If you've ever visited a loved one in a dementia care facility, it probably didn't look anything like Hogeweyk, located in an Amsterdam suburb. That's because Hogeweyk is less of a facility and more of a village. "If it looked like a typical Dutch town — with a restaurant (which is open to the public), a theater, a pub and a cluster of quaint two-story brick townhomes on a gridded street map — well, that’s the point. Many of the people here don’t realize that they are living in the world’s first so-called 'dementia village,' and it can be difficult for visitors to tell the difference between the residents and the plainclothes staff." NYT (Gift Article): As Cases Soar, ‘Dementia Villages’ Look Like the Future of Home Care. Even these much better care scenarios can't keep up with our aging society and the increase in dementia cases. "Over the past decade, as the number of dementia cases has exploded worldwide, more 'dementia villages' and senior 'microtowns' have opened across the globe. But experts worry that if the senior-care community is going to keep pace with diagnoses, there will have to be another major paradigm shift, and quickly. In essence, they want the Hogeweyks of the future to not just resemble real towns, but to be real towns." 2Under PlunderAs America ages, health care will become an increasingly big need, and an increasingly big business. Those two things don't always go well together. Financiers bought up anesthesia practices, then raised prices. "The company raised prices for its services - one by nearly 30 percent in its first year in Colorado - and continued raising them for several years, according to interviews and confidential company documents obtained by The Washington Post. The price hikes boosted patient bills and pushed up insurance rates, former company physicians and managers said. Eventually, some of the company’s own doctors became disillusioned, physicians said, with about 1 in 3 leaving the company over a three-year period." (When you count backwards from 10, your savings account is doing the same thing...) 3No Plan is an Island"For two straight days, the global average temperature spiked into uncharted territory. After scientists talked about Monday’s dramatic heat, Tuesday soared 0.17 degrees Celsius (0.31 degrees Fahrenheit) even hotter, which is a huge temperature jump in terms of global averages and records." Monday may have set a global record for the hottest day ever. Tuesday broke it. 4A Court in the Storm"They have known each other for 50 years now, outlasting most marriages. Aside from blood kin, Navratilova points out, 'I've known Chris longer than anybody else in my life, and so it is for her.' Lately, they have never been closer - a fact they refuse to cheapen with sentimentality. "It's been up and down, the friendship,' Evert says. At the ages of 68 and 66, respectively, Evert and Navratilova have found themselves more intertwined than ever, by an unwelcome factor. You want to meet an opponent who draws you nearer in mutual understanding? Try having cancer at the same time." Sally Jenkins: Bitter rivals. Beloved friends. Survivors. 5Extra, ExtraDivided We Fall: On July 4th, Americans once again celebrated independence. But this time, it was from each other. Conservatives go to red states and liberals go to blue as the country grows more polarized. 6Bottom of the NewsIf you're one of those people who's scared to get on roller coasters, your cowardice has been validated. Carowinds roller coaster shut down after crack found in support pillar. (You've got to see it to believe it.) And, "a summer amusement turned into a serious nightmare on Sunday, after a roller coaster malfunctioned in midair, trapping eight passengers upside down for several hours." Get a copy of my 📕, Please Scream Inside Your Heart, or grab a 👕 in the Store.
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