Watch: Seniors share how they’ve made it through the pandemic

Too often the voices of older people are not heard. Judith Graham, KHN’s Navigating Aging columnist, invited nine seniors from across the country to talk candidly about their highs and lows as they enter Year 3 of the pandemic, with lives reordered by risk and restriction.

How have people handled persistent stress? How have their lives changed? What are their most significant challenges? What needs are not being met? What sources of strength and comfort help sustain them? What are their hopes for the year ahead?

Graham moderated a live event on Feb. 23, hosted by KHN and The John A. Hartford Foundation.

Those who shared their stories included: a stroke survivor who lives in a nursing home in suburban Washington, D.C.; a Pennsylvania couple who had moved into a retirement community months before covid appeared; a Las Vegas man with Alzheimer’s who runs support groups for those with dementia; a divorced couple in North Carolina who live together to care for each other and run a caregiving business together; a retired clinical psychologist and author who lives alone in Minneapolis; a Latino activist in Dallas who cares for his bedbound wife; and a woman who lives at the Stonewall House, an LGBTQ-friendly elder housing development in New York City.

Watch the discussion to learn how they navigated their risk and isolation through reinvention and resilience.