The motives for relocating vary, of course. Ms. Cave, 67, moved to Riderwood because “I was the daughter who had to take care of parents from afar, and I swore I’d never do that to my kids,” she said. At first, Ms. Cave recalled, “I looked around and saw the walkers and the scooters and […]
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If you’re wealthy, you’ll be able to afford help in your home or care in an assisted-living facility or a nursing home. If you’re poor, you can turn to Medicaid for nursing homes or aides at home. But if you’re middle class, you’ll have a thorny decision to make: whether to buy long-term care insurance. […]
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For 35 years, Angela Jemmott and her five brothers paid premiums on a long-term care insurance policy for their 91-year-old mother. But the policy does not cover home health aides whose assistance allows her to stay in her Sacramento bungalow, near the friends and neighbors she loves. Her family pays $4,000 a month for that. […]
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Assisted-living centers have become an appealing retirement option for hundreds of thousands of boomers who can no longer live independently, promising a cheerful alternative to the institutional feel of a nursing home. But their cost is so crushingly high that most Americans can’t afford them. These highly profitable facilities often charge $5,000 a month or […]
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Are you confused about what an assisted-living facility is, and how it differs from a nursing home? And what you can expect to pay? Here’s a guide to this type of housing for older people. What is assisted living? Assisted-living facilities occupy the middle ground of housing for people who can no longer live independently […]
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Seniors are one of the fastest-growing populations of cannabis users in the United States. While some older adults have used pot for decades, studies suggest that others are turning to the drug for the first time to help them sleep better, dampen pain or treat anxiety — especially when prescription drugs, which often come with […]
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On a recent evening in the West Village of Manhattan, Dorothy Wiggins, a petite 98-year-old woman wearing a dark coat and a pink scarf, left her townhouse to check out Little Ruby’s Cafe, a chic new restaurant in her neighborhood. Inside, she approached the hostess. “I remember this place when it was the other place, […]
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Climate change continues to have a worsening effect on health and mortality around the world, according to an exhaustive report published on Tuesday by an international team of 114 researchers. One of the starkest findings is that heat-related deaths of people older than 65 have increased by 85 percent since the 1990s, according to modeling […]
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Margaret Newcomb, 69, a retired French teacher, is desperately trying to protect her retirement savings by caring for her 82-year-old husband, who has severe dementia, at home in Seattle. She used to fear his disease-induced paranoia, but now he’s so frail and confused that he wanders away with no idea of how to find his […]
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🇨🇦 CANADA. Provinces and territories fund long-term care services through general tax revenue. Money budgeted is not always enough to cover all services, and some localities give priority to those with the greatest needs. The amount of subsidies people can receive, the costs they have to pay out of pocket and the availability of services […]
Read MoreGrowing up, I was very close to my grandmother. I’ve always admired the wisdom and humor of my elders, and she instilled in me a profound appreciation for their company. Unlike the prevalent notion that aging is negative, my perspective on growing old — very old — was different. When I emigrated to Canada from […]
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On Thursday mornings, Julia Sadtler and Debora Dunbar log onto Zoom to talk about caring for their husbands with Alzheimer’s disease, in hourlong conversations that are usually informative, sometimes emotional and always supportive. Both men are patients at Penn Memory Center in Philadelphia, which began this mentorship program for caregivers in September. By design, the […]
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There are 39 steps from the spot Gerry Goldsholle and his wife, Myra Levenson, park the car at their four-level wood frame house in Mill Valley, Calif., to where, at the end of each evening, they park themselves. “As you get older those stairs get to be an issue, bringing up groceries and so forth,” […]
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After touring several retirement communities, Marta Genoni winnowed the field to two appealing possibilities not far from the home she shared with her husband, Kenneth, a lawyer, in Westfield, N.J. But unable to make a final decision she asked her elder daughter, a college administrator in Richmond, Va., to come north and weigh in. Her […]
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On a clear day in March 2023, the snowy peaks surrounding the California Institution for Men in Chino were visible. Cleveland Lindley stood on a green patch in the prison yard, taking in the view. He was wearing dark wraparound glasses and using crutches for support because he had overexerted himself during a recent visit […]
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If you’re enrolled in Medicare, you might want to turn off your television this time of year. In the weeks ahead, the airwaves will be flooded with advertisements promoting insurance plans during Medicare’s open enrollment period, which will start on Sunday and end Dec. 7. During open enrollment, you can make changes to your Part […]
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Because any potential cost-of-living adjustment must be baked into benefits at the start of the new year, beneficiaries receive raises after they’ve already experienced higher prices. The COLA is calculated using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (called the C.P.I.-W): Social Security takes the average inflation reading from July, August […]
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Dorothy Hoffner, the centenarian who gained international adoration for skydiving at age 104 earlier this month, all while exhibiting an air of blasé disregard for the attention the feat brought her, died in her sleep overnight Sunday into Monday at her home in Chicago. Joe Conant, a nurse who had known Ms. Hoffner for around […]
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Mourners gathered around San Francisco City Hall this week to remember Senator Dianne Feinstein, one of the most formidable politicians of her generation. Her passing meant not just the end of her political career, but also the end of a furious argument over her age and condition. Why did she stay in the Senate for […]
Read MoreAfter Zumba class wrapped up at the Oakland Senior Center on Friday, regulars gathered around a projector screen with mocktails and plates piled with cheese and crackers to watch the premiere of “The Golden Bachelor,” the reality franchise’s latest spin on its dating show formula. “I haven’t been a bachelor in 55 and a half […]
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Dorothy Hoffner, born in 1918, had survived both the Spanish flu and Covid pandemics, as well as her first skydiving attempt at age 100. That might explain what was on her mind before her second skydive as she prepared for a roughly 10,000-foot descent. “What are we having for dinner?” she recalled thinking. Ms. Hoffner, […]
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I recently turned 83, and while there are many joys to getting older, getting out of taxis is not one of them. What you don’t want to do is get your left foot caught under the front right seat before you try to swing your right foot toward the door; otherwise, you’ll topple over while […]
Read MoreIt has never been easy for Mary Cole to support herself and the 19-year-old grandson who lives with her in Bristol, Va., on her monthly $914 Supplemental Security Income check. But it’s getting harder. “I’ve been struggling a lot,” Ms. Cole said. Because benefits counselors at her local agency on aging have helped her apply […]
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When I ask my patients about their long-term health goals, they seldom say they want to live to be 100. Instead they talk about aging with independence and dignity, being free from aches and pains or having the strength to play with their grandchildren. “I’d just like to blow out the candles on my birthday […]
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Kathy Denton, 64, said she felt “bolder” now, in part because she no longer experiences the pressure she once did to settle down. She has been able to find fun with some of the men she has met through dating sites, even if none have been a long-term match. One “delightful man” cooked her “the […]
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There was no TV in the waiting area, no magazines, and eventually Ava’s phone began to die, cutting off her line of communication to me, so she was forced to read whatever pamphlets, signs, and labels were in English, and, finally, to pay attention to the people around her. A little girl who’d gotten stitches […]
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The subway rumbled toward its final stop north of Seoul. Along the way, hordes disembarked, with the determined, brisk gait of those with somewhere to be. Far from the city center, the thicket of high-rise buildings grew sparser, and the afternoon sun crept deeper into the train cars, riding on an elevated track at that […]
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Judy Govatos has heard that magical phrase “you’re in remission” twice, in 2015 and again in 2019. She had beaten back Stage 4 lymphoma with such aggressive chemotherapy and other treatments that at one point she grew too weak to stand, and relied on a wheelchair. She endured several hospitalizations, suffered infections and lost nearly […]
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The latest Covid boosters are expected to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration as early as Monday, arriving alongside the seasonal flu vaccine and shots to protect infants and older adults from R.S.V., a potentially lethal respiratory virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to follow up on Tuesday with […]
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Americans with H.I.V. are achieving the once unthinkable: a steady march into older age. But beginning around age 50, many people living with the virus face a host of health problems, from heart disease and diabetes to social isolation and cognitive decline. And so the medical research community, which some three decades ago developed lifesaving […]
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And then there are some ideas farther afield. A start-up called MyndVR is using virtual reality to provide a sense of liberation to older people. Your body may be unable to travel, but through V.R., you might cross off destinations on your bucket list. The company argues that V.R. could also be therapeutic — that […]
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