Older adults’ mental health is resilient during pandemic, new study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 14, 2021
Older adults say that they are no worse off on some indicators of loneliness and overall mental health than they were five years ago, though general happiness has declined. Technology has been a coping...
Q&A: Helping your residents ‘learn like a child’
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 17, 2019
Dr. Rachel Wu says learning brand new skills is crucial to cognitive health as we age. Here, she explains how and why we should ‘learn like a child.’
COVID shot boosters for all adults will help to reduce confusion, FDA says
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 22, 2021
The FDA “heard loud and clear” that a simpler booster strategy was needed, its vaccine chief says. But the action may be too late to head off a winter virus surge, observers say.
FDA OKs third antibody COVID therapy; variants spur new pause on another
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 01, 2021
A new COVID-19 treatment made by GlaxoSmithKline now is the third monoclonal antibody therapy federally authorized to help prevent severe disease outcomes in high-risk patients. But gene variants are interfering...
Nursing home staff vaccinations get a boost thanks to New York mandate; delta ups jabs nationwide
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 29, 2021
By midnight of its Monday deadline, New York state saw vaccination rates rise to 92% among nursing home and hospital workers, according to a new report.
Dehydration plagues nursing home residents with COVID in facility study
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 16, 2021
Clinically significant dehydration is very common among residents with COVID-19 — especially those with dementia or delirium, investigators found. Care providers should be ready with IV fluids and a...
Vaccine potency wanes, but third COVID shot restores 95 percent efficacy, new data show
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 16, 2021
New data from vaccine maker Pfizer and Israel’s health ministry may help U.S. health agencies make a case for recommending COVID-19 booster shots, various sources report.
FDA calls for investigation into its approval of controversial Alzheimer’s drug
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 12, 2021
The acting chief of the Food and Drug Administration has called for an investigation into the events leading up to the approval of Biogen’s brain plaque-clearing dementia drug aducanumab (Aduhelm).
Town hall meetings reveal vaccine misinformation ‘widespread’ among SNF staff
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 29, 2021
“Outspoken” staff members from 50 skilled nursing facilities shared their vaccine concerns with investigators in a series of meetings this winter. The speed of vaccine development and infertility-...
CDC chief endorses COVID booster shots for nursing home residents, healthcare workers
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 24, 2021
Older and medically compromised adults and workers in high-risk settings should be offered third doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., said early Friday. Her decision...