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Caring for an Aging Nation

KFF Health News Original

The number of Americans 65 and older is expected to nearly double in the next 40 years. Finding a way to provide and pay for the long-term health services they need won’t be easy.

Aiding Her Dying Husband, a Geriatrician Learns the Emotional and Physical Toll of Caregiving

KFF Health News Original

When the covid pandemic hit, Dr. Rebecca Elon was thrust into a new role, primary caregiver for her severely ill husband and her elderly mother. “Reading about caregiving of this kind was one thing. Experiencing it was entirely different,” she says.

Biden Seeks $400 Billion to Buttress Long-Term Care. A Look at What’s at Stake.

KFF Health News Original

Long-term care options are expensive and often out of reach for seniors and people with disabilities. The president has proposed a massive infusion of federal funding for home and community-based health services that advocates say will go a long way toward helping individuals and families.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Health Care as Infrastructure

KFF Health News Original

President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal includes items not traditionally considered “infrastructure,” including a $400 billion expansion of home and community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities, and a $50 billion effort to replace water pipes lined with lead. Meanwhile, the politics of covid-19 are turning to how or whether Americans will need to prove they’ve been vaccinated. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KFF’s Mollyann Brodie about the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor.

Role Reversal: Covid Increases Ranks of Child Caregivers

KFF Health News Original

Millions of teens and preteens help care for ill parents or grandparents. The pandemic has boosted their numbers while making it harder for them to get social and emotional support outside the home.

Roles invertidos: más cuidadores juveniles por covid

KFF Health News Original

Millones de adolescentes y preadolescentes ayudan a cuidar de padres o abuelos enfermos. La pandemia ha aumentado el número y ha dificultado que obtengan apoyo social y emocional fuera del hogar.

California Aims to Address the ‘Urgent’ Needs of Older Residents. But Will Its Plan Work?

KFF Health News Original

State officials recently unveiled a “master plan” to address the needs of California’s rapidly aging population, from housing to long-term care. Kim McCoy Wade, director of the state Department of Aging, vows it will not end up on a shelf gathering dust.

Family Caregivers, Routinely Left Off Vaccine Lists, Worry What Would Happen ‘If I Get Sick’

KFF Health News Original

Tens of thousands of middle-aged sons and daughters — too young to qualify for a vaccine — care for older relatives with serious ailments and want to get the shots to protect their loved ones and themselves.

Facebook Live: Helping COVID’s Secondary Victims: Grieving Families and Friends

KFF Health News Original

More than 246,000 people in the U.S. have been killed by the coronavirus, leaving hundreds of thousands of others grieving. Judith Graham, author of KHN’s Navigating Aging column, hosted a discussion on these unprecedented losses and dealing with bereavement. She was joined by Holly Prigerson, co-director of the Center for Research on End-of-Life Care at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and Diane Snyder-Cowan, leader of the bereavement professionals steering committee of the National Council of Hospice and Palliative Professionals.

Are Vital Home Health Workers Now A Safety Threat?

KFF Health News Original

Hundreds of thousands of health care workers go into homes to provide important services for seniors and disabled people. But with the rising concerns about the danger of the coronavirus pandemic, especially for older people, these health workers could be endangering their patients and themselves.

Corralling Hard-To-Reach Voters With Traveling Voting Machines

KFF Health News Original

In advance of the Super Tuesday primary, California’s Los Angeles County is rotating new touch-screen voting machines among 41 locations, including adult day care centers and jails, to increase voting among populations with historically low turnout.

Finding Connections And Comfort At The Local Cafe

KFF Health News Original

For Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, social and emotional isolation is a threat. But hundreds of “Memory Cafes” around the country offer them a chance to be with others who understand, and to receive social and cognitive stimulation in the process.

Patients Want A ‘Good Death’ At Home, But Hospice Care Can Badly Strain Families

KFF Health News Original

Fewer Americans are dying in a hospital, under the close supervision of doctors and nurses. That trend has been boosted by an expanded Medicare benefit that helps people live out their final days at home in hospice care. But as home hospice grows, so has the burden on families left to provide much of the care.