U.S.News & World Report Tumblelog

The Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies just released another one. It appears that Americans are listening to the constant warnings and have devised a new retirement plan: working. According to the Transamerica study, 54 percent of survey respondents expect to continue working past the age of 65. And 39 percent of current employees plan to work past the age of 70 or not retire at all. Planning not to retire is not a retirement plan.

Determine your final wishes. Social scientists who have studied people in their final days report how helpful it is when a person has made the key decisions about the end of their life well in advance. Often, people are not able to make sound decisions as they near death. They often have physical and mental impairments that make such work impossible. Their families may have to make these calls for them, adding a lot of stress to what is already a difficult situation. So, would you like to die at home, in a hospital, or perhaps in a hospice facility (you probably can have hospice at home or in a hospital setting as well)? Have you executed the proper documents providing your spouse or a family member with the authority to make medical decisions should you become incapacitated? Does this person know your preferences for end-of-life care? Do you want to be buried or cremated, or perhaps donate your body to science? Is there a final resting place you have in mind? Who’s going to provide an obituary to your hometown newspaper, and what do you want it to say? Setting aside time to make these decisions will hardly rank among your happiest memories. But you will be providing your family an invaluable gift—allowing them to focus on the loving aspects of your life, not the hassles of wondering how you’d like things handled when you die.

At Geisinger Medical Center, nurses affiliated with Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders, a national geriatric program, began experimenting with what they call “baby doll therapy.” The therapy includes offering dolls to elderly patients, including those with complex medical conditions who might have physical and mental limitations, and in some cases dementia or delirium — conditions that sometimes lead to people becoming agitated during routine care.

Over an average of five years, those who were the most socially active experienced only one-fourth the rate of cognitive decline as those with the lowest levels of social activity. The effect was independent of other factors that can play a role in cognitive decline, such as age, physical activity and general health.

Continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) offer a full range of services—independent living, assisted living and care for disabled residents, and often dementia care as well. These are often the most expensive facilities for seniors, and they’ve had to scramble the hardest to cope with the downturn.

Most people already know the cultural advantages of learning foreign languages, but now it appears there are also health benefits to being able to speak in more than one tongue, said lead researcher Magali Perquin, of the Center for Health Studies from the Public Research Center for Health in Luxembourg.

“People who practice different languages might develop particular cognitive processes that may help them to be more resistant to brain aging and cognitive decline when getting old,” Perquin added. “It might even provide additional motivation to learn new languages, which is quite interesting.”

Start by forgetting what sex was when you were younger. Your body has changed, and so should your expectations.