Archive for 'Caring & Coping'

On Labor Day weekend in 2009, Miriam Nyman, 83, arrived by ambulance at Rhode Island Hospital. She’d fallen, a result of a degenerative brain disorder, and broken her neck. She and her daughter, Tamar Lasky, waited in the emergency room for eight hours until finally, close to midnight, Dr. Lasky needed to go home to sleep.
Miriam Nyman and her daughter, Tamar Lasky.Miriam Nyman and her daughter, Tamar Lasky.

When she arrived to resume her vigil the next day, Dr. Lasky ...

The Waltons.CBS/PhotofestA scene from “The Waltons.”

Looking over the results of a national survey on attitudes about aging, released on Monday, I groaned over some of the dopier questions. (At what age did people experience their first kiss? Not quite 15, on average. Who cares?)

But there were some interesting data on an issue of perennial interest: older people moving in with younger family members when they can no longer manage on their own. This topic brings a reaction hereabouts as predictable ...

Loneliness stings at any age. But in older people, it can have serious health consequences, raising the risks of an earlier-than-expected death and the loss of physical functioning, according to a study published on Monday.

The report, in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the largest yet to tease out the impact of loneliness on people in their later years. Geriatricians at the University of California, San Francisco, asked 1,604 adults age 60 and older how often they felt isolated or ...

One of the things I appreciate about the new book “Independent for Life: Homes and Neighborhoods for an Aging America” is the sheer amount of information it collects in one handsomely designed paperback.

When it comes to the issue of aging in place, or coming as close as possible to that sometimes elusive goal, you may have previously encountered some of these ideas, findings and case studies in journals or on various Web sites (and in this blog) over the past ...

The Supreme Court building early Thursday morning.Stephen Crowley/The New York TimesThe Supreme Court building early Thursday.

“This is great news for seniors on Medicare,” Paul Nathanson, executive director of the National Senior Citizens Law Center, a nonprofit advocacy group, said in a conference call on Thursday after the Supreme Court issued its ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act.

Because several key provisions involving Medicare kicked in soon after Congress passed the bill in 2010, many beneficiaries won’t see big changes in their ...