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T h e F r i e n d l i e s t C i t y i n A m e r i c a , a c c o r d i n g t o U S A T o d a y , i s M u r r a y , K y ”
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B a r d s t o w n , K y , i s r a n k e d b y R a n d M c N a l l y a s t h e M o s t B e a u t i f u l S m a l l C i t y i n A m e r i c a ”
The Aging Care Crisis
In the time it took you to read this sentence,
another person just turned 65. It’s a reality
that will continue fromnowuntil 2025, as the
Baby Boomer generation continues reaching
that golden age at a staggering rate of 11,000
per day. This growing aging population is also
living longer than ever before. Finding new
ways to provide care and services to that
community is an immediate challenge, but
one that’s beingmet by Kentucky.
With the nation’s largest collection of
headquarters in nursing home, rehabilitation,
assisted living and home health
administration, Louisville is a world leader in
lifelong wellness and senior care. Among that
collection of caregivers is Humana Inc.,
which continues to dreamup newways to
help Boomers fight obesity, fromdesigning
Dancetown—a dance pad video game
specifically for seniors (
pictured top
) —
to
partnering withWal-Mart to reduce the cost
of healthier foods. There’s also Signature
HealthCARE, which recentlymoved their
HQ to the city to launch the International
Center for Long TermCare Innovation, a
facility focused on creating new aging-care
products, services and technologies. But it’s
howKentucky is addressing the shi
towards home care that may be the state’s
smartest strategy.
“
Nursing homes are no longer being
viewed as permanent residences, and 52
percent of people currently in themare
expected to return home,” says Ralph G.
Gronefeld, Jr., president and CEO of ResCare.
Tomeet that expectation, the company
created a response system that lets caregivers
and familymembers communicate remotely
tomonitor patients’ homes for security
purposes, check for temperature changes and
even remind them to take their medications.
If the venture takes off, it could considerably
reduce the burden of home care costs, while
allowing seniors to have what reallyma ers
most—their independence.
PROBLEM SOLVED
food shortages
By 2050, the global population is expected to
reach nine billion people, which will have
adverse implications for the health of the
world’s food supplies.
For 30 years, Alltech, a global animal
health and nutrition company, has been
using yeast fermentation and enzyme
technology to devise all-natural solutions
for the food and feed industries. But its new
division, Alltech Life Sciences, is hoping to
use the same science that helps produce
nutritious, hormone-free meats to address
world hunger.
“
The foundation of Alltech is applicable
research,” says Alltech’s founder and
president, Dr. Pearse Lyons. “We want to
feed the world and make it—and those
within it—healthier.”
According to Lyons, the planet doesn’t
have enough available land to produce
enough food. So
in order to meet a growing
population’s future demands, we’ll have to
look to the oceans, which presents its own
set of complications.
“
Sixty percent of the world’s protein
comes
from the sea,” says Lyons. “But the
problem is, it takes three pounds of fish to
make one pound of fish.”
As a result, Alltech is looking into boosting
fish stocks by feeding themOmega-3-rich
algae, thereby reducing natural predation.
The company is also investigating the use
of enzymes to break down the one billion
tons of waste cellulose the U.S. produces
annually into a form of ethanol.
“
The United States produces about 350
million tons of corn, the largest amount in
the world,
which is why when she sneezes
(
and doesn’t have as much to offer), the
world catches a cold,” explains Lyons. “Yet
waste cellulose has about 90 percent of the
energy that corn does.” Put into play, using
waste cellulose to create ethanol could free
up the 350 million tons of corn the nation
produces to help feed to the world.
“
Findingnewways toprovide
care and services to that
community is an immediate
challenge, but one that’s
beingmet byKentucky”
Kentucky is tackling some of themost pressing issues of our time
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