alzheimer’s research and care. “We do need effective drug treatments,” he said. “But short of cures, patients need services and supports.”

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The New York Times

In reversal, FDA calls for limits on who gets Alzheimer’s drug

Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine weighed in on revised FDA guidance on a new Alzheimer’s drug and calls for an investigation into its approval and price. “This event only adds to the importance of having those congressional hearings to figure out what’s going on at F.D.A. and why they’re doing this,” he said.

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