Geriatrics | Penn Today

Two women and a man playing large bongo drums.

Can music improve anxiety and depression for people with memory disorders?

That’s the aim of a recently completed pilot program connecting Penn Memory Center patients, Penn graduate students, and Curtis Institute musicians.

Banks monitor older customers for cognitive decline

The Perelman School of Medicine’s Jason Karlawish said that banks notifying health-care professionals when older clients show signs of decline would help doctors make diagnoses and better protect account holders.

old photo album in the lap of an elderly person

Breaking the cycle of despair for people with dementia

A new book dissects the challenge of living with the disease for individuals who have it, and for their caregivers.

Penn and Drexel experts see hope for better lives with dementia

The School of Nursing’s Nancy Hodgson has co-authored a new book, Better Living with Dementia, which emphasizes supporting patients through all stages of the disease.

‘Alarming’ diabetes epidemic in Guatemala tied to aging, not obesity

A new study by Penn Center for Global Health, published in PLOS One, finds that 25 percent of the large indigenous population in Guatemala has either type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes.

How to bring the ballot to aging Americans

The Perelman School’s Jason Karlawish discussed the ethical imperative to help nursing-home residents vote in elections. Karlawish proposed that mobile voting could improve participation.

How to Know When It’s Time for Hospice

Susan Foster and Nina O’Connor of the Penn Wissahickon Hospice, Scott Halpern of Penn’s Palliative and Advanced Illness Research Center, and Salimah Meghani of the School of Nursing were all interviewed about hospice and end of life care.

Penn Integrates Knowledge professor George Demiris takes a two-pronged approach to research: One examines the family caregivers of hospice patients, their stress and anxiety levels, and their input into the decision-making process. The second relates to technology and aging, specifically smart homes and how passive-monitoring systems—sensors that track motion, for instance—can figure into someone’s life.

Technology, aging patients, and the people who care for them

In a quest to ease the care process for older adults and the very sick, as well as their family-member caregivers, PIK professor George Demiris is studying the intersection of smart-home technologies and health informatics.

Old and Ageist: So Many Older People Have Prejudices About Their Peers—and Themselves

The School of Nursing’s Nancy Hodgson spoke about her experience working in a Baltimore retirement community, where residents at the independent level often resisted sharing space with older and more disabled residents.

When a loved one’s memory diminishes, these caregivers are here to help

A group of Social Policy and Practice interns provides social and emotional support for patients diagnosed with memory loss or other neurological or physical impairments.

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