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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

“These phone lines are very helpful. I really do appreciate them,” one man told me recently as I was volunteering at the Institute on Aging’s Friendship Line — a national warmline and hotline for people 60 and older. “But what I really want, what I really need, is someone to come to my house to […]

My parents have always been so independent and able to make their own decisions until the past few years. Slowly, they began to depend on me and now want me to take care of very big decisions. Scary! I’ve had a lot on my agenda these days. When I’m not trying to take care of […]

After 35 years, you might assume that retirement would bring an end to the professional life of sex therapist/sex columnist/board-certified sexologist Isadora Alman. You would be wrong. It turns out she’s still happy to share on her website the insights gained through her working years and decades of counseling (as well as over 25 years authoring […]

Long-term insurance — a form of coverage generally intended to help pay for care services that may be needed later in life — has already been both embraced and disgraced in its relatively short history. First introduced in some forms and formats in the late 1970s, it didn’t really take hold with consumers until a […]

The story of my husband’s grandfather is nothing short of remarkable. He was definitely made of the right stuff and what he overcame to thrive in America would crumble people in any other generation. He is now gone but I will always remember the story of how he came to our great country to make […]

Copious studies document that loneliness rates are highest among those who are college-age and seniors. That problem plagued Madeline Dangerfield-Cha and Joy Zhang, who connected as friends just before starting business school at Stanford a few years ago. Their early interests and experiences differed but meshed: Zhang had previously worked as a hospice volunteer, and Dangerfield-Cha in […]

Years ago, I used to carry around grudges for far too long. Those “chips” on my shoulders became “boulders” after time. In the end, carrying those grudges did nothing more than hurt me and poison relationships that would have been such a blessing to me. It’s easy to become so bitter that it taints everything […]