Latest News On Dementia

Latest KFF Health News Stories

‘Scared to Death’: Nurses and Residents Confront Rampant Violence in Dementia Care Facilities

KFF Health News Original

Clashes between residents — verbal, physical, and sexual — can be spontaneous and too unpredictable to prevent. But the chance of an altercation increases when memory care homes admit and retain residents they can’t manage, according to a KFF Health News examination of inspection and court records and interviews with researchers.

New Help for Dealing With Aggression in People With Dementia

KFF Health News Original

A sedative shouldn’t 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.

Nursing Homes Wield Pandemic Immunity Laws To Duck Wrongful Death Suits

KFF Health News Original

More than 172,000 nursing home residents died of covid. In lawsuits, some families who lost loved ones say they were misled about safety measures or told that covid wasn’t a danger in their facilities.

Una decisión difícil: cuando los adultos mayores tienen que dejar de conducir

KFF Health News Original

Los riesgos para los conductores mayores aumentan con la edad y el desarrollo de afecciones como la artritis, el glaucoma y el Parkinson. Y cuando ocurren accidentes, son más propensos a sufrir heridas graves o morir porque son físicamente más vulnerables.

Dementia Can Take a Toll on Financial Health, as Some Families Learn the Hard Way

KFF Health News Original

People with dementia and their families often find themselves with few legal rights when dealing with financial scams or the mismanagement of their assets. Research reveals financial troubles can be both an early sign and a painful symptom of cognitive decline.

Dementia Care Programs Help, If Caregivers Can Find Them

KFF Health News Original

Programs assisting people with dementia — and their caregivers — improve quality of life and care. But millions of unpaid family and friend caregivers may not know where or how to find help.

More Californians Are Dying at Home. Another Covid ‘New Normal’?

KFF Health News Original

The proportion of Californians dying at home, rather than in a hospital or nursing home, accelerated during the pandemic, a trend that has outlasted the rigid lockdowns linked to the initial shift.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': GOP House Opens With Abortion Agenda

Podcast

Leaders of the new Republican-led U.S. House kicked off their legislative agenda with two bills supported by anti-abortion groups. While neither is likely to become law, the move demonstrates how abortion will continue to be an issue in Washington. Meanwhile, as open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act nears its end in most states, the number of Americans covered by the plans hits a new high. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Family Caregivers Find Support on #dementia TikTok

KFF Health News Original

The TikTok hashtag “dementia” has billions of views. Caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias have been using the site to swap tips and share the burdens of life with dementia.

Hospices Have Become Big Business for Private Equity Firms, Raising Concerns About End-of-Life Care

KFF Health News Original

Private equity firms are seeing opportunities for profit in hospice care, once the domain of nonprofit organizations. The investment companies are transforming the industry — and might be jeopardizing patient care — in the process.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Leaked Abortion Opinion Rocks Washington’s World

KFF Health News Original

The unprecedented early leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the landmark abortion-rights ruling Roe v. Wade has heated the national abortion debate to boiling. Meanwhile, the FDA, after years of consideration, moves to ban menthol flavors in cigarettes and cigars. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Shefali Luthra of the 19th, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Paula Andalo, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a family whose medical debt drove them to seek care south of the border.