Seniors

Health

Medi-Cal won’t pay for assisted living in most of California. One brother fought back

Jessica Blough / UC Berkeley

A pilot program providing more assisted living coverage in rural California has emerged from one man’s fight to change his sister’s options.
Health

Do you hate being middle-aged? NPR's Allison Aubrey wants to change that

Kathryn Fink

Ailsa Chang

Jeanette Woods

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Allison Aubrey, health and science correspondent for NPR and the author of Your Turn: How to Create a Midlife You Love. You can share your story of midlife reinvention.
Health

Hospice is meant to provide months of support. Many patients get just 19 days

Heidi de Marco

A new statewide campaign is helping families learn about hospice care earlier, giving them more time to understand their options and make decisions before a crisis.
Health

‘There is nothing else’: Californians face eviction as insurer cancels assisted living benefit

Kristen Hwang

Health Net’s decision to cut assisted living benefits for roughly 3,500 low-income seniors could force some of them onto the streets, critics fear.
Quality of Life

SDSU plans to build a senior living community at its Mission Valley campus

City News Service

If approved by the CSU Board of Trustees, the project would include 224 independent and assisted living residences, 26 memory care residences and several amenities.
Health

Violence repeatedly erupts in dementia care despite warnings, inspections show

Jordan Rau

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities can be fertile ground for violence between residents with dementia, including fatal assaults. Court records and inspecitions how safeguards fall short.
Health

New Medicare rule could make end-of-life care conversations more common, doctors say

Heidi de Marco

A proposed Medicare rule would require hospitals to report whether patients’ end-of-life care preferences are documented, a change doctors say could encourage earlier conversations.
Health

Fast walkers in their 80s cut their risk of cognitive decline by half, a study finds

Allison Aubrey

A new study of people 80 and older with exceptional gaits finds fast walkers have about a 50% lower risk of cognitive decline, showing the connection between physical health and brain health.
Health

Advocates rally in San Diego against proposed Medi-Cal cuts

Tammy Murga

The governor’s budget proposed changes to health care coverage, including excluding undocumented immigrants from most health care services.
Science & Technology

We finally know enough about how the brain breaks to focus on fixing it, experts say

Jon Hamilton

The Allen Institute in Seattle says scientists have now learned enough about how the brain works to start fixing it when it breaks.