Dementia Caregivers Face Knowledge, Resource Gap
It costs a family about $80,000 a year to take care of a family member with dementia, says Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist and author of “My Father’s Brain” about his family’s experience with Alzheimer’s. “There’s a huge resource gap” when it comes to caregiving for people with dementia, he told journalists selected for NPF’s America’s Long-Term Care Crisis Fellowship. Jauhar,…
Multiple Pathways to Dementia
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health are flush with new funding to tackle Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and they are also expanding how they look at the disease. “There’s been a pretty one-dimensional view of dementia,” said Roderick Corriveau, a program director for neurodegeneration in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, one of 27 institutes and…
Paying for the Dementia Wave
The latest estimates for Alzheimer’s in the United States are that more than 5 people have the disease, with projections that up to 14 million people could have it by 2050. Given the heavy cost of caring for those with the disease, is the country fiscally prepared to pay for it? In a session with National Press Foundation fellows, William…
Caregiving for Dementia
Caregiving for a loved one is difficult – but adding dementia to the mix is “caregiving on steroids.” Amy Goyer, family and caregiving expert for AARP, devoted years of her life to caring for her parents, both of whom experienced the effects of Alzheimer’s disease as they aged. She explained that dementia caregiving is more complicated because every case is…
Covering Dementia
Tara Bahrampour of The Washington Post decided to try to put a different face on Alzheimer’s – one that was almost positive. The reaction was anything but. Her story on the efforts by a Washington-area couple to maintain a positive outlook although the husband has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease while still in his 50s struck a chord with readers…
Is Dementia Underdiagnosed?
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias have been widely studied by the medical community and repeatedly showcased in the popular media. But that hasn’t necessarily translated to people who may have the disease getting a diagnosis from their physicians. In a session with National Press Foundation fellows, Dr. Halima Amjad of Johns Hopkins University detailed the phenomenon of undiagnosed dementia and…
Living with Dementia
By Chris Adams Diana Blackwelder remembers well the first time she didn’t remember at all. She was still in her 30s, and a professor in graduate school claimed she had told the class something – but she somehow completely missed the conversation. She was upset at the time but thought it must have been the professor’s fault. But eventually, Blackwelder…
Documenting Dementia Worldwide
By Chris Adams One of the biggest and most widely watched surveys of aging in America is enhancing its focus to dementia and collaborating with researchers worldwide to answer pressing questions about the disease. The Health and Retirement Study is an ongoing, longitudinal study that has long asked questions on financial and retirement issues. Funded by the National Institute on…
140 Clinical Trials on Dementia
By Sandy K. Johnson Some fast facts about dementia: Alzheimer’s disease is the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States, afflicting some 5 million Americans. By 2040, there will be more Americans over 65 than under 5 years old. The economic impact of dementia is $200 billion a year, more than cancer and heart disease combined. No wonder Congress…
20 Journalists Selected for Training on Dementia
The National Press Foundation has selected 20 journalists for our upcoming program, “Understanding the Latest on Dementia Issues.” During the four-day fellowship, journalists will be immersed in dementia topics, including the latest research, diagnostic tools, treatment, economic impact, caregiving and high-tech apps for patients. The training will take place April 28-May 1 in Washington, D.C. The journalists are: Mayra Acevedo…
How the Feds are Tackling Dementia
In the 1950s, some medical schools advised students not to bother learning about Alzheimer’s disease because it was so rare. That turned out to be drastically wrong: Fifty million people now have dementia across the world. In the United States, dementia has an economic impact of $200 billion. The need for diagnoses and treatment is so urgent that Congress has…
How Dementia Affects Your Brain
By Chris Adams There is no cure for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. But the Laboratory for Dementia and Parkinsonism at Georgetown University Medical Center is evaluating potential therapeutic drugs for the devastating diseases in pre-clinical and clinical trials. Dr. Charbel Moussa, an associate professor of neurology at Georgetown and director of the lab, gave National Press Foundation fellows an update…
Precision Medicine and Dementia
This program is funded by Mayo Clinic. NPF is solely responsible for the content.
Liz Seegert
Liz Seegert is an award-winning, independent health journalist based in New York’s Hudson Valley, who writes about aging and related issues, including caregiving, dementia, access to care, nursing homes, and health policy. In her role as AHCJ’s health beat leader for aging. she helps provide context for reporting on this multidimensional issue with story posts, tip sheets, analysis, data interviews…
Covering the Consequences of Inaction
Covering long-term care often stems from personal experience — Washington Post reporter Christopher Rowland’s mom had dementia. “It really opened my eyes to … the difficulty of managing your parents' decline in their old age when they have dementia and they need a lot of help,” he said. “There's no guidebook, there's nowhere to go on the internet to find…
Addressing Equity in Long-Term Care
Rita Choula’s late mother suffered from frontotemporal dementia. “We were in Prince George's County at the time, there wasn't a lot of support there that I could really fully rely on,” Choula, the Senior Director of Caregiving at AARP told NPF’s Long-Term Care Crisis fellows. She initially took her mom, Theresa, to Iona Senior Services in Northwest D.C. – which…
Technology Lends a Hand to Family Caregivers
Anthony Nunez’s grandmother – who lived out of state – fell when he was in high school. He said his parents bought her technology to try to keep her in the home, but “the technology didn’t work.” His grandmother came to live with his family and he saw her slowly lose her independence while also watching his mom raise two…
Ai-Jen Poo: Caregiving ‘Became My Obsession’
Caregiving is a job that doesn't discriminate. However, millions of America’s long-term caregivers battle low or no pay, discrimination based on race and gender, and an overall lack of respect for the vital service they provide. Journalists covering long-term caregiving must carefully analyze the demographics of this critically important workforce. According to AARP’s Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy &…
Lauren Miller Rogen Speaks Out on Mom’s Alzheimer’s
Lauren Miller Rogen says she can’t remember a time where Alzheimer’s wasn’t a part of her life – her grandfather, grandmother and mother all battled the disease. In 2012, Miller Rogen and her husband, actor-comedian Seth Rogen, founded Hilarity for Charity, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering individuals with Alzheimer’s and caregivers. From Rogen’s stand-up special on Netflix to other charity…
Bracing for Impact: The Long-Term Care Crisis Unpacked
With a government shutdown only narrowly averted, Debra Whitman and Susan Reinhard of AARP helped launch the National Press Foundation’s “America’s Long-Term Care Crisis” fellowship program with some sobering contextual insights about the fate of long-term care supports for American families. “Members of Congress who are fiscally conservative are not excited about adding entitlements that are expensive,” said Whitman, an…
Christopher Rowland
Rowland briefed National Press Foundation fellows in October 2023: Covering the Consequences of Inaction. Chris Rowland reports on the business of health care for The Washington Post, which he joined in November 2018. He began his career at the Brattleboro Reformer, a small newspaper in southern Vermont, and remained focused on New England in subsequent posts at the Providence Journal…
Lauren Miller Rogen
Lauren Miller Rogen spoke to National Press Foundation Fellows on October 3, 2023 with James Keach: Caregiving: Ready for Prime Time. Lauren Miller Rogen is a screenwriter, director, producer, and philanthropist, whose life has been touched many times over by Alzheimer’s. In 2012—when Lauren’s mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at just 55 years old— Lauren co-founded HFC to activate…
Sandeep Jauhar
Sandeep Juahar spoke to NPF Long-Term Care Crisis Reporting fellows in Washington, D.C., Oct. 2, 2023 about "Dementia Caregivers Face Knowledge, Resource Gap." A practicing cardiologist, Sandeep Jauhar is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. He has appeared frequently on National Public Radio, CNN, and MSNBC to discuss issues related to medicine, and his essays have also…
Yanick Rice Lamb
Yanick Rice Lamb is an award-winning journalist, author and journalism professor at Howard University. Previously, she was editor-in-chief of BET Weekend and Heart & Soul magazines, and an editor at The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Child and Essence. She is also co-founder of the health website FierceforBlackWomen.com and a Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellow focusing on the…
Lisa Berkman
Lisa Berkman is the director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is an internationally recognized social epidemiologist whose work focuses extensively on social and policy influences on health outcomes. Her research orients toward understanding inequalities…
Our Fellows
NPF trains journalists in the United States and around the world. We seek out diversity of gender, age, ethnicity and type of media, constantly creating a new mix of journalists for each program with a reach of millions of readers.
Alzheimer’s Research
One of the main patient advocacy organizations for Alzheimer’s disease has played a big role in pushing for increased federal funding as well as doing its own research. In a session with National Press Foundation fellows, Dr. Heather Snyder, senior director for medical and scientific operations for the Alzheimer’s Association, laid out the agenda her organization is pursuing in a…
Aging and Personal Finance
They’re two of the toughest conversations to have with aging parents: “Mom, it’s time to stop driving.” “Dad, it’s time to give up the checkbook.” And in both cases, it’s a matter of risk: Risk of physical harm, and risk of financial ruin. That said, plenty of older Americans maintain their finances well into their later decades. In fact, according…
Overmedicating the Elderly?
By Chris Adams When people hear of a diagnosis of dementia, they most commonly associate it with a decline in memory. But the disease can also cause severe changes in mood or personality, as well as agitation or aggression. To deal with those symptoms, some health care providers prescribe – and often over-prescribe – antipsychotic drugs. In a session with…
Research Struggles in Alzheimer’s Trials
By Chris Adams In the last two decades, scientists have learned a great deal about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and they’ve boosted their ability to predict which people might experience it. But what they haven’t been able to do with any great success is treat it. In a session with National Press Foundation fellows, Dr. R. Scott Turner of Georgetown…
Is the Human Body Built to Last?
By Jesse Schneider Speedskaters had dramatically improved their performances since the dawn of the sport, but in 2005 their times began to plateau. According to S. Jay Olshansky, the same pattern applies to human longevity and the quality of life of the nation’s aging population. “The picture here should be crystal clear,” said Olshansky, a professor in the School of…
New Views of the Aging Mind and Brain
By Jesse Schneider People 65 and older now outnumber children under 5. With this demographic shift, the ways in which we understand the aging population has also changed. In a presentation to National Press Foundation fellows, Darlene Howard, a professor emerita in Georgetown University’s Department of Psychology, differentiated between the “old view” and “new view” of aging and outlined four…
The Changing Long-Term Care Industry
By Chris Adams Robert Burke subtitles his talk on long-term care options “the dreaded nursing home discussion,” because for many families, it is just that: a highly complicated and emotionally charged conversation during a time of maximum stress. Burke, a professor of health care administration at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, gave National Press…
Jay Newton-Small
State of Science in Alzheimer’s Research
Deaths caused by breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease and stroke are declining. By contrast, Alzheimer’s disease related deaths increased more than 70 percent since 2000. The debilitating disease is “unfolding at a steady unrelenting pace,” said Robert Egge, chief public policy officer of the Alzheimer’s Association. Federal funding for Alzheimer’s research remained steady at about $450 million for five…
