The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
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.
1-9 of 9 results
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.
Judith Graham, KFF Health News' "Navigating Aging" columnist, talks with older adults who live alone by choice or circumstance. They share what it means to thrive in later years.
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. They’re vulnerable, physically and emotionally, but often reluctant to ask for help.
© 2026 KFF