What We’re Reading October 30, 2017 - Declaration for Independence

Women and Agng | Wisconsin Public Radio

Our guest says there’s a persistent cultural stigma around the aging process for women. She shares ideas about how women can feel better about getting older.

Older Americans Encouraged to Get Updated Shingles Vaccination | NBC News 10 Philadephipa

A federal panel recommended Wednesday that older people already vaccinated for shingles get a new, better shot. The advisory group said the just-approved vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline works better at preventing shingles and may last longer than the one that’s been sold in the U.S. since 2006. Shingles, a painful condition that causes blisters, occurs when the chickenpox virus resurfaces decades later, often when people are in their 60s or older. About 1 in 3 U.S. residents will get it during their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Student won’t let Disability Slow Him Down | The Setonian

Gregory Lobo was born with Spina Bifida, had surgery after he was born and has been wheelchair bound his entire life. While this may hinder some, it is not even a speed bump in Lobo’s life. “Because it’s all I’ve ever known, it doesn’t affect me the same way it might if I had gotten hurt,” said Lobo, a sophomore history major.

Why Discrimination Is a Health Issue | Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

What does the pervasiveness of discrimination mean for health? Social scientist David Williams explains the physiological response to stress and why a good education or high-paying job doesn’t necessarily protect from its effects.

Here’s what happened when we gave a Baby Boomer two fitness trackers | NBC Tech

Older Americans are optimistic about health and fitness-tracking wearables, but are struggling to use them. Millions of baby boomers could benefit from increased motivation to exercise and better nutrition. They are also the ideal targets for new features that aim to screen for health conditions that are more common with age. Apple, for instance, is working with Stanford on a study to use the Apple Watch to detect a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation that occurs in 3 to 5 percent of people over 65.

Disability tech goes mainstream |The Financial Times

Buried in the settings of an iPhone are a range of functions that go unnoticed by many users. These powerful features are designed for partially sighted people but are of value to a much wider group. The “accessibility” controls — and their equivalents on other smartphones — include making characters bold, inverting the colours of the text and background, enhancing brightness and zooming on screen to ease readability. They are among a range of “assistive technologies” that are no longer just a costly afterthought but an integral element in the design of products — and one that has a broad impact on how they are used.

Thousands share their invisible disabilities on Twitter | BBC News

Using the hashtag #InvisiblyDisabledLooksLike, Twitter users across the world with hidden disabilities have been sharing pictures and stories to challenge society’s perceptions. Many people live with hidden disabilities – a physical, mental, sensory or neurological condition which don’t have physical signs but are painful, exhausting and isolating. They must also deal with the frustration, misunderstandings and false perceptions arising from the unseen nature of their conditions.

Scientists Have Discovered A Pathway That Controls Aging | Wall Street Pit

A new molecular pathway that holds a key to anti-aging has been discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans, a type of roundworm. A high level of KLF proteins are linked with a body process called autophagy, a self-degradative process that clears out cellular debris, misfolded proteins and metabolic wastes. People notice the first signs of aging when the body loses the ability to perform this clearing process that is important for balancing sources of energy in response to nutrient stress.

Americans Are Retiring Later, Dying Sooner and Sicker In-Between | Bloomberg

The U.S. retirement age is rising, as the government pushes it higher and workers stay in careers longer. But lifespans aren’t necessarily extending to offer equal time on the beach. Data released last week suggest Americans’ health is declining and millions of middle-age workers face the prospect of shorter, and less active, retirements than their parents enjoyed. Here are the stats: The U.S. age-adjusted mortality rate—a measure of the number of deaths per year—rose 1.2 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to the Society of Actuaries. That’s the first year-over-year increase since 2005, and only the second rise greater than 1 percent since 1980.

Assessing Betsy DeVos’s Tollback on Disabiltiy Rights | Pacific Standard Magazine

Last January, Betsy DeVos went before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and delivered what may have been the worst performance of a potential cabinet secretary in modern history. She didn’t seem to know anything about federal education policy, which wasn’t surprising on its own: Her track record as a school-choice advocate in Michigan had emphasized privatization and theocracy, rather than pursuit of high-quality public education. Worse, from my perspective as the parent of a disabled child, she was specifically ignorant about special education, an arena where her prospective office has outsized influence. She got confirmed anyway, if narrowly.

Thrive Innovation Center opens its doors to showcase aging in place tech | Modern health News

The Thrive Innovation Center in Louisville, Kentucky opened today. The Center is a nonprofit dedicated to showcasing new aging in place technologies in partnership with tech companies like Samsung, CDW Healthcare, Lenovo, and Aruba, as well as a number of aging tech startups.

Deaf Painter Discusses Being an Artist with a Disability | The Huffington Post

According to a 2012 Census report, 56.7 million Americans have a disability. This figure translates to roughly 19 percent of the population – making people with disabilities the largest minority group in the country. But despite the size of this demographic, people with disabilities have the lowest numbers of educational attainment and work participation – facts that queer and deaf artist Bex knows all too well, and believes heavily impacts artists with disabilities.

Disability rights organisations ‘welcome’ Tommy Hilfiger’s new clothing collection for disabled adults | The Telegraph (UK)

American designer Tommy Hilfiger has announced plans to expand his fashion collections and offer sartorial solutions for disabled adults – a proposal that has received a great response from leading disability rights organisations in the UK. Hilfiger’s new ‘Adaptive’ offering, which is available now on the US website and is intended to eventually roll out worldwide, consists of 37 men’s and 34 women’s styles with features like velcro and magnetic fastenings to eliminate any difficulties users may have faced with buttons or zips, as well as adjustable openings and seams on legs and necklines to accommodate different body shapes and prosthetic limbs.

Aging With Purpose In America Is Highly Underestimated | Forbes

At the heart of ageism is the assumption that, because of incapacity or low motivation, older adults contribute little to the world. A view of aging that highlights decline offset by the dubious rewards of self-indulgence and freedom from responsibility reinforces that ageist assumption.

Everything You Should Know About Designing a Home for Aging in Place | Architectural Digest

Senior citizens make up the country’s fastest-growing population, according to the latest U.S. census results. They’re outpacing the growth of the general population at a rate of 15.1 percent to 9.7 percent, and the total number of individuals over 65 is projected to nearly double before 2050. In anticipation of this trend’s impact, New York City’s Department for the Aging released an Aging in Place Guide in 2016 outlining how simple design choices can allow seniors to safely live independently for longer. “The guide is part of an effort to make NYC a better place to grow older,” said Zenovia Earle, director of public affairs for the DFTA, in reference to the city’s broader-reaching age-friendly NYC initiative.

Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month

For the Cost of Repealing the Estate Tax, Congress Could Buy Everyone in America a Pony | Talk Poverty

You know how you’ve always wanted a pony? How as a child you dreamed of feeding carrots and sugar cubes out of the palm of your hand to a little chestnut-colored horse named Maple?

It may sound fanciful to adults, but President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress put together a wish list of tax cuts for the wealthy that are far more extravagant than ponies. It turns out for the cost of just one of these tax cuts—repealing the tax on wealthy estates—we could literally buy every single American a pony.

The films that are telling the truth about disability | The Guardian

Nothing about us, without us!” – a powerful statement of engagement, created during the disability riots that led to the creation of the Disability Discrimination Act in the UK in 1995, but does it still have relevance today? I have worked as a disabled actor, writer and producer for the last 10 years and I would argue that the phrase “nothing about us, without us” has never been more important.

Accessibility and the Kids Who Go to Shows | Medium

You know how everyone in high school has at least one clique they belong to? One that shapes their adolescent identity? (Think of that iconic lunchroom scene from Mean Girls.) I had a few, for sure, but one of my primary groups was the Kids Who Go To Shows. We were like pre-hipsters and our identity, as you might guess, was based around going to concerts. I took pride in discovering a band before anyone heard about them, going to see shows in small bars in and around San Francisco, and — if I was lucky — hanging out with the musicians after a concert. I went to more concerts in high school than I can count and saw hundreds of bands live. To this day, some of my favourite groups are the ones I had never heard of before I saw them open for someone bigger.

The information and links provided here are a courtesy. The National Advisory Board does not necessarily endorse or share the views contained in any article, report or web site. No link provided here should be considered an endorsement of any opinion, product or service that may be offered in the article or at the linked-to site.