Quarterly Report on Aging Research: New research about mobility, social connection, emerging healthcare models, and more
- Phyllis Mirsky
- Jul 22
- 7 min read
Phyllis S. Mirsky is a retired academic librarian at the University of California, San Diego, with a 40-year career in librarianship that included leadership roles at both UCLA and UC San Diego. Before joining UCSD in 1981, she served as Head of Reference at the National Library of Medicine. Throughout her career in the health information field, Mirsky held several leadership positions in the Medical Library Association, including serving as its president in 1985. As an educator, researcher, and administrator, she has long been committed to making high-quality health information accessible and understandable.
Each quarter, Phyllis prepares a report for the Del Mar Community Connections (DMCC) Board of Directors that highlights the most significant and relevant research on aging for older adults and their caregivers. This blog builds on that work, sharing timely, evidence-based insights and translating complex research into clear, practical information that supports informed, engaged living.
Community members will have an opportunity to discuss this report at the Aging Research Roundtable, planned in partnership with the Del Mar branch of the San Diego County Library, on Thursday, September 17 at 2:30pm. Registration required; sign up here.
April - June 2026
Executive Summary
During this quarter I continued monitoring emerging research and publications related to healthy aging, cognitive health, fall prevention, social connection, and innovations that support aging in place. Several recurring themes emerged that have direct relevance for older adults and organizations such as Del Mar Community Connections.
Key Trends
1. Healthy Aging and Mobility
Research increasingly emphasizes maintaining muscle power, reaction time, and balance rather than strength alone as important predictors of independence and fall prevention. Several studies also highlighted the relationship between hearing health and mobility, suggesting that untreated hearing loss may contribute to slower walking speed and increased fall risk.
2. Social Connection and Brain Health
A growing body of research reinforces the importance of meaningful social relationships. New studies found that loneliness—not simply living alone—is associated with faster cognitive decline and shorter life expectancy. Additional articles explored practical strategies for cultivating friendships and innovative uses of virtual reality to reduce social isolation among older adults.
3. Aging in Place
Several publications provided practical guidance for adapting homes to improve safety and independence. Recommendations emphasize proactive home modifications before mobility limitations develop.
4. Cognitive Health
New research included promising work on blood-based biomarkers for cognitive impairment, while a major Cochrane Review concluded that currently available anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody therapies provide only modest clinical benefit and carry meaningful risks.
5. Emerging Health Care Models
An article in the Milbank Quarterly described "Neighborhood Nursing," an innovative community-based model that shifts health care toward prevention, neighborhood engagement, and home-based services. The concept aligns with trends emphasizing community support for healthy aging.
Suggested Implications for DMCC
Several findings have practical relevance for Del Mar Community Connections programming:
Continue emphasizing exercise programs that improve balance, reaction time, and muscle power.
Expand education on hearing health as part of fall-prevention efforts.
Continue investing in programs that reduce loneliness and strengthen social connections.
Monitor innovations supporting aging in place and community-based health care.
Continue following developments in Alzheimer's diagnostics and treatment.
New Resource Being Monitored
Senior Health Secrets (Substack newsletter)
Senior Health Secrets is a popular, evidence-based wellness newsletter aimed at adults over 60, with more than 6,000 subscribers. It is written by independent authors and health experts and emphasizes maintaining independence, functional capability, and longevity without relying on supplements.
Core focus areas:
Functional movement & balance — training reaction time, not just static balance, to reduce fall risk.
Strength retention — building muscle and grip strength, and countering sarcopenia (age-related loss of skeletal muscle).
Physiological changes — explaining shifts after 60, such as increased cold sensitivity and less reliable thirst/hydration cues.
Nutritional guidance — how macronutrient needs (e.g., protein absorption) change for older adults.
Subscribe: https://seniorhealthsecrets.substack.com/
Other Subscriptions Added This Quarter
SCL Magazine — Stanford Center on Longevity
A free monthly publication from the Stanford Center on Longevity featuring scientific advances, emerging innovations, and creative solutions for building a longevity-ready world.
Scripps Research Magazine
Covers research and scientific developments at the Scripps Research Institute; the Spring 2026 edition is now available.
Featured Articles & Studies
Falls Prevention & Physical Function
The Real Reason You Can't Catch Yourself When You Trip
Senior Health Secrets — May 20, 2026
After age 60, the signal pathway from foot to brain to muscle slows, shrinking the window available to recover from a trip. A 12-month study in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation followed 200 older adults, measuring reaction time to unexpected balance disturbances. Adults who fell after tripping had average reaction times of about 970 milliseconds, versus about 858 milliseconds for those who did not fall — a gap of roughly one-tenth of a second. Reaction speed predicted recovery more strongly than walking speed or general activity level.
The First Thing Your Body Loses After 60 Isn't Strength
Senior Health Secrets — April 22, 2026
Raw strength (maximum force output) declines slowly — roughly 1–2% per year from the 50s into the 80s. Power (how quickly muscles can produce that force) declines faster, and researchers studying functional independence increasingly view it as the more important measure, since recovering from a trip or a misplaced step requires a response in a fraction of a second, faster than conscious reaction. The piece notes that a 5-rep chair-stand test taking longer than 11 seconds can be an early sign of declining power.
Hearing, Balance & Mobility
Walking Slower? Why Your Ears, Not Your Knees, Might Be the Problem
Julie Jargon, The Wall Street Journal — April 2, 2026
Apple's hearing study, conducted with the University of Michigan and drawing on data from more than 57,000 iPhone users, found a correlation between hearing loss and slower walking speed. Hearing loss is separately linked to dementia, depression, loneliness, and higher fall risk. One theory: compensating for reduced hearing taxes the brain, at the expense of gait speed; inner-ear problems can also directly affect balance and confidence while walking.
Apple Hearing Study Results Highlight Hearing Test & Hearing Aid Features
University of Michigan School of Public Health — May 2026
This University of Michigan report found that greater hearing loss was linked with slower walking speed, especially in adults 60 and older, even after accounting for age and sex. The Apple Hearing Study launched in 2019 in partnership with the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the World Health Organization.
Background on the broader Apple Hearing Study: a collaboration with the University of Michigan involving more than 160,000 consented participants since 2019, which has informed research on noise exposure, tinnitus, and hearing loss, and contributed to Apple's Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features (released 2024, now available in 150+ countries).
Social Connection & Isolation
The Friendship Advice Experts Swear By
Catherine Pearson, The New York Times — January 27, 2026
Examines the decline of adult friendship amid rising loneliness and the loss of social “third places,” and argues that strong friendships remain possible with intention. Practical strategies discussed include taking initiative, tailoring activities to how each friend connects best, asking for help to build closeness, weaving friends into daily routines, joining groups tied to life transitions, and being a more deliberate, engaged friend.
Book: The Men's Shed Movement: The Company of Men by Barry Golding, Common Ground Publishing, Champaign IL 2015)
Men's sheds or community sheds are non-profit. The movement originated in Australia around the 1980s as a way to improve the health and wellbeing of older men. A research-based account of the international Men's Shed movement, in which men's sheds have grown from a grassroots Australian effort into a strongly networked international movement across Australia, Ireland, the UK, New Zealand, and continental Europe, addressing men's needs and interests beyond the workplace.
How Older Adults Are Using V.R. to Counter Social Isolation
Charley Locke, The New York Times — April 15, 2026
New virtual-reality tools tailored to senior living communities are enabling shared experiences and social bonding among residents.
Loneliness Drives Cognitive Impairment, Can Lead to Shorter Life, Study Suggests
Alex Russell, UC Davis — June 16, 2026
Using data spanning 18 countries and advanced statistical modeling, UC Davis researchers found that loneliness — distinct from simply being alone — plays a stronger role than social isolation alone in predicting cognitive decline and shorter lifespan among older adults.
Home Safety & Aging in Place
Want to Age Well at Home? Take Our Room-by-Room Tour
Doug Mahoney, The New York Times (Wirecutter) — updated February 20, 2026
Aging in place offers comfort, independence, and potential cost savings, but carries risks as dexterity and balance decline and home upkeep grows harder. Drawing on interviews with occupational therapists and aging specialists, the guide walks through room-by-room home modifications, recommending a proactive, gradual approach rather than an overwhelming all-at-once overhaul.
Cognitive Health & Research
UCSF Studies Blood Test for Cognitive Impairment
Gillian Mohney, SFGate — May 28, 2026
A UC San Francisco study found that a simple blood test in middle-aged adults may help identify who is more likely to show diminished cognition later, even before any dementia symptoms appear.
New Research Upends the Argument for a Popular Longevity Supplement (NAD+)
Dana G. Smith, The New York Times — May 23, 2026
NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) supplements have been heavily marketed for healthy aging on the premise that NAD+ levels fall with age, but human evidence of benefit has been thin. A study published in Nature Metabolism this year, along with a not-yet-peer-reviewed preprint, both found that blood NAD+ levels do not actually decline with age — undercutting a key premise behind the supplement's marketing.
Cochrane Review: Amyloid-Beta–Targeting Monoclonal Antibodies for Mild Cognitive Impairment or Mild Alzheimer's Dementia
Nonino F, Minozzi S, Sambati L, et al. — Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2026, Issue 4 (Art. No. CD016297)
The review's authors conclude that at 18 months, these antibody treatments have a trivial effect on cognitive function and dementia severity, and at best a small effect on functional ability, while increasing the risk of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities. Reporting of both benefits and adverse events was inconsistent across the included studies. The authors conclude that successfully clearing amyloid from the brain does not appear to produce clinically meaningful benefits for this population, and recommend future Alzheimer's research focus on other disease mechanisms.
Now What? Neighborhood Nursing's Answer to the US Health Care Paradox of Spending More but Getting Less
Nogueira, Fitzpatrick, Gresh, et al. — The Milbank Quarterly, 2025; 103:988–1002
Despite the highest per-capita health spending of any nation, the US faces declining life expectancy and rising chronic disease — a paradox the authors attribute to a treatment-centered, facility-based care system. The paper proposes “Neighborhood Nursing,” a universal care model connecting every person in a geographic area to interdisciplinary teams of nurses and community health workers delivering preventive and restorative care in homes and community hubs, organized across neighborhood, state, and national levels. The model draws on international examples such as Costa Rica's EBAIS community primary-care system, and aims to address providers' over-reliance on clinical expertise over lived experience, the system's reactive (rather than preventive) orientation, and inequitable access that undermines trust in marginalized communities.
