If I Have Cancer, Dementia or MS, Should I Get the Covid Vaccine?
Older patients with cancer, dementia or other serious illnesses should check with their doctors, but medical experts recommend the vaccine for most people.
Vaccination Disarray Leaves Seniors Confused About When They Can Get a Shot
As covid cases and deaths soar, it’s difficult to get up-to-date, reliable information about inoculations, and many older adults don’t know where to turn for help. Navigating Aging columnist Judith Graham answers questions from several readers.
With Vaccine Delivery Imminent, Nursing Homes Must Make a Strong Pitch to Residents
More than half of long-term care residents have cognitive impairment or dementia, raising questions about whether they will understand the details about the fastest and most extensive vaccination effort in U.S. history.
What Seniors Can Expect When COVID Vaccines Begin to Roll Out
At least two vaccines could get federal emergency use authorizations this month. Nursing home and assisted living residents will be among the first to receive inoculations. Here’s a guide on how that rollout may proceed.
Qué deben esperar los adultos mayores de la vacuna contra COVID
Adultos mayores en residencias y centros de vida asistida estarán entre los primeros en ser vacunados, siguiendo las recomendaciones de un panel asesor federal.
Facebook Live: Helping COVID’s Secondary Victims: Grieving Families and Friends
More than 246,000 people in the U.S. have been killed by the coronavirus, leaving hundreds of thousands of others grieving. Judith Graham, author of KHN’s Navigating Aging column, hosted a discussion on these unprecedented losses and dealing with bereavement. She was joined by Holly Prigerson, co-director of the Center for Research on End-of-Life Care at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and Diane Snyder-Cowan, leader of the bereavement professionals steering committee of the National Council of Hospice and Palliative Professionals.
Long-Term Care Workers, Grieving and Under Siege, Brace for COVID’s Next Round
As the coronavirus surges around the country, workers in nursing homes and assisted living centers are watching cases rise in long-term care facilities with a sense of dread. Many of these workers struggle with grief over the suffering they’ve witnessed.
Prayers and Grief Counseling After COVID: Trying to Aid Healing in Long-Term Care
With employees emotionally drained and residents suffering from loss, many nursing homes and assisted living centers are working with chaplains, social workers and mental health professionals to help people deal with the effects of the coronavirus.
Seniors Form COVID Pods to Ward Off Isolation This Winter
Older adults are deliberating what to do as days and nights turn chilly and coronavirus cases rise across the country. Some are forming “bubbles” with small groups of friends who agree on pandemic precautions and will see one another in person. Others are planning to go it alone.
Older COVID Patients Battle ‘Brain Fog,’ Weakness and Emotional Turmoil
Seniors tend to have more serious symptoms than younger coronavirus patients, including the aftereffects of hospital-based delirium. Doctors recommend physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and cognitive rehabilitation.
Lifetime Experiences Help Older Adults Build Resilience to Pandemic Trauma
These seniors use coping strategies to keep them socially active yet safe from the coronavirus.
A Pandemic Upshot: Seniors Are Having Second Thoughts About Where to Live
More than 70,000 residents and staff members at nursing homes and assisted living facilities have died of COVID-19, and others are under strict rules designed to keep the disease from spreading. That has evoked concern that living in a communal facility could be dangerous.
We Put Off Planning, Until My Father-in-Law’s Medical Crisis Took Us by Surprise
Although the family patriarch did not face a life-threatening emergency, the episode was a reminder that you have to prepare for a real crisis.
Bereaved Families Are ‘the Secondary Victims of COVID-19’
New research suggests the pandemic’s deaths are taking an enormous toll on surviving family members and worrisome ripple effects may linger for years.
Technology Divide Between Senior ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-Nots’ Roils Pandemic Response
Older adults with the ability to use technology have more access to virtual social interactions and telehealth services, and more opportunities to secure essential supplies online. Those who don’t know how to use it or can’t afford it are at greater risk of social isolation, forgoing medical care and being without food or other necessary items.
States Allow In-Person Nursing Home Visits As Families Charge Residents Die ‘Of Broken Hearts’
Half the states are rolling back strict policies that have kept family members out of nursing homes because of fears of spreading the coronavirus.
Life Beyond COVID Seclusion: Seniors See Challenges And Change Ahead
Some are grieving the loss of precious time in late life. Others are adjusting their ideas of what is possible and making the best of it.
What Seniors Should Know Before Going Ahead With Elective Procedures
People who put off care as COVID-19 surged are easing back into the medical system. Here’s how to know if it’s safe.
For Seniors, COVID-19 Sets Off A Pandemic Of Despair
The guidance to stay sheltered as society slowly reopens wears on older Americans, who have a growing sense of isolation and depression.
‘No Intubation’: Seniors Fearful Of COVID-19 Are Changing Their Living Wills
Still, medical experts say, it’s not a black-and-white decision of either go on a ventilator or die.
