The Washington Post published a story and a video about Bob Soulen a well known athlete with Parkinson’s disease :”….The big first baseman trudges across the pristine infield, his walker leaving a crooked trail in the dirt. He has bandages on his knees, a bald spot where he hit his head against a door frame and an old shoulder dislocation from a spill at home… But it’s game time. The hot afternoon is giving way to the shadows of evening. And Bob Soulen, 69, who has Parkinson’s disease, is going to play some ball.

Twenty miles away, 30,000 people have streamed into Nationals Park to see Washington’s young pitching sensation, Stephen Strasburg. Here on Field No. 5 in Montgomery County’s Wheaton Regional Park, a lone fan – the wife of an opposing player – sits in the bleachers to witness a different phenomenon: an aging physicist’s determination to cling to the game of his youth.

As Soulen shuffles across the dirt, the other Mustangs are arriving, limbering up and playing catch, and Soulen is careful to lift his walker over the fresh white streak of the foul line. Like the diamond, the evening seems perfect, and in a few minutes there will be a pale moon rising over center field.

Robert J. Soulen Jr. of North Bethesda is a retired award-winning scientist who worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Naval Research Laboratory. His area of expertise is superconductivity as it relates to temperature measurement and ship propulsion.

He also plays softball in Montgomery’s senior leagues and can wax about the laws of physics as they relate to bat vs. ball…” Read the story

© Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Environmental Geriatrics is the study and application of design principles to interiors and products to optimize the health, function, and well-being of older adults.
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The Symposium on Healthy Aging will address three issues. The first is to clarify predictors of longevity among older adults in the United States, Sweden, and Japan. The second is to examine healthy aging among immigrants in the United States, Sweden, and Japan. Lastly, we will propose recommendations for health care policies for diverse older adults, making use of the perspectives from these three countries.

Please note: seating is limited, so please respond as soon as possible. RSVP with your name and email address to Kazumi Hoshino, Ph.D., planning committee member, at hoshino@berkeley.edu by September 9, 2010.

See the program

The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As of August 2010, the Wii leads the generation over the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales and in December 2009 broke the record for best-selling console in a single month in the United States.

Nintendo hoped to target a wider demographic with its console. The productions are Nintendo’s first broad-based advertising strategy and include a two-minute video clip showing a varied assortment of people enjoying the Wii system, such as urban apartment-dwellers, country ranchers, grandparents, and parents with their children.The marketing campaign has proved to be successful: pensioners,  as old as 103 have been reported to be playing the Wii in the United Kingdom.^. A report by the British newspaper The People also stated that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain has played using the Wii console!

Now,  we have data that the Wii games have brought back feelings of being young again as the participants flex their mental muscles and improve their physical fitness. The Wii is improving the quality of life of many aging seniors.

Diane Carbo, in an article written for Senior Advice, states that “…Healthy aging and a brain fitness program along with the Wii promotes the development of new skills, and helps aging seniors learn from their mistakes. The best part of using the Wii as part of a healthy aging program is the laughter and excitement you see in the faces of the participants. The environment is electric as the aging seniors enjoy familiar interests in a new format. For many seniors it feels like old times again…”

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The article explains recent data connected to the benefits of exercising regularly, keeping a diet rich in Omega 3, olive oil, and wine…yes, wine… staying cognitively engaged, and avoiding depression is ultimately the most reasonable approach  not only to prevent dementia but also “… to treat conditions like hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, obesity and diabetes…”

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This study focused on detection, investigation, and resolution of elder abuse and neglect complaints in what are known as residential care facilities (RCFs). These facilities are the most rapidly growing form of senior housing. This growth is a result both of the preferences of the elderly and their families and of public policy aimed at reducing nursing home use. RCFs are referred to by a variety of names across the states, including assisted living facilities, personal care homes, domiciliary care homes, adult congregate living facilities, adult care homes, and shelter care homes. The best estimate is that some 50,000 facilities nationwide house a mainly older population in between 900,000 and one million beds. In addition, an unknown number of unlicensed homes house a mixed population of poor older persons and individuals with mental illness. By contrast, there are about 17,000 nursing homes with 1.6 million residents.

The researchers found a lack of adequate resources in all states and all agencies, as well as deeply flawed processes. The report highlights smart practices by Ombudsmen and identifies policy suggestions, training needs, and research recommendations.

Download the U.S. Department of Justice-funded study by Hawes and Kimbell.

Baby Boomers know well these challenges and also know well this poet of the Brazilian music. Caetano Veloso has been called the Bob Dylan of Brazil — a popular musician who has made staggering artistic and intellectual contributions to his country. The New York Times recently dubbed him “Brazil’s unofficial poet laureate”.

Veloso is consistently one of the most literate and beguiling forces in music. To see him in person is to see a sinuous, warm and joyous show in which Veloso’s vocals are backed by a young and edgy band.  Seeing him aging so gracefully and maintaining his core values is refreshing. For Veloso family is everything and he is very close to another DIVA of Brazilian music, his sister Maria Bethania, both always look for young band players who bring new styles to old rhythms reminding us constantly that old and young play together an important role for a rich community.

Caetano and Maria Bethania, are very close to their mother and they say their love for music comes from her with whom, they love to sing.  They do not shy away from politics or for family values. A great way to follow!

See them on a video with their mother

Veloso says, about his own aging: “I’m beginning to be an old man,” Veloso says. “It’s something that can excite you, because you get curious to see how changes go. You lose a lot, but you can gain a lot, too.”

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