BISMARCK, N.D. — As they age, most people want to remain independent for as long as they can. To do that, though, they often need help. Where that help comes from, however, can sometimes be a fraught issue. One local organization is trying to bridge that gap — and creating bonds between young and old in the process.

Chances are that if you have been exposed to senior care to any extent - whether you are a caregiver, a family member or a senior yourself - you have probably interacted with a social worker. The question is, though, do you really know what that person does? Because March marks Social Workers' Month, now is the perfect time to explore exactly what these helpful professionals accomplish on a day-to-day basis so that we can understand just how valuable they are when it comes to keeping senior living running like clockwork.

IAHSA Executive Director, Katie Smith Sloan, recently participated in the inaugural Global Aging & Technology Summit sponsored by the UNC Gillings School of Global Health, Cambridge University, MIT AgeLab, and Carol Woods Retirement Community, an IAHSA member. Forty-six experts from around the world gathered to:

In a development that would astound Confucius, special housing complexes for the elderly are springing up in China. They are a blip statistically, but an astonishing blip. For centuries, ancient traditions dictated that children were responsible for taking care of their elders, and children obeyed. Several generations often lived under one roof.

BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- As the only country in the world with a senior population of more than 100 million, China has to look at different ways of caring for the elderly.

China’s looming need for services and facilities to cater to its fast growing population of seniors seems to present an ideal business opportunity: Demand clearly outstrips supply, and the government is welcoming foreign and private help in this area. The government’s current “Five Year Plan” names senior care as a high priority issue. The key missing factor, so far, has been a successful business model.

Recently, the Zhangjiagang municipal bureau of civil affairs and Shanghai Nursing Care, China’s first professional service company that provides various integrative services to care for the elderly, signed an agreement to co-construct a professional platform for elderly care services.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong on Sunday called for efforts to develop health care for the elderly. Liu made the remarks while inspecting a nursing home in Beijing, on the day when 600,000 medical staff started a nationwide week-long campaign to provide free medical consultation for the public across the country.

BEIJING — China has the world’s largest population of citizens over age 65 and in the coming decades their numbers are expected to quickly grow. Already, officials are struggling to cope with the rising numbers of elderly at a time when there is a shortage of nursing home beds and certified caregivers.

According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 20 million Americans practice some form of meditation to achieve greater peace of mind and enhanced sense of well-being. Now studies of the neurological differences between meditators and non-meditators, and studies of immune cell aging via telomere length in meditators and non-meditators, show that meditation can also affect the way we age.

Making a move to a senior housing community may be infused with excitement, indecision, questions about identity, and physical exhaustion. Many of these same thoughts and feelings are provoked during any relocation to a new home at any stage of life. The difference lies in the congregate style of housing and the availability of onsite medical and assistive support in the new home. Some residents describe the move as an opportunity for friendships and optimizing life without the hassles of managing a home, while others struggle to adapt to the change (Carroll and Qualls, 2013).

Wang Jinling used to spend most of her days at home. Arthritis was the stated reason, according to the 82-year-old Beijing resident. But the real reason was "I didn't have a place to go to have fun", she said.

As those of the post-1980 generation become the main breadwinners in China, one of the biggest questions is how the country will be able to support old people, who account for an ever growing proportion of the population.

2013 is considered to be the first year of the silver industry development era in China. Favorable policies of elderly care from central and local government accelerated the industry market development. Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities have introduced policies for land usage of caring facility, which removed the land barrier on the silver industry’s development path. Pushed by huge market demand, silver industry sees a rocketing growth.

In face of a fast-growing aging population in Hong Kong, the Chief Executive in his 2014 Policy Address outlined a strategic and a holistic blueprint for elderly care policy.