OXFORD — New projections say Ohio will have 16 counties in 2050 where a third of the population will be at least age 60.

None of Ohio’s 88 counties had such a high percentage of 60-or-older people in 2010, underscoring challenges ahead as the Baby Boomer generation becomes grayer and life spans increase. The forecasts based on data analysis and current trends are from Miami University’s Scripps Gerontology Center.

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CINCINNATI (AP) -- New projections say Ohio will have 16 counties in 2050 where a third or more of the population will be at least 60 years old, underscoring the challenges ahead as the state becomes grayer.

None of Ohio's 88 counties had such a high percentage of 60-or-older people in 2010. The forecasts, based on data analysis and current trends, are from Miami University's Scripps Gerontology Center. An earlier report from the center showed that six Ohio counties were expected to have a third of their 2020 populations at 60 or older.

As the older population grows, more effort – and lots of creative thinking – is going into the subject of brain health and stimulation for the elderly.

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Fewer than 2 percent of drivers over age 75 involved in a Butler County crash in 2011 were found to be at fault — whereas drivers ages 16-40 were found to be at fault about 5.7 percent of the time, according to statistics from Ohio’s Department of Public Safety.

One of the biggest issues facing older drivers is the decline of “attentional memory,” which is the ability to filter relevant information from useless information, said Kate de Medeiros, assistant professor of gerontology with the Department of Sociology and Gerontology at Miami University.

The good news: Males and females in Butler and Warren counties are living longer than they did in 1989.

The bad news: The lifespans for females are improving at a much slower pace than males, and in hundreds of counties across the United States, women are living shorter lives today than they did two decades ago, according to new estimates of life expectancy released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

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Residents rated their satisfaction with their facility's environment, activities, administration, direct care/nursing assistants, laundry, meals and dining, social services and therapy, as well as general satisfaction. This was the third time the state has conducted a resident satisfaction survey of residential care facilities, better known as assisted living facilities. The survey was developed by Scripps Gerontology Center of Miami University and the Margaret Blenkner Institute, and was conducted between July 2011 and January 2012 by Vital Research, LLC.

The Ohio Department of Aging has recognized that many people who are retired aren't yet ready to be retired.

Motivation varies among older adults, Suzanne Kunkel said. While some just want to stay busy, others need the extra income.  "Aging is different than it used to be," said Kunkel, director of the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University. "People want to stay involved in the community." And, when it comes to jobs, "We need them. ... We need their numbers in the labor force, their expertise, their experience and wisdom."

PORT CLINTON -- The Vineyard on Catawba, 3820 E. Vineyard Village Drive, ranked in the top 25 in an Ohio Department of Aging nursing home and residential care (assisted living) resident survey for overall satisfaction. 

This was the third time the state has conducted a resident satisfaction survey of residential care facilities, better known as assisted living facilities. The survey was developed by Scripps Gerontology Center of Miami University and the Margaret Blenkner Institute.

Ohio nursing homes don’t have to accept potentially dangerous and violent patients like the man who escaped from a secured unit in a Heath facility Thursday, forcing schools to close and putting residents on edge.

The Heath Nursing Care Center could have refused care for John J. Stroud, 53, if staff didn’t think they could provide the necessary level of security, said Jane Straker, a senior research scholar at Miami University’s Scripps Gerontology Center.

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SALEM - The Skilled Nursing Facility inside Salem Community Hospital outscored all but two of the 950 nursing homes in the state where residents ranked their satisfaction, earning a 98.02 percent overall score.

The Ohio Department of Aging released the results of the survey late last week. The survey was developed by the Scripps Gerontology Center of Miami University and the Margaret Blenkner Institute.