Our Top 10 Stories of 2024

10. Covering Chicago

By Katie Scarlett Brandt — July 2024

Broadcast journalist Ron Magers reflects on his decades in journalism — and what the future may hold. For 51 years (and an estimated 24,990 newscasts), Magers narrated life for television news watchers. He is quintessential Chicago broadcast media, having started here in 1981. Now 79, he remains deeply in touch with the state of the world and media today, including the potential implications and benefits of artificial intelligence (AI). Yet he says his greatest concern is that journalism is going away. In January 2024 alone, 528 journalists nationwide were laid off, including 115 at The Los Angeles Times.

 

9. Over the Threshold: Street Medicine

By Katie Scarlett Brandt — April 2024

Street medicine is changing the way medical providers deliver care — meeting unhoused older adults where they are. In the unhoused population, diabetes, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS are three to six times higher than among the general population, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Many people living outdoors also experience what researchers call accelerated aging. This happens when a person’s physical age surpasses their chronological age due to constant exposure to the elements, lack of healthcare, inadequate nutrition and hydration, stress, poverty, discrimination, and more.

 

8. Over the Threshold: America’s Unhoused Older Adults

By Katie Scarlett Brandt — April 2024

Older adults face an increased risk for homelessness across the U.S. As many people search for solutions, they’re also asking themselves what it means as a society when we can’t care for our most vulnerable. Of the 653,104 people experiencing homelessness in 2023’s point-in-time count, 138,089 were over age 55. The 2023 report showed overall that older Americans were, in many places, becoming the fastest growing segment of the homeless population.

 

7. Strength Through Menopause

By Judith Weinstein — November 2024

For women going through hormonal shifts, exercise is key to protecting current — and future — health. In fact, one-third of people over the age of 65 falls, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Falls can lead to fractures, disability, and an increased risk of morbidity. Worldwide, 1 in 3 women over the age of 50 will experience an osteoporotic fracture in her lifetime, according to recent statistics from the International Osteoporosis Foundation. Staying fit helps protect against that.

 

6. Over the Threshold: Women and Homelessness

By Katie Scarlett Brandt — April 2024

Women make up a larger portion of unhoused Americans than ever before — and their role as caregivers plays a part in that risk. The population overall is growing older, too. In 1990, for example, the average age of the homeless adult population was 35. Today, it’s 50. And women’s homelessness is often more complicated than the loss of a physical home. “A lot of the women’s stories speak to this caregiving role. The loss of a caregiving relationship — this social connection and bond — becomes the unraveling of their lives,” says Judith Gonyea, PhD, of Boston University.

 

5. Over the Threshold: Creating Solutions

By Katie Scarlett Brandt — May 2024

How is access to housing and medical care making communities healthier? For unhoused people, seeking, scheduling, keeping track of, and getting to medical appointments often falls far down the priority list behind more basic needs. But this is where some in healthcare see value in not only connecting people with affordable housing but also case workers who can help oversee their medical needs, including mental health support. Yet, hospitals aren’t the only places making housing investments. Chicago opened three library-based housing facilities in 2019, including a senior housing project called Northtown Library and Apartments in West Ridge. The building features a Chicago Public Library on the first floor and 44 housing units on two additional floors.

 

4. Once Upon a Caregiver

Interviews by Rebecca Berman, PhD — January 2024

Caregiving requires a lot — of heart, passion, drive, energy, strength…. As any caregiver knows, the list goes on. Yet, caregivers also need a lot — information, resources, support — and many are too much in the thick of their role to come up for air and ask for any of those things. Today, more than 53 million adults in the U.S. are caregivers — 1 in 5 people. Nearly one-quarter of caregivers report that the role has worsened their own health, according to an AARP survey, and 61% of caregivers are balancing caregiving and their careers. Here, we focus directly on caregivers themselves, and learn about their experiences in their own words.

 

3. A Centenarian’s Sentiments

By Cathy Cassata — December 2024

Only an estimated 101,000 people currently living in the U.S. (0.03% of the population) have surpassed their 100th birthday. However, the U.S. Census Bureau expects that number to quadruple to 422,000 (0.1% of the population) by 2054. The U.S. has the second-highest number of centenarians behind Japan (146,000). Worldwide, an estimated 722,000 people are over 100. Here’s what 100 years on Earth has taught one centenarian — and what she continues to teach others.

 

2. Elder Emergencies

By Catherine Gianaro — October 2024

Have you ever had to take a a parent or other older adult to the emergency department? It can be complicated, as you struggle to remember their medications and health conditions. But emergency departments across the country are recognizing that as the U.S. population ages, they need to make changes to address the increasingly complex needs of older adults. Many emergency departments (EDs) are modifying to meet the broader challenges that older patients face. This shift has led to the growth of geriatric-certified EDs — specialized units that provide tailored care to the aging population.

 

1. Caring for Abusive Parents

By Stephanie Bouchard — February 2024

A contract often exists between parents and children, whether spoken or not: Parents protect and care for their child when the child is most vulnerable, and in return, the child as an adult cares for their parents in their old age. But what happens when parents break that contract by abusing or neglecting their child? Does the adult child still hold up their end of the contract? It’s up to the child, really. And in the U.S., there are millions of people in this situation. For many adult children, taking care of the parents who abused them or trying to make the decision of whether or not to care for their abuser is an emotional quagmire.