Britain trials virtual reality time travel to combat dementia

More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s or similar illnesses, and that number is growing as the population ages - without any immediate prospect of a cure, advocacy groups have begun promoting ways to offer people with dementia a comfortable decline instead of imposing on them a medical model of care, which seeks to defer death through escalating interventions. An Arizona nursing home offers new ways to care for people with dementia.

A few adult children have found that the simplest arrangement can be found in an apartment at the same retirement community, as it enables them to care for their elderly parents efficiently.

More retirement and nursing homes are asking college students to move in, an arrangement that benefits everyone. Students stay free of charge in exchange for volunteering to help the seniors.

These days, most rural communities in the U.S. are elderly communities - 15 percent of Wyoming’s population is over 65 and a high percentage of them live on ranches in small towns. New caregiver programs allow seniors to continue living at home and to keep doing what they are able, with assistance provided if needed.

To break through gridlock on fair housing, city planners, citizens, and government officials in wealthy Westchester County, New York, try a new tactic: Using a simulation game to try out different development scenarios. The result has been increased civic participation and efficiency.

Through the Burbank Senior Artists Colony - a community created by EngAGE - low-income seniors learn how to become artists. The recreational classes hosted by the community keep people feeling phsyically and mentally young, allowing them to focus on recreation instead of financial hardship.

Game inventors have created a new game to help students who suffer from ADHD and other mental problems develop and stimulate their brains in a safer, more targeted way than normal medicines.

In Saudi Arabia, female gamers were barred from gaming conventions so an all-female gaming convection was born, offering women a place of self expression and encouraging careers in science and computer programming.

The U.S. prison population is aging, which is costly because older inmates need more care. Some states have responded by creating special wards, having the young inmates care for the old, or building nursing homes.

In Honduras, tens of thousands of people have hearing disabilities. The National Autonomous University of Honduras has developed software that converts spoken language into an avatar on the computer who signs for the hearing impaired. Teachers in classrooms can teach hearing impaired students with this new software.