Realizing a one doctor’s dream, a combined housing and senior services center serves one of San Francisco’s historically African American neighborhoods.
Aging
Older Californians could face increasing financial hardship and difficulty finding health care if Republican-led efforts to overhaul the nation’s health care system move forward, state officials and advocates agreed. The American Health Care Act (AHCA) would drastically cut federal funds used by states to provide health services to poor and disabled seniors. The budget slashes funding to Medicaid, the federal insurance program for low-income people, known in California as Medi-Cal.
Adults are now allowed to possess and use up to an ounce of marijuana in California. But a remaining barrier to elders’ ability to use medical marijuana could be their living situation, particularly if they live in facilities, such as nursing homes that receive federal funding, as all marijuana use is illegal under federal law.
People who live in rural areas suffer from higher than average rates of depression, an illness that can have a devastating effect on older adults. Yet California’s rural areas suffer from a shortage of mental health professionals, leaving seniors with few options for treatment.
Though they rocked cultural norms by being open about their sexuality in their youth, these lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) elders, often find that moving into an assisted living or skilled nursing facility means going back into the closet.
Hepatitis C kills more people in the United States each year than any other infectious disease, yet few people realize how widespread the virus is or know what areas of the country are most impacted.
“It’s a beautiful thing when you’ve resuscitated someone and you get them back,” says paramedic Henry Ledo, “but if you can do anything for anyone in their life, it’s at least to respect their wishes.”
When Kirsten Dearing stands up, her autonomic nervous system goes haywire, causing her blood pressure to plummet and her heart to race. It’s a condition that sometimes leaves the Santa Rosa resident unable to cope with everyday tasks, and she’s spent the last two years trying to sort through possible medications, weighing side effects against her debilitating symptoms.
Over the past 40 years, the contract between a technology company and its workers has changed dramatically, with ageism a clear consequence.
Mick Smyer launched the website Graying Green to help foster a social movement that would “energize older adults around what is arguably our most important issue.” And where others – including climate change scientists – only saw tired victims, Smyer saw possibilities.