At 62, Helen Polise isn't considering retirement. Not remotely. Her job? TikTok star.

Polise's account "The Muthership" has nearly 1 million followers. She started the account during the pandemic as a distraction and a way to have fun — but soon it became a second career in the making.

"Some people would ask me, oh, how did you do that transition? How did you figure that out? So, I said, I'll make a tutorial for you. And that was the turning point in social media for me," Polise said.

She's now making money through paid tutorials teaching others how to use TikTok. She hopes to begin phasing out her other job as a TV commercial director so TikTok can become her full-time gig.

Her background commercials helped her understand how to produce for TikTok, Polise said: She transferred what she already knew to a smaller screen.

"I'm really good at technology. Probably a better than a lot of young people," she added. "I want to highlight that it's OK to get older. I feel more authentic. I'm not afraid to be myself,"

Authenticity sells — to the tune of millions of dollars. Brands are taking notice and are working with older influencers or "granfluencers," as they are affectionately known in the industry.

The influencer economy

The creator economy is worth $250 billion today and could double in size to about $480 billion by 2027, according to a report from Goldman Sachs.

"The Retirement House," a TikTok account with 5.1 million followers that features six seniors who are playing characters while creating curated content, ran an ad promoting skincare company CeraVe. Four friends from Palm Springs, known as the "The Old Gays" on TikTok, have 11 million followers and partnered with Hyundai. And Chobani worked with 74-year-old Lynn Davis, whose cooking videos have attracted 15.7 million TikTok followers, for an ad promoting the brand.

Most Americans on social media are between the ages of 18 and 29. But the number of people 65-plus on social media grows each year: In 2014, 21% of those in that age group were on social media, a figure that more than doubled to 45% by 2021, according to Pew Research.

"We think of older people in a certain way, and the more older people that put themselves out there authentically on social media, we can change what aging looks like and it can be more positive," Polise said.

At 78, artist and influencer Debra Rapaport is finding a new audience for her sustainable wearable art. On Instagram she promotes her upcoming shows, workshops, and work she's selling - to her nearly 60,000 Instagram followers.

"I'm not afraid at 78 to put myself out there and say, this is who I am, this is what I do. I've been doing it a very long time. I don't intend to stop," said Rapaport.

She says her over-the-top eclectic style catches the eye of her younger followers, inspiring them to take risks and express themselves.

"I think young people are craving authenticity. And that's what I try to encourage," she said.

It benefits the granfluencers, too. As Americans age, their world often gets smaller. But these older influencers have hundreds of thousands of followers to connect with when they need support.

For example, in June 2022, Polise was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma. She shared her journey with her followers — from nearly going blind, to chemotherapy sessions, to sharing the joyful news later that year that she had beaten cancer.

The process of getting into college is changing. More schools are now offering admission to students who never applied.

"We're hearing students say like, 'Is this real?' You know, they get so much marketing and brochures from so many sources. And when I say, actually, 'No on the EAB match platform, the messages you get are real admission offers, they're bona fide admission offers.' And yeah, it's often disbelief followed by elation," said Joe Morrison, who serves as the managing director of Concourse at EAB.

The platform offers reverse admissions. Students get into the system through their school counselor.

The students stay anonymous to the university, which makes an offer based on criteria including grades and interests.

It's up to the students to accept the offer.

A growing number of other organizations are also doing what's known as direct admissions where students also get offers from schools. However, they have to go through an application process still.

The people behind these alternative admission models say it's about making the process more student-centric.

"For a lot of students, they get offers from colleges that they hadn't considered, or sometimes even heard of," Morrison said. "They realized, in many cases, that they're eligible for more in scholarships than they thought. So really, it's enabling a path to college that a lot of students didn't think they were able to access, and probably wouldn't have even applied for."

EAB's platform is free for counselors and students. Universities pay a fee when they get a match with a student.

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that older adults who are not vaccinated are at a significantly higher risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 than seniors who are vaccinated.

The CDC looked at adults who were 65 years old and up.

Those who had not been vaccinated were nearly 50 times more likely to end up in the hospital compared to those who were fully vaccinated and boosted.

Unvaccinated seniors were 17 times more likely to be hospitalized compared to their peers who only received two doses of the shot.

The risk went down, but not significantly, for unvaccinated adults between 50 and 64 years old.

The European Medicine Agency also released data today that showed getting fully vaccinated and boosted is the best protection against the Omicron variant.

The variant has caused breakthrough cases among the vaccinated.

But health experts say people who have received the booster shot are unlikely to develop severe symptoms and have a significantly lower risk of death from COVID-19.

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Some of the residents at Grand Villa Senior Living Community in Pinellas Park, Florida, are a little more frolicky than others.

"They like to be snuggled," said Lorna Peterson, a resident.

"They" are Buns and Lilly, two therapy bunnies who live at the facility.

"You put the bunny on them and they hold it and they just decompress," said Max Piasecki, the leasing coordinator and bunny trainer for Grand Villa.

Wendi Lane

Wendi Lane

Piasecki says it all started when the company's COO took his daughter and her new bunny to visit her grandmother at one of the facilities.

"The next thing they knew, they were surrounded by residents. They wanted to see the baby bunny, they wanted to hold the baby bunny," said Piasecki. "And there was one resident there who had not spoken in a long time, and once she held the bunny, she started telling stories about how her dad used to build bunny cages, and how much of a joy and comfort this baby bunny that she was holding was for her."

He says the COO saw what a breakthrough moment it was and ordered bunnies for all 18 locations. Piasecki raises each bunny from a baby and litter box trains them before they come to live at each facility. The company has a total of 40 bunnies throughout their communities that are cared for by the staff.

"It helped with the staff trying to calm a resident down that’s upset. If they’re looking for their spouse or a family member, they hand them the bunny and say, 'Can you help me with the bunny?' And now they have a little bunny that they’re focused on," said Piasecki.

The little bunnies bring a lot of comfort and joy to residents this holiday season.

"It's amazing to see how such a small animal can make such a big impact on a human being like that," said Piasecki.

This story was originally published by Wendi Lane at WFTS.

CALEXICO, Calif. -- High school seniors around the country are coping with missed milestones like prom and walking across the graduation stage.

"Our students invested 12, 13 years in their education, so we must invest in something to give them back, a ceremony they can be proud of," said John Moreno, principal of Aurora High Continuation in Calexico, California.

Several of the students graduating will be the first in their families to get a diploma. Students come to the continuation school for a fresh start; many were at risk of not graduating.

"It's a very big deal, many of them have not received any accolades, or any awards or any kind of recognition, any kind of victory. So when we see them with this victory, this is a big one," said Moreno.

When graduation was canceled due to COVID-19, students and their families were devastated.

So the district wanted to do something special, enlisting help from VEGO Pictures to create a virtual graduation.

The Hollywood production company changed its business model seemingly overnight to create virtual graduations for schools around the country. The move also helped employ Hollywood producers and directors out of work due to the pandemic.

With guidance from a VEGO Pictures producer, schools tape various clips they'd like to include in the virtual ceremony, and then the production company handles the rest.

Customized for each school, the ceremony is a tribute to student's talents and achievements from the last four years.

Anyone around the world can tune in to the virtual ceremony.

"I think it's pretty cool!" said Lorenzo Lopez, an Aurora High graduate. "Since it's going to be recorded and not in person, I can save it and watch it another time and show it to my kids and my grandkids."

While disappointed they couldn't have a traditional ceremony, students say they're grateful to at least have this memory.

As the U.S. tries to bring COVID-19 under control before a potential winter spike, health experts are encouraging vulnerable people to get a booster vaccine dose. So far, about 15% of seniors have done so.

Overall, about 10.7 million people have received a booster shot — and more than half were people over 65, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recommended booster doses for people who are most vulnerable, including those 65 and older, those at high risk of severe disease and those who live or work in high-risk environments.

Pfizer was given emergency use authorization for a booster dose last month for certain people who are at least six months out from their initial two doses. And the nation's health advisers are now looking at approving EUA for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters.

"(The extremely vulnerable) are recommended to get a booster shot," said CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen. "But even with a booster, they might not prevent severe outcomes and this is the reason why we have to be vaccinated."

Strong immune protection from vaccination is the best way to stave off infection and control the pandemic. But the effort to increase protection with boosters is happening as the nation is still struggling to entice a substantial percentage of the population to be fully vaccinated.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said the vast majority of the U.S. will need to be vaccinated to control the spread of the virus, but that number is only now at around 57% of the total population.

On Monday, there was heightened focus on the importance of vaccinations after news that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had died due to COVID-19 complications.

Powell, 84, had multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that suppresses the body's immune response, as well as Parkinson's, Peggy Cifrino, Powell's longtime chief of staff, told CNN. He was fully vaccinated and was scheduled to get a booster dose this week, but his health condition put him at greater risk.

Powell's death should not be taken as a sign that the vaccines are insufficient, Wen said, but rather as evidence that more of the population needs to be vaccinated to protect those who are older and medically fragile.

"Yes, the vaccine does protect you, but it protects you even better is everyone around you is vaccinated," Wen said. "We get vaccinated as healthy people in part to protect the most vulnerable among us."

And breakthrough cases, like that of Powell, are rare but expected, as no vaccine is 100% effective.

A total of 7,178 breakthrough cases that have resulted in death have been reported to the CDC through Oct. 12. By that time, more than 187 million people in the U.S. were fully vaccinated. That's one out of every 26,000 fully vaccinated people that has died of COVID-19, or 0.004%.

Of those breakthrough cases resulting in death, 85% were among people age 65 and older and 57% were among men, according to the CDC.

For those looking to strengthen their immune response with a booster dose, mixing and matching vaccines may soon become an option.

People familiar with the FDA's planning told the New York Times the agency is planning to allow people to receive a different COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot than the one they initially received.

According to the Times, the FDA might note that getting the same vaccine as a booster is preferable, but it would not recommend one shot over the other.

New Mexico under crisis standards of care

COVID-19 hospitalizations have been on the decline nationally, but some regions are still overwhelmed.

Seven states have less than 15% of ICU beds available, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Those states are Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas.

In New Mexico, the department of health has had to enact crisis standards of care.

According to a press release from the NMDH, hospitals will now have to temporarily suspend non-medically necessary procedures before having to decide who should receive care.

"Because of COVID, New Mexico hospitals and health care facilities have carried an unmanageable burden. Today, the state is offering clarity and support as providers seek to make difficult choices about how to allocate scarce -- and precious -- health care resources," said DOH Acting Secretary David R. Scrase, M.D. "The goals, as always, remain the same: to save as many New Mexican lives as possible, and to help sustain the health care providers who have sustained our communities throughout this entire pandemic."

On Monday, state health officials announced 1,895 new cases bringing the total number of cases in the state since the pandemic began to 265,632. There are currently 300 patients in the hospital being treated for COVID-19.

Vaccine mandates implemented for police departments

To increase vaccinations — and, in turn, control spread — many employers have begun mandating vaccinations for their employees.

In Washington state, members of Seattle's police department had until the end of Monday to be vaccinated or receive an exemption.

As of Monday night, 91% of the police force had shown proof of vaccination and 7% presented exemptions, leaving only 2% of the department having not submitted their vaccination status.

"For officers who haven't turned in any verification paperwork by midnight tonight, they are not to report for work tomorrow and the City and department will begin the process for termination for failing to follow the vaccine mandate guidelines," SPD spokesperson Randy Huserik told CNN.

The state has also implemented vaccine mandates for state employees, and some are choosing to leave their jobs instead of complying.

In videos uploaded by a YouTube conservative radio host in the Seattle area, two state troopers were among those state employees citing Governor Jay Inslee's vaccination mandate as the reason for their leave.

One of them, 17-year veteran Sgt. Richard Thompson, can be seen inside his patrol car signing off from his duties and saying, "Due to my personal choice to take a moral stand against, for medical freedom and personal choice, I will be signing out of service for the last time today."

Separately, Washington State University announced that head football coach Nick Rolovich, as well as assistant football coaches Ricky Logo, John Richardson, Craig Stutzmann and Mark Weber, are no longer able to coach because of not complying with the state's vaccine mandate.

CINCINNATI — Nancy Elcho of Mount Lookout has been eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine since Jan. 19, but as of Thursday, she still had not.

That's because, like some other seniors across Ohio, the 94-year-old cannot leave her house to go get the vaccine, her son and caretaker, John, told WCPO.

John Elcho emailed WCPO looking for guidance after calling the Ohio Department of Health, the Hamilton County Health Department, the Cincinnati Health Department, the Southwest Ohio Council on Aging and talking with his mother's home health care nurses.

He wasn't looking to have his mother vaccinated immediately, he said: "I just wanted to know the plan" for getting his mother and other homebound seniors like her to receive the vaccine.

Elcho said his mother has stayed isolated at home for nearly a year now, too frail to leave home.

Health officials in both Ohio and Kentucky told WCPO Thursday afternoon that they are working on a plan to address the needs of homebound seniors in need of the vaccine, but the nature of the treatment imposes specific and rigid transportation and storage requirements.

"We are unable to transport a vaccine once it's opened," said Hamilton County Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman. "Once a vial is opened, even if you fill a syringe, you can't take that syringe off site... The two manufacturers that have vaccine available say that it's not permissible."

The Northern Kentucky Health Department's director of population health, Stephanie Vogel, echoed Kesterman's take.

"When considering vaccinations at an off-site location, some of the important requirements that must be considered and maintained include maintaining appropriate temperature of the vaccine, environmental control measures inside personal residence, how long a vial may remain punctured before all doses must be given, the length of time that a vial remains frozen, refrigerated and at room temperature, and many others," Vogel said in an email.

During his routine COVID-19 briefing Thursday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine deferred to his Department of Aging director, Ursel McElroy, who said: "We have identified home health providers that have the ability to manage the proper way to store and deliver the vaccine."

Meanwhile, Cincinnati and Hamilton County are partnering with home health agencies -- including the Council on Aging -- to develop a solution.

"We know that home health care workers are going into these homes, so ideally, at some point, the state would allow us to give vaccine to them, to bring vaccine to these homebound individuals," Kesterman said.

Without a firm date in place for when providers might be able to begin vaccinating homebound individuals, though, people like Nancy Elcho and her son will have to keep waiting.

The recommendation for those waiting is to continue to follow pre-vaccine guidelines and make sure home health care providers wear masks, wash hands often and don't come to work sick.

CINCINNATI —

As students prepare to head back to class, Harrison Pavilion Rehabilitation residents and staff teamed up to stuff and hand out backpacks full of school supplies to local families.

For the second year in a row, the Westwood facility packed 250 bags of donated paper, glue, crayons, binders and other supplies.

"If I want to help some child, that’s what I want to do," Harrison resident Ray Dawson said as he packed binders into the purple drawstring bag. "It makes me happy. Because they are being happy and when you can make someone happy you have shared a little bit of your happiness with them."

On Monday, families lined up an hour before the scheduled start time to secure a free bag for their children. The Schultze family arrived first with hopes of receiving three bags for their kids. Jennifer Schulze says during the pandemic her family became homeless. She says she, her husband and three kids have been living in different hotels for the past year.

"It means the world," Schulze said of the Harrison Pavilion staff after her kids picked up their backpacks. "I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of all of our hearts.”

Christopher Schulze is set to enter the fourth grade at Delshire Elementary School. He told WLWT he was excited to use his new supplies to study math and science.

"It means a lot because I get to learn a lot of big stuff,” Christopher Schulze said of the residents packing supplies.

In addition to supplies, residents gave a word of encouragement to students as they start a new school year.

"For them," resident Tina Hill said. "To be strong, just keep looking up and things will get better.”

Two Northern Kentucky police agencies are warning about a new round of scam calls in which callers ask seniors for money to bail a relative out of jail.

Police in Boone and Kenton counties said the scam caller portrays themselves as one of the victim's family members, like a grandchild or a nephew, and says they have been involved in a crash and are under arrest.

Then, in a "very convincing" follow-up call, someone posing as a lawyer will instruct the victim to hand over cash for reduced bail between $10,000 and $15,000. A "courier" or "bail bondsman" is sent to the victim's home to collect the money. The Kenton County Sheriff's Office said some victims have been instructed to provide gift card numbers over the phone as payment.

"The scammers are very good at picking up personal clues thru the phone conversation and at portraying themselves as the family member, lawyer or law enforcement personnel," read a release from the Kenton County Sheriff's Office.

Bail bond businesses do not exist in Kentucky, and people who are arrested most often pay bonds directly to jails, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Office.

If you receive one of these scam calls, do not give any personal information over the phone. Make the caller say your family member's name, where they are being held and what police agency made the arrest. Then, hang up and call police.

"The scammers will work hard to keep you on the phone and if you try to hang up they are likely to make threats," the BCSO said.

If you're not sure you received a scam call, contact your family member to confirm they are safe, and do not use a phone number a scam caller provides.

To report these calls, contact the Kentucky Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection at (888) 432-9257.

MORE SCAM CALLS: Kidnapping phone scam terrifies parents

CINCINNATI —

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the harsh reality of isolation became front and center for seniors, especially in nursing homes.

As care facilities search for new ways to help residents adapt to limited interaction with other residents and visitors, a new study is poised to provide a possible solution.

A global study currently underway through Stanford University hopes to provide qualitative insight between virtual reality and the aging population. The study promises to be the largest study of its kind in history.

The study is made possible through the partnerships with MyndVR and AT&T.

Among the approximate 50 global partners involved in the study is Maple Knoll Village in Springdale.

MyndVR sells virtual reality headset kits with an accompanying tablet. MyndVR says its starter price is $6,000 a year per senior community with a two-year contract. This includes three headsets and access to its VR content library.

Participants can slip on a headset and choose different virtual experiences like concerts, international and space travel and a Broadway performance.

Maple Knoll says it was already an existing MyndVR customers before the study began. Upon request, they purchased more devices to have a total of seven kits.

The retirement community says the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased realities of isolation spurred its decision to participate in the study.

"I think COVID really strengthened the need for that," Maple Knoll Village Vice President of Marketing and Business Development Megan Ulrich said. "So many people were combating, you know, depression, isolation, loneliness. And if we can give them an opportunity to experience new education, travel somewhere safely without ever leaving their home, this is something that I think it's going to be a huge benefit to our seniors."

Ulrich says to not discredit seniors when it comes to VR, especially considering some have lived through the development of televisions, cellphones, computers, tablets and now virtual realities.

One Maple Knoll resident participating in the trial and who helped financially back the opportunity to bring VR to Maple Knoll is Barb Desalvo.

Desalvo, 79, strapped on the headset and narrated her virtual experience of being on stage during the opening number of Disney's "The Lion King" stage production.

“I think it’s just a hoot to do this," Desalvo said about her VR experience. "But, besides that, I think there are a lot of people that are not as active and can’t get out as easily or are isolated because of family or whatever. This just takes you to another world altogether. And that’s so refreshing and comforting, I think.”

MyndVR says it is also aware that the virtual reality headsets can potentially do more than provide an entertaining escape.

"What we do envision virtual reality, and especially the product that we're building at MyndVR, is to help with some of those side effects that do come along with dementia, that do come along with Parkinson's, that might come along with ocular degeneration," MyndVR CEO Chris Brickler said. "So we're looking at ways that VR can help make people's lives better."

Brickler says the global study is expected to talk about four to six months to complete with initiation results expected in the first 90 days.

Cancer care for older Americans is getting a makeover.

When the elderly learn they have cancer, doctors have often assumed they're too frail for treatment. Or they instead recommend harsh therapies tested only in younger patients. But there's a move afoot to change that with special age-related fitness exams.

New guidelines from cancer specialists recommend the evaluations before making treatment decisions for Americans aged 65 and up.

The exams evaluate physical and mental health and social support. They also take into account the patient's desires for life-prolonging treatment regardless of how much time might be left. The idea is to find ways to help patients tolerate treatment, not rule it out.