The International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) is sponsoring Active Aging Week September 22 - 28. The theme is ''Choose an Active Life!'' This annual health promotion event is dedicated to introducing older adults to a healthy and active lifestyle. Get in on the fun by planning some events in your community that encourage ...

Fall-induced traumatic brain injuries caused almost 8,000 deaths and 56,000 hospitalizations in 2005 among Americans 65 and older, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the June issue of the Journal of Safety Research. In 2005, TBIs were responsible for 50 percent of unintentional fall deaths and 8 percent of nonfatal ...

Acting under his authority in the Public Health Service Act, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today declared a public health emergency in the flood-stricken states of Iowa and Indiana. The action gives CMS Medicare beneficiaries and their health care providers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs, according to an HHS news ...

A recent article in the Washington Post explores how certain games and other activities can help family members form more meaningful connections with loved ones who have dementia. Researchers conducted a study on 33 families, and found that satisfaction was higher after playing one of the new board games with a relative with dementia than after ...

Norovirus, often called the ''stomach flu,'' often shows its face this time of year. Most people realize it's highly contagious but, for the first time, U.S. health officials report it can be spread from contact on computer keyboards and computer mice. With several people sharing computers in long-term care facilities, and the push towards ...

Research from the November 2007 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that fish intake, in particular the intake of dietary omega-3 fatty acids in fish, may improve cognitive performance. And the more fish, the better. The subjects who consumed more fish scored better on cognitive performance tests than those whose ate ...

To help older adults search for and find credible health information online, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) has developed a free training curriculum for people who teach and work with older adults. The Toolkit for Trainers, which is now available on http://nihseniorhealth.gov/, can be an addition to computer training programs at public ...

In my last post on Sara Gruen's book ''Water for Elephants,'' I discussed the book's main character, 93-year-old Jacob, who lives in a long-term care facility. In the chapter where Jacob recounts his family's decision to send him to the facility, he says the dialogue between him and his children went like this: ''It's not a nursing home, they ...

The State of Seniors Housing 2007, an annual publication produced by The American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA), the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) and the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry (NIC), reports that senior housing occupancy rates are up. The publication ...