An Age-Old Fear Grows More Common: Im Going To Die Alone
As families fracture, people are living longer and are more likely to find themselves without close relatives or friends at the end of their lives.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Judith Graham was a contributing columnist for 窪蹋勛圖厙 News until January 2025.
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As families fracture, people are living longer and are more likely to find themselves without close relatives or friends at the end of their lives.
Our "Navigating Aging" columnist sets off on a new phase in life with lessons shes learned reporting on aging and health.
The generation that faced discrimination, ostracism, and the AIDS epidemic now faces old age. Many struggle with isolation along with a host of pressing health problems.
Many older adults living alone, isolated and vulnerable, struggle with health issues. But a noteworthy slice of this growing group of seniors maintain a high degree of well-being. Meet Hilda Jaffe, age 102.
Aging alone, without a spouse, a partner, or children, requires careful planning. New programs for this growing population offer much-needed help.
There is a large population of older adults with physical problems that prevent them from leaving home. Many have significant medical and practical needs that go unmet.
Diverse networks of friends, former co-workers, neighbors, and extended family are often essential sources of support for older adults living alone. Often it is the elderly caring for the elderly.
In a health care system that assumes older adults have family caregivers to help them, those facing dementia by themselves often fall through the cracks.
Older men who find themselves living alone tend to have fewer close personal relationships than older women. Theyre vulnerable, physically and emotionally, but often reluctant to ask for help.
Longer life spans, rising rates of divorce, widowhood, and childlessness, and smaller, far-flung families are fueling a gray revolution in older adults living arrangements. It can have profound health consequences.
Rising health care costs are fueling anxiety among older Americans covered by Medicare. Theyre right to be concerned.
The White House has launched an initiative on womens health. Studying the health of older women, a largely neglected group in medical research, should be a priority.
A sedative shouldnt be the first thing tried to help people with dementia who exhibit distressing behaviors. A new website is a comprehensive, free resource that offers guidance to caregivers.
Many older adults who need hospital care are getting stuck in emergency room limbo sometimes for more than a day. The long ER waits for seniors who are frail, with multiple medical issues, lead to a host of additional medical problems.
Its estimated that an older patient can spend three weeks of the year getting care and that doesnt count the time it takes to arrange appointments or deal with insurance companies.
Hearing loss is more than a nuisance. It also raises the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, falls, depression, and social isolation.
Recently, thousands of older Americans have been dying weekly of covid. But most Americans arent wearing masks in public, a move that could prevent infections. Many at-risk seniors arent getting antiviral therapies, and older adults in nursing homes arent getting vaccines. Why?
As cognitive skills erode with age, driving skills weaken, but an aging driver may not recognize that. Advance directives on driving are one way to handle this challenge.
More than a third of older adults have a disability. Many find it difficult to get the medical care they need. New federal regulations would address that problem.
Coping with disability and the cost of coping with disability is an enormously important issue for older adults. Nora Super, an expert on aging, shares her personal story.
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