Sorting out end-of-life, long-term care issues as America ages

As America ages, end-of-life and long-term care issues increase. One doctor is helping families cope with end-of-life care while a looming shortage of caregivers worries some.

NPR: Hospice Doctor Helps Families Navigate The End Of Life
Dr. David Casarett is the director of hospice care at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He works with families as they try to navigate end-of-life decisions. At least once a week, Casarett says, one of his patients expresses a desire to end his or her own life. "It's a reminder to me that I have to stop whatever I was doing ... and sit back down to try to find out what is motivating that request," he says. "Is it really a carefully thought out desire to die, or is it, as it is unfortunately many times, a cry for help?" (8/25).

The Washington Post: Huge Shortage Of Caregivers Looms For Baby Boomers, Report Says
Americans should expect an enormous shortage in caregivers for older people in the coming decades, with a dearth of friends and family members available to care for the baby-boom generation as it ages, according to a report released Monday by AARP (Bahrampour, 8/26).