Top 3 Senior Living Topics for 2016

Dementia, you have our attention…finally.  The world realizes that the rate of dementia care is spinning out of control world-wide and now has allies committed to spending hundreds of millions, even billions, if you believe the reports out of some camps for U.S. presidency, to bring solutions to a leading cause of death and growing health care system financial albatross in many countries.  The world Alzheimer’s Report in August 2015 estimated there are currently nearly 47 million with dementia around the world, with numbers set to increase to nearly 75 million by 2030 and over 130 million by 2050.  In 2010, the same group estimated the societal and economic costs to be around $600 million.  Now, five years later, the estimated cost is closer to $820 billion worldwide, a 35% increase, with over a trillion dollars of cost expected by 2018.  http://www.alz.co.uk/news/world-alzheimer-report-2015-reveals-global-cost-of-dementia-set-to-reach-usd-1-trillion-by-2018.    

Help Wanted.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics for the United States shows huge need in the growth of people to provide support to our aging population.  The problem is the people who are choosing this career path are not keeping up with demand.  In part, new requirements to complete certification requirements (which may cost someone upwards of $1000 once preparatory classes, test fees, and license fees are paid) are deterring people from this path. Then there is the work relative to the pay. Many in the industry make just around $21,000 a year in a career which often involves very intimate and body-ache inducing care.  Add onto this the sentiment towards immigrant populations in the United States (and around the world) who according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) report in 2013 estimated made up in the U.S. 28% of the in-home health care workforce.  The more restrictions on immigration, the more reports of a society not welcoming people to our country, the less likely we can manage the growing amount of work and support that our seniors do and will require.    

Genetics to the Rescue!  Or at least genetics become more and more the answer as people turn to their history to find medicines and foods that will help to combat illnesses and stay healthier longer.   In 2013, company 23andme.com was asked to halt sales of its DNA testing kits.  Now 23andme.com is confidently pushing forward with FDA acceptable practices and joined by a myriad of new companies such as Arivale who will tell you all you want to know about yourself and how to use the information for the betterment of your health.