Judith Graham

Bill Hall, who lives alone in Seattle, contracted HIV in 1986. Since then, he has battled depression, heart disease, diabetes, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney cancer, and prostate cancer. This past year, he’s been hospitalized five times with potentially life-threatening medical crises. | ERNESTINE GRIMM/KFF HEALTH NEWS

LGBTQ+ people relive old traumas as they age on their own

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.

Jan 2

Gayle Williams-Brett is frequently overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for her severely disabled mother, who lives with her in a two story brownstone in Brooklyn. She has often felt entirely alone as a full-time caregiver. | CORNELL ANTOINE/KFF HEALTH NEWS

Resources are expanding for older adults on their own

Until a few years ago, few resources were available for the growing slice of the population that is aging while living alone, but that is rapidly changing

Dec 10, 2024

Physician Peter Gliatto visits Carolyn Dickens, a lung cancer survivor who lives alone in the one-bedroom Harlem apartment she’s had for 31 years. Dickens doesn’t know what she’d do without ongoing medical attention from Gliatto. “Having to get up and go out, you know, putting on your clothes, it’s a task,” she says. “And I have the fear of falling.” | JUDITH GRAHAM/KFF HEALTH NEWS

Homebound seniors living alone often slip through health system’s cracks

It gets less focus from policymakers, but about 2 million adults 65 and older are completely or mostly homebound, while an additional 5.5 million seniors can get out only with significant difficulty or assistance.

Dec 3, 2024

PHOTO BY CRISTIAN NEWMAN ON UNSPLASH

Millions of aging Americans are facing dementia by themselves

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

Oct 15, 2024

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Older women are different than older men. Their health Is woefully understudied.

The current state of research on older women’s health is woefully inadequate, experts say, and provider bias, government rules don't help

Jun 19, 2024

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The burden of getting medical care can exhaust older patients

Older patients may end up forgoing medical advice after being overwhelmed by the complexity of the health care system

Apr 4, 2024

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America’s health system isn’t ready for the surge of seniors with disabilities

The number of older adults with disabilities — difficulty with walking, seeing, hearing, memory, cognition, or performing daily tasks such as bathing or using the bathroom — will soar in the decades ahead as baby boomers enter their 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Jan 23, 2024

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Medicare expands the roster of available mental health professionals

Many psychiatrists and psychologists don’t participate in Medicare's program, but a series of legislative and regulatory changes are aimed at changing that

Nov 7, 2023