Older Americans Living Alone Often Rely on Neighbors or Others Willing To Help (kffhealthnews.org)

submitted 5 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

1 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Summary

Many older Americans living alone, often without close family, rely on networks of friends, neighbors, and former colleagues for daily support and companionship.

As the number of “solo agers” grows, questions arise about who will help them with healthcare navigation, household tasks, and emotional support.

While some, like Donald Hammen and Michelle Wallace, have built supportive networks, others face challenges finding reliable assistance for more intensive needs.

Stories like Gardner Stern’s, whose ex-wife and neighbors provide crucial care, highlight the importance of local connections for aging solo.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 8 points 5 days ago

yeah completely seeing it now and we are not even at the Xers yet. Part of it is often the kids have to move far away for work or such and real estate is keeping younger people from moving in so you get where all the neighbors are old. Sometimes you get the old person who was lucky enough to keep health and they are trying to help so many neighbors but its like jesus with the lepers. This is why housing issues effect everybody.

this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2024

47 points (96.1% liked)

Health - Resources and discussion for everything health-related

2321 readers

307 users here now

Health: physical and mental, individual and public.

Discussions, issues, resources, news, everything.

See the pinned post for a long list of other communities dedicated to health or specific diagnoses. The list is continuously updated.

Nothing here shall be taken as medical or any other kind of professional advice.

Commercial advertising is considered spam and not allowed. If you're not sure, contact mods to ask beforehand.

Linked videos without original description context by OP to initiate healthy, constructive discussions will be removed.

Regular rules of lemmy.world apply. Be civil.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

WhoRoger@lemmy.world

RoyalEngineering@lemmy.world

Awa@lemmy.world