Seniors In Low-Income Housing Live In Fear Of COVID Infection
On their own in dirty buildings with little guidance or support, vulnerable older residents worry about unchecked transmission of the potentially deadly virus. “We felt abandoned.”
Judith Graham
Judith Graham was a contributing columnist for KFF Health News until January 2025.
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For Seniors, COVID-19 Sets Off A Pandemic Of Despair
The guidance to stay sheltered as society slowly reopens wears on older Americans, who have a growing sense of isolation and depression.
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‘No Intubation’: Seniors Fearful Of COVID-19 Are Changing Their Living Wills
Still, medical experts say, it’s not a black-and-white decision of either go on a ventilator or die.
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Navigating Aging
As COVID-19 Lurks, Families Are Locked Out Of Nursing Homes. Is It Safe Inside?
“The awful truth is families have no control over what’s happening,” one advocate says.
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Seniors With COVID-19 Show Unusual Symptoms, Doctors Say
Older bodies respond to infection in different ways. Seniors may sleep more or stop eating. They may be confused or dizzy. They might simply collapse.
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In Shutting Out Threat, Seniors In Continuing Care Communities Feel Shut In
For older adults in retirement communities ― a population especially vulnerable to COVID-19 — striking a balance between reducing the risk of contracting the coronavirus and maintaining the quality of life is a new frontier.
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What Does Recovery From COVID-19 Look Like? It Depends. A Pulmonologist Explains.
Reports offer a glimmer of hope, especially for older adults.
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COVID-19
Should You Bring Mom Home From Assisted Living During The Pandemic?
Families are weighing the challenges of providing home care with the isolation or potential danger of leaving folks in senior housing or long-term care.
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Coronavirus Patients Caught In Conflict Between Hospital And Nursing Homes
Hospitals need to clear out patients who no longer need acute care. But nursing homes are alarmed at the prospect of taking patients who may have the coronavirus.
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COVID-19
Does Everyone Over 60 Need To Take The Same Coronavirus Precautions?
Just how careful should older people be? Here’s what geriatricians think is reasonable.
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Amid Pandemic, Programs Struggle To Reach Vulnerable Seniors Living At Home
Older adults are at serious risk during this pandemic and have been advised to avoid contact with others. Yet many still need essential services, and programs are scrambling to adapt.
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The Startling Inequality Gap That Emerges After Age 65
The good news: Life expectancy for people who make it to 65 has increased. Yet, coastal and urban people fare better than those in rural and middle America.
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U.S. Medical Panel Thinks Twice About Pushing Cognitive Screening For Dementia
Because seniors are at higher risk of cognitive impairment, proponents say screening asymptomatic older adults is an important strategy to identify people who may be developing dementia and to improve their care. But the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force cited insufficient evidence the tests are helpful.
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Stalked By The Fear That Dementia Is Stalking You
For those worried they have an elevated risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, testing is an option. But words to the wise: It’s hardly foolproof and could even backfire by heightening your fear of memory loss.
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What To Do If Your Home Health Care Agency Ditches You
If you’re told Medicare’s home health benefits have changed, don’t believe it: Coverage rules haven’t been altered and people are still entitled to the same types of services. All that has changed is how Medicare pays agencies.
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Why Home Health Care Is Suddenly Harder To Come By For Medicare Patients
Medicare has changed how it pays for services. In response, agencies across the country are firing therapists, limiting physical, occupational and speech therapy, and terminating services for some longtime, severely ill patients.
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What The 2020s Have In Store For Aging Boomers
On the bright side, advances in medical science and a push for healthier lifestyles might extend the quality of life for aging boomers. Among clouds on the horizon: ageism, strained long-term care services and the need to work well past retirement age.
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Parenting Your Aging Parents When They Don’t Want Help
Relationships between adult children and their parents can fray with age. Experts offer help on how loved ones can preserve the love and negotiate those tension-filled final years.
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The Health Care Promises We Cannot Keep
Family caregivers pledge to fulfill their loved ones’ end-of-life wishes. But too often circumstances change, and they must break their word and guard against breaking hearts ― including their own.
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As His Wife’s Caregiver, A Doctor Discovers What’s Missing At Health Care’s Core
Harvard psychiatrist Arthur Kleinman shed his “veil of ignorance” during 11 years serving as the primary family caregiver for his wife, who had a rare form of early Alzheimer’s disease. In a new book, “The Soul of Care,” he offers suggestions for transforming health care ― just as caregiving transformed him.
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