Aging

Nothing prepared Linda C. Johnson of Indianapolis for the fatigue that descended on her after a diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer in early 2020. Initially, Johnson, now 77, thought she was depressed. She could barely summon the energy to get dressed in the morning. Some days, she couldn’t get out of bed. But as […]

Consider three hypothetical women in their mid-70s, all living alone in identical economic circumstances with the same array of ailments: diabetes, arthritis, and high blood pressure. Ms. Green stays home most of the time and sometimes goes a week without seeing people. But she’s in frequent touch by phone with friends and relatives, and she […]

KNOXVILLE, Iowa ― Bette Helm was glad to have someone to talk with about her insomnia. Helm lives in a nursing home in this central Iowa town of about 7,500 people, where mental health services are sparse. On a recent morning, she had an appointment with a psychiatric nurse practitioner about 800 miles away in […]

Anxiety is the most common psychological disorder affecting adults in the U.S. In older people, it’s associated with considerable distress as well as ill health, diminished quality of life, and elevated rates of disability. Yet, when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent, influential panel of experts, suggested last year that adults be screened […]

Newborns. Former inmates. College students. Expectant moms. People with disabilities. Foster kids. Homeless people. Single dads. Your neighbor. Your co-worker. You. California’s Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal, serves a whopping 15.4 million people, offering care from cradle to grave: Half of all births are covered by Medi-Cal, as are more than half of all stays in […]

PERRY, Iowa — Fran Ruhl’s family received a startling letter from the Iowa Department of Human Services four weeks after she died in January 2022. “Dear FAMILY OF FRANCES RUHL,” the letter began. “We have been informed of the death of the above person, and we wish to express our sincere condolences.” The letter got […]

Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. How Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners Enhance Health Care The story of one patient’s ER experience does not at all capture the complexities of an emergency department serving the needs of […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is revamping how it rewards nursing homes to get them to improve patient care. Rather than limit bonuses to top-performing facilities, the state will hand out additional Medicaid payments next year to nursing homes — even low-rated ones — that hire additional workers, reduce staff turnover, or improve quality of care. […]

Wes Thompson, administrator of Valley View Home in the northeastern Montana town of Glasgow, believes the only reasons his skilled nursing facility has avoided the fate of the 11 nursing homes that closed in the state last year are local tax levies and luck. Valley County, with a population of just over 7,500, passed levies […]