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The Top 10 Nursing Home Problems – and What To Do About Them
Nursing home residents and their advocates have scored some improvements in the types and quality of care provided. But in many facilities, the caring concept of “nursing” and “home” are still hard to come by. While lauding the good changes, Eric Carlson, directing attorney of the advocacy group Justice in Aging, describes the 10 most common complaints […]
30 Years of Research on Aging: Six Scientists Talk of Top Discoveries
Updated September 2025 Most people in the U.S., where the average life expectancy is 78 years old, live about 20% of their lives with a chronic disease of aging such as osteoarthritis, Type II diabetes, cancer, heart attack, stroke, and macular degeneration. But the brainiacs at the Buck Institute for Age Research, based in Novato, […]
The Whys and Hows of Family Councils
Robert Kriegel says it was a hefty hike of 5.5% in fees at his lifecare community in San Francisco that provided the impetus. A small group of residents who played bridge together there let their ire fly freely while conversing over the cards and decided to find out whether other residents were also upset that […]
What the Experts Don’t Tell You: Tried & True Tips for Dealing With Dementia
There is no shortage of advice these days about how to deal with the “problem behavior” of people who have dementia, many of whom get more resistant as their conditions decline. Many of those urgings seem impossible to follow; some of them too wonky, too time-consuming or too expensive. In fact, the best advice may […]
Truths and Tips About Opioids and Older People
Old age is getting younger. Thanks to a decrease in smoking, improved healthcare, safer working conditions, and widespread childhood vaccinations, life expectancy in the United States increased during most years after World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic. The increase in American life expectancy flattened in the mid-2010s because of the opioid epidemic and […]
Caring Collaboratives: ‘Help Insurance’ for Women
Updated December 2025 As they retire or embrace new work and social connections, many women seek and find solace and support by joining Women’s Connection (formerly The Transition Network), a group offering programs, events, networking opportunities, and workshops in local chapters throughout the country. Though the organization’s tagline touts “Embracing Change After 50,” which it […]
Inside the 2019 Senate Hearing: Nursing Home Abuse ‘Not Forgotten?’
About 1.2 million individuals currently reside in nearly 15,000 nursing homes nationwide. For many, it’s the best place to receive care and housing; for some, it’s the only real option. But for too many, there is a documented dark side behind closed doors: abuse and neglect. Periodic reports of the wrongs committed have resulted in […]
Helping Your House Age Along With You
Updated December 2025 Architect Erick Mikiten ticks off some of the top reasons many people fear growing older: perceived threats of being institutionalized, aging out of relevance, becoming progressively more isolated. And, he says, these are the self-same traits that must be avoided in architectural design. Mikiten argues that architects must update designs of homes […]
Respite Resources for Family Caregivers: The Top 10 Places to Turn for Help
Updated December 2025 Chances are you may be one of the 66 million family caregivers in the U.S. charged with attending the needs of a loved one — or will join their growing ranks one day. Either way, you are likely aware of the many practical and emotional challenges involved in navigating life while providing […]
Lessons Learned By a Practicing Geriatrician
At a recent lecture titled “Making a Difference to Seriously Ill Older Adults,” Louise C. Walter, Chief of the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California-San Francisco, first answered the question she’s asked most often: How old do you have to be to get treated by a geriatrician? To the surprise of many, geriatrics […]