According to the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), more than 20 million older adults, or one out of three seniors are volunteers.  In fact, the number of seniors aged 55 and older who volunteer have steadily increased over the last decade, up from 25.1% in 2002 to 31.2% in 2011.  And the vast majority of these senior volunteers (72.4%) are volunteering informally by doing favors for, and helping out, their neighbors.  The impact on our society is significant as older adults have provided almost 3 billion hours of service at an estimated value of $67 billion.

Older adults are also helping themselves by volunteering. A growing body of research indicates that seniors that stay active through activities such as volunteering are experiencing mental and physical health benefits that include lower mortality rates, increased strength and energy, decreased rates of depression, and fewer physical limitations. So we hope you took time out of your busy schedule to thank an older senior volunteer during Older American’s Month in May!

For more information on volunteering, visit the Corporation for National and Community Service website.

“MHealth” (mobile health) apps for patients, health care professionals, and others help consumers manage health and wellness concerns, promote healthy living, and gain access to useful information when and where needed.  These apps focus on general healthcare and fitness such as exercise and nutrition, provide medical information in the form of reference and diagnostic information, function as remote monitoring, collaboration and/or consultation, and provide health care management services such as payment support. The explosion of mHealth apps onto the health technology market may be a boon to health and wellness for our society but on the other hand, significant risk may be associated with some mHealth apps, such as when reliance on a mHealth app delays treatment or diagnosis.

In response to these concerns, a representative from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently testified before congress on how they plan to foster innovation in the development of mobile medical applications while assuring patient protections.  The plan is for the FDA to focus on mHealth apps that are intended to be used as an accessory to a regulated medical device or to transform a mobile platform into a regulated medical device.  In fact, a list of mHealth apps that have been cleared or approved by the FDA will be made available to the public on their website in the near future.

For more information, review a transcript of this recent FDA testimony.

Since 2002, the MetLife Mature Market Institute has collected national survey data on nursing home, assisted living, and home care costs, adding adult day service costs in 2007.  And the most recently released survey information from MetLife indicates rising long term care costs across the nation as well as in the state of Ohio in 2012.  Unfortunately, recent data also tells us that the cost of long-term-care continues to rise faster than the national inflation rate. 

MetLife surveyed approximately 6,700 long-term-care providers, reviewing base costs as well as bundling of costs with add-on services such as transportation and extra meals.  In Ohio, long-term-care providers in larger cities such as Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus were surveyed as well as other smaller towns in the state.  Average costs of care in Ohio were recorded as follows:

• Adult day services: $56/day or $20,440/year
  (Annual rates for adult day services are based on 5 days per week)
• Assisted living: $3,512/month or $42,144/year
• Home care (homemakers, home health aides): $19/hour, $380/week or $20,520/year
  (Annual rates for home care are based on 4 hours per day, 5 days per week.)
• Nursing home semi-private room: $203/day or $74,298
• Nursing home daily rate private room: $225/day or $82,350

To learn more about the rising costs of long-term-care, read The Wall Street Journal article “The Cost of Living Longer” or explore the Department of Health and Human Services National Clearing House for Long Term Care Information.