I recently wrote about the need to plan ways to transfer your digital assets to heirs, particularly in light of the increased deployment of two-factor authentication

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics recently released estimates for Life Expectancy at Birth in the United States for 2020: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR015-508.pdf.  As might be expected during the COVID-19 pandemic, the figures are grim.  We have lost about 1.5 years of life expectancy, with subgroups such as Latinos and African Americans experiencing even worse declines: 3 years and 2.9 years, respec

You may have seen news stories about the controversy over the newest Alzheimer’s Disease drug, Aduhelm/aducanumab, recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-grants-accelerated-approval-alzheimers-drug and later defended in a press release by the FDA after intense criticism:

Aaron Wilber, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and is affiliated with the Program in Neuroscience. He is a Faculty Affiliate of the Institute for Successful Longevity.

Amy L. Ai, Ph.D., is a professor in the College of Social Work and a Faculty Affiliate of the Institute for Successful Longevity. She is also Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, American Psychologist Association, and Association of Psychological Science. In 2020, the American Psychological Association’s Division 56 (Trauma Psychology) honored her with its Outstanding Science Award. Professor Ai will give a presentation on her research December 6 as part of the ISL Brown Bag Series.

 More and more people 65 and older are fortunate to be receiving their first doses of Covid-19 vaccine with more doses hopefully released soon for the rest of the population. If you are one of the lucky pioneers with the first approved vaccines, congratulations on getting a dose, or doses, as this is the first step down a long road toward rolling back the pandemic.

If you are like me, you have valuable data assets stored in electronic devices such as computers, smartphones, and tablets.  As more and more of our transactions have become electronic our heirs may face enormous challenges recovering that information after we die or become incapacitated.  The challenges are increasing with two-factor authentication (2FA) processes guarding our devices and accounts.

Accessible transportation is essential for successful aging, because quality of life cannot be sustained unless older adults have reliable and affordable access to social, medical, and other essential services. This is why Dial-A-Ride is vital to many older adults and why my research team created a prototype mobile app for Dial-A-Ride users.

There is another serious epidemic silently spreading in America: senior invisibility.  Nearly everyone except for essential workers experienced “early retirement” from everyday activities, at least for a while, when stay-at-home orders went into effect across the country.