Frontline: Living Old

Demographics and Aging

• Fastest Growing Segment: Americans 85 and older
• Medical Advances: Enabling longer lives, but often with decreased quality of life

Economic and Human Impact

• Economic Strain: Growing burden on middle-aged, middle-class families
  • Balancing care for children and elderly parents
• Human Demand: Psychological and emotional challenges of caring for the elderly

Personal Experiences

• Estelle Strongen
  • Born May 30, 1911; 94 and a half years old
  • Former stockbroker now called Financial Advisor
  • Continues to work and have ambitions despite age
• Chester and Rosemary Hake
  • Married for 68 years, both in their 90s
  • Live in a nursing home due to advanced Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
• Wayne Elliott
  • Diagnosed with lung cancer, chose to stay home
  • Passed away after two weeks
• Maria Pannesco
  • 96 years old, chronic heart and vascular disease
  • Daughter Lucia caring for her, emphasizing the struggle of caregiving

Societal Shifts

• Mass Geriatric Society: First-ever due to increasing life expectancy
• Living with Chronic Diseases: Longer, but with health issues like vision loss, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s

Health Care System Challenges

• Function Over Longevity: People desire a longer life with functional independence
• Limited Resources
  • Shortage of geriatricians
  • Current health care system focused on procedures rather than chronic disease management
  • 15-minute consultations inadequate for complex elderly issues

Care Approaches

• Home Care
  • Geriatricians Making House Calls: Mount Sinai’s visiting doctors
  • Increasing complexity in home care needs
• Institutional Care: Nursing homes and their mixed impact on quality of life
• Decision Making
  • Living wills and health care proxies
  • Pressure to sustain life even when quality is compromised

National Crisis in Elderly Care

• Repercussions of Longevity: Increased dependence, frailty, and medical needs
• Daughter Caregiving: Study shows three or more daughters or daughters-in-law increase odds of avoiding nursing homes
• Burden on Families: Geographically spread out families, smaller family sizes

Ethical and Emotional Considerations

• Decision Making in End-of-Life Care: Complicated by medical advancements
• Hospice and Comfort Care: Focus on functional and comfort over curative treatments
• Personal Stories of Caregivers: Emotional and physical toll
• Fears and Hopes: Fear of losing independence versus desire to not burden families

Future Outlook

• Increasing Elderly Population: Over 70 million elderly by 25 years
• Unresolved Issues: Societal, human, and economic implications not fully explored or addressed