Howard Gleckman, Author at Howard Gleckman

How Trump’s Immigration Curbs Hurt Frail Elders, Young People With Disabilities, And Their Families

The Trump Administration’s increasingly tough crackdown on immigrants threatens to worsen an already severe shortage of aides who care for frail older adults and younger people with disabilities. The shortage of direct care workers will affect those living at home as well as those receiving residential care. The problem already is squeezing nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as well [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-05-09T11:12:44-04:00May 10th, 2018|long-term care workers|3 Comments

A New Snapshot of Older Adults In The US

It is easy—and dangerous—to create stereotypes of older adults. Just when you think you have a picture in your head of what a senior is, you realize how very different they are. To borrow a phrase: You’ve seen one older adult and, you’ve seen one older adult. The 50 million Americans over 65 are more economically and racially diverse than [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-05-03T20:14:20-04:00May 4th, 2018|Aging|0 Comments

It Is About Respecting Aging Parents, But How Do You Do It?

It is hard to be an adult child caring for an aging parent. But it is also hard to be an aging parent being cared for by an adult child. One solution: Think of this relationship as a partnership, not as one family member providing a service to another. Indeed, the phrase “care partners” is catching on in some corners [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-04-25T12:03:23-04:00April 25th, 2018|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Many Americans Go Broke In Retirement, But Many Others Gain Wealth In Old Age

While many Americans spend their through assets in old age, a surprising number have more savings two decades after retiring than they do when they leave their jobs. The phenomenon is yet another chapter in the story of old age in the US-- which might be titled A Tale Of Two Retirements. A new study by Sudipto Benerjee of the [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-04-18T15:35:38-04:00April 18th, 2018|Aging|4 Comments

A Constitutional Amendment To Cut Benefits For Old and Sick People

The House is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a constitutional amendment to require the federal government to balance its budget every year. Lawmakers would be more honest if they just called it a Constitutional Amendment To Cut Benefits For Old People. Because that’s who’d likely bear the brunt of the spending cuts needed to comply with such a balanced budget [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-04-11T15:18:37-04:00April 11th, 2018|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Using Housing As a Hub For Senior Services

Most seniors want to age at home rather than move to a senior living facility. But this choice brings many challenges, including the risks of social isolation, limited access to medical care and supportive services, and the potential for falls or other injuries that come from living in a home that is unsafe for a frail older adult. But there [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-04-04T14:21:28-04:00April 4th, 2018|aging in place|0 Comments

New Congressional Budget Bill Boosts Spending For Senior Services Programs

The huge 2018 budget bill Congress passed last week includes significant new money for dementia research and modest additional funding for many programs aimed at assisting frail older adults. The final $1.3 trillion bill was a dramatic about-face for President Trump and House Republicans, whose own budget plans would have slashed or even eliminated funding for many seniors’ programs. The [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-03-28T13:05:23-04:00March 28th, 2018|Federal senior services programs|0 Comments

How To Reduce Loneliness In Old Age

Isolation and loneliness are serious problems for older adults. They become less mobile, their friends and relatives die, hearing loss and other physical limitations make it harder to communicate with others, and seniors are often reluctant to even try to make new friends. Young people, they say, are not interested, and, as for other older people, why bother, they will [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-03-22T17:43:19-04:00March 22nd, 2018|aging in place|7 Comments

Where Will Our Personal Care Aides Come From?

As we age, become frail, and need personal assistance, we will increasingly require paid aides to help us with routine daily activities, such as bathing, dressing, or cooking. Demand for those aides will increase by 50 percent over just the next decade, to 3 million. But where will they come from? Aides are poorly paid, have little opportunity for advancement, [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-02-28T10:06:33-05:00February 28th, 2018|aging in place|2 Comments

Immigration Curbs Will Weaken Social Security

President Trump has proposed deporting hundreds of thousands of immigrants and backed curbs on legal immigration into the US. The president’s aggressive views on immigration have generated intense debate over the past year, but much of that discussion has ignored a key issue: What immigration restrictions would mean for the long-term health of Social Security. A new study by my Urban Institute [...]

By Howard Gleckman|2018-02-21T15:21:07-05:00February 21st, 2018|Social Security|0 Comments

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