https://medicalxpress.com/gerontology-geriatrics-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Geriatric Palliative Care Nearly half of the oldest adults died within one year of sustaining a hip fracture. A new doctoral thesis from Umeå University shows that not only the risk of sustaining a hip fracture, but also mortality following the injury and the prospects for recovery, are influenced by physical health, medical conditions and psychological well-being rather than age alone, highlighting the need for more person-centered care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-hip-fracture-older-adults-orthopedic.html Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:20:04 EDT news711974178 For older adults with dementia or Parkinson's disease, staying hydrated can be more complicated than simply drinking more water. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-dehydration-utis-cognitive-health-complicated.html Thu, 22 Oct 2026 10:20:17 EDT news711879199 Women in the United States can expect to provide seven years of care over their lifetimes to aging family members or friends—up from six in 2011, University of Michigan research shows. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-caregiving-gap-women-devote-years.html Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:20:16 EDT news711797714 New research in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society indicates that older adults who rely on electricity-dependent medical devices—such as ventilators, respirators and dialysis machines—may face substantial health risks during and after hurricanes, especially in communities experiencing severe flooding. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-hurricanes-affect-hospitalizations-deaths-older.html Wed, 21 Oct 2026 03:10:01 EDT news711688933 Among the increasing number of women who survive breast cancer, many older, long-term survivors remain frail. A new study out today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that in a given year, over half of these highly frail survivors had no Medicare home health care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-older-breast-cancer-survivors-fall.html Tue, 20 Oct 2026 17:20:05 EDT news711722198 For a first-year medical student, visiting a care home was daunting. There was no medical history to take or diagnosis to make. The task was to get to know an older resident through conversation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-medical-students-home-residents.html Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:40:08 EDT news711716774 Loneliness is common in older adults, and the mental and physical health risks associated with the condition are difficult for medical professionals to recognize and treat. To address this need, researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University and Emory University have developed a passive home sensing system that could detect behavioral patterns associated with loneliness in older adults and report those results to a caregiving team. The study is published in the journal Assessment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-home-sensor-loneliness-older-adults.html Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:00:08 EDT news711645841 When outdoor temperatures spike to 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius), or drop to -9 F (-23 C), like they did across Pennsylvania last year, people locked up in jails and prisons cannot simply turn on the air conditioning or find a public warming center. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-pennsylvania-aging-prisons-werent-built.html Sat, 17 Oct 2026 19:30:01 EDT news711378616 People who eat fresh food are healthier than those who don't. That simple fact is the basis of food prescription programs that make fruits, vegetables and other foods free for people who are food insecure. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-food-prescription-insecure-older-adults.html Thu, 15 Oct 2026 15:00:24 EDT news711291398 It's one of the biggest decisions they might make all year, affecting their wallets and their health care for the full year to come. They may have many options to choose from, depending on where they live. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-older-adults-medicare-decisions-quickly.html Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:20:07 EDT news711265872 Masked high blood pressure in adults older than 78 is associated with a 70% higher risk of falls compared with high blood pressure readings in both the office and at home among peers, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2026, held in Arlington, Virginia, Oct. 7–11. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-elderly-adults-masked-high-blood.html Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:50:01 EDT news710670408 Older people could be monitored safely in their own homes without the need for intrusive cameras or wearable devices thanks to new research by Nottingham Trent University (NTU). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-elderly-people-independently-longer-home.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 17:20:13 EDT news710695741 Marianne Blake has lived in the same home for nearly half a century. She plays bridge regularly, drives to her hair appointments and, at 88 years old, enjoys her independence. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-clinical-trial-ai-medication-device.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 12:20:01 EDT news710590682 People were about 19 percentage points less likely to recommend life-sustaining treatment for a seriously ill patient with dementia than for a patient without dementia, even when an advance directive requested life-sustaining care, according to new research from the University of Colorado Anschutz. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-survey-life-sustaining-patients-dementia.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:00:29 EDT news710494142 As extreme heat events become more frequent and severe across the United States, older adults face growing health risks that extend far beyond discomfort, according to a new policy analysis published in Public Policy & Aging Report. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-analysis-underscores-threat-extreme-older.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:20:09 EDT news710503681 Dr. Brent Tipping, a geriatrician at Wits Donald Gordon Medical Center (WDGMC), says that hearing loss more than doubles the odds of dementia, with visual impairment (both near and far) also elevating the risk. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-loss-earlier-attention-dementia.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:40:07 EDT news710494381 No one likes to feel left out of the conversation—including people living with dementia. Sometimes, all it takes is a little extra thought to make sure everyone feels included. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-reminisce-people-dementia.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:00:12 EDT news710488382 A terracotta-tiled village in the mountains of Sardinia may offer researchers a rare opportunity to uncover the secrets of exceptional longevity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-sardinian-village-longevity-hotspot.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 17:40:01 EDT news710438402 As hospital discharge pressures increase and wait times for elder care services continue to grow, a transition care program is becoming increasingly instrumental in helping older Australians recover, regain confidence and remain independent after a hospital stay. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-pressure-aged-spotlight-transition-older.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 08:40:10 EDT news710406721 For older adults, no disaster is simple. Repeated hurricanes, floods, wildfires and heat waves can combine with chronic illness, limited mobility, weak social support and strained care systems to create risks greater than any one factor alone. As disasters grow more severe and frequent—and increasingly overlap or strike before communities have fully recovered—preparing for and recovering from them becomes even more challenging. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-older-adults-disaster.html Fri, 02 Oct 2026 13:00:14 EDT news710159701 Functional decline begins many years before clinically apparent cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, according to a study published online Sept. 23 in JAMA Cardiology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-functional-decline-cardiovascular-disease-events.html Thu, 01 Oct 2026 20:00:02 EDT news710084201 Cooling a home overnight may not be enough to protect older adults from the physiological effects of repeated daytime indoor overheating during a multiday heat wave, according to new research from the University of Ottawa. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-effects-linger-overnight-older-adults.html Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:40:11 EDT news709990261 As Japan's population ages, more older adults are receiving home-based medical care, in which physicians regularly visit patients who have difficulty going to clinics or hospitals. Although multimorbidity has long been common among home care patients, few studies have assessed its prevalence in this population. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-multimorbidity-japanese-home-patients.html Tue, 29 Sep 2026 21:40:01 EDT news709899104 Death may well come for us all, but new research has found that few Australians are prepared for it or know how to help family members at the end of their lives. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-death.html Mon, 28 Sep 2026 13:40:01 EDT news709820882 When was the last time your doctor or pharmacist suggested that you consider stopping a medication? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-deprescribing.html Fri, 25 Sep 2026 08:00:06 EDT news709541522 Around 8 million people in the U.K. take five or more medications each day (known as polypharmacy), with a further 2 million people taking 10 or more prescription drugs daily. Most people who take multiple medications each day are older than 65. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-overprescribing-toll-older-people-health.html Thu, 24 Sep 2026 22:20:02 EDT news709472024 The San Vicente de Paúl Nursing Home in the South Bronx hasn't admitted a patient since December 2024. ArchCare, which operates the facility, has reduced its capacity from 120 available beds to 53 and plans to shrink it further. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-nursing-home-beds-scarce.html Thu, 24 Sep 2026 20:20:07 EDT news709462659 Community gathering places are intended to support exercise and social participation for all residents, regardless of functional decline. They provide a foundation for mutual support and serve as a preventive care strategy to extend healthy life expectancy. These places may also help mitigate rising medical and long-term care (LTC) costs associated with an aging population. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-community-linked-term.html Thu, 24 Sep 2026 11:20:07 EDT news709464050 "Families are messy, aren't they?" a daughter commented during a series of focus groups I ran with caregivers of older adults with memory issues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-dementia-caregiving-expose-hidden-family.html Wed, 23 Sep 2026 12:00:07 EDT news709377422 What do Australians with dementia think about voluntary assisted dying? Until recently, no researchers had thought to ask. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-people-dementia-voluntary-dying.html Wed, 23 Sep 2026 11:20:01 EDT news709377242