GBONEWS: Sweet 16th Age-Beat Fellowship Class Named; AI and Seniors Survey; For-Profit Rehab Hospitals Exposed; Menopause and Hormone Therapy; Social Security, 90, at Crossroads; Taylor, Travis and, Oh, My! Her Dad’s Care; & MORE
GENERATIONS BEAT ONLINE NEWS
E-News of the Journalists Network on Generations.
September 2, 2025 — Volume 32, Number 12
EDITOR’S NOTE: GBONews, e-news of the Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), publishes alerts for journalists, producers and authors covering generational issues. If you have difficulty getting to the full issue of GBONews with the links provided below, simply go to www.gbonews.org to read the latest or past editions. Send your news of stories or books (by you and others), fellowships, awards or pertinent kvetches to GBO News Editor Paul Kleyman. [pfkleyman@gmail.com]. To subscribe to GBONews.org at no charge, simply send a request to Paul with your name, address, phone number and editorial affiliation or note that you freelance. For each issue, we’ll email the table of contents and links to the full issue at www.gbonews.org. GBONews does not provide its list to other entities.
In This Issue: Only after Labor Day? You mean this crap year isn’t over yet?
1. EYES ON THE PRIZE: *** Journalists in Aging Fellowships Name 13 Reporters.
2. THE STORYBOARD: *** “How reporters helped to expose major concerns with a for-profit rehab corporation,”by Liz Seegert, AHCJ Health Beat;
*** “The role reversal in caring for parents is ‘wild.’ Taylor Swift knows it all too well,” by Madeline Mitchell, USA Today;
*** “Detroit’s Latino Elders Are Preserving History and Providing a Foundation for Identity, Pride, and Resilience,” by Estefania Arellano-Bermudez, EL CENTRAL Hispanic News;
*** “What Every Woman Should Know About Menopause & Hormone Therapy,” by Anjana Nagarajan-Butaney, India Currents;
*** “Caring for Gladine: A Las Cruces man’s account of caregiving for his wife with dementia,” by Leah Romero, Source NM;
*** “The reality of AI’s promise to curb older adults’ loneliness,” by Alexa Mikhail, Fortune Magazine’s “Well” section.
3. GOOD SOURCES: *** “AI and Older Adults Survey – Surprise, surprise — it is accepted and useful,” by Laurie Orlov, Aging and Health Technology Watch.
4. SOCIAL SECURITY WATCH:
*** “Social Security turns 90 today, and the program is at a crossroads,” by Mark Miller, Retirement Revised (with his New York Times link);
*** “Social Security has existed for 90 years. Why it may be more threatened than ever, by Fatima Hussein, Associate Press;
*** “Ex-Social Security boss O’Malley: ‘Trump and DOGE created “greatest theft of personal data in U.S. history,’” interview by Ali Belshi, MSNBC;
*** “The Woman Behind The New Deal,” Throughline, NPR (“Frances Perkins transformed how people in the U.S. lived and worked.”)
5. GEN BEATLES NEWS: *** Metro Puerto Rico’s Aiola Virella wins 2025 National Prize for Journalism for “Dementia in Puerto Rico” investigation; *** Former AARP Bulletin Editor Robert Wilson, 74, to publish first novel.
1. EYES ON THE PRIZE
*** The 16th Annual Journalists in Aging Fellows Program has selected 13 reporters from such wide-ranging news media as Scientific American, CNBC, Telemundo Oklahoma, and Detroit Free Press for its “Class” of 2025-26. Among their proposed in-depth topics are: the research implications of age-related sensory loss, the impact federal Medicaid and related cuts on eldercare, disaster preparedness in tornado country, “Digital Dead Ends” for rural senior care, and the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” hit on average senior’s pocketbooks. (See the full list below.)
Selected Fellows will receive a $1,500 stipend, plus all expenses to attend the huge Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Scientific Meeting in Boston, Nov. 12-15, 2025. The New Fellows will bring the program’s total number of journalists to 258, since it started in 2010.
Fellows have produced more than 850 stories in all types of media. Many have originated in non-English outlets serving U.S. audiences, from El Tiempo Latino to Sing Tao Daily, as well as in general-media outlets, such as the Washington Post, Science Magazine, NPR News, and numerous local news organizations.
The conference will bring about 4,500 professionals in gerontology from around the world, many of whom will present their research in hundreds of symposia, papers, and study posters on nearly every topic in aging. Topics will range from the latest biological discoveries to public policy panels on federal cuts, as well as how state and local services are coping with the new budget cuts.
The program will soon announce its selection of five Continuing Fellows, past participants invited annually to return to the GSA meeting, in order to refresh their coverage of issues in aging.
Reporters not participating in the fellowship program also may request a complimentary media pass to cover the full conference, by contacting GSA’s Todd Kluss: email tkluss@geron.org.
The fellowship program is a collaboration between GSA and GBONews.org publisher, the Journalists Network on Generations. Currently supporting the program are grants from Silver Century Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, The John A. Hartford Foundation, and National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation (NIHCM), as well as a donation from gerontologist John Migliaccio, PhD.
Following is a list of 2025-26 Journalists in Aging Fellows with their in-depth project descriptions:
Swe Swe Aye, Editor & Reporter, Reseda, CA, Myanmar Gazette. Project: Series on “Hearing Loss, Treatment Side Effects, and Dementia Risk: A Deep Dive into Parkinson’s Disease and New Treatments” and “The Vital Role of Caregivers.”
Marla Broadfoot, PhD, Wendell, NC, Scientific American. Project: Research on the biology of aging-related loss of smell and taste, its broad implications.
Ambar Castillo, New York City, Epicenter NYC. Project: Series–“In New York’s Gathering Deserts, Older Adults Face Greater Climate Risk” (isolation and danger; bright spots; solutions).
Daschel Chavez, Oklahoma City, Telemundo Oklahoma. Project: Series–“Still Working: Navigating Aging and Employment — The Rise of Latino Older Adults in Oklahoma’s Labor Force.”
Madeline Isabel de Figueiredo, Rural Reporting Fellow, The Daily Yonder (nonprofit national news outlet on rural America), Austin, TX. Project: Series on “Digital Dead Ends: Healthcare Barriers for Aging Texans in Rural Areas.”
Yiming Fu, Kihei, HI, AsAmNews.com (Asian American News with Report for America). Project: He will write a news feature on “How the 2023 Lahaina wildfires disproportionately affected Filipino elders.”
Elizabeth Gotthelf-Othot, Saco, ME, Saco Bay News (online news source for Southern Maine). Project: Series on impact of senior ride programs for older rural Maine residents.
Lorie Konish, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Personal Finance Reporter, CNBC.com. Project: Series on “Impact of Big Beautiful Bill on Personal Finances of Average and Low-Income Older Americans” (managing later-life work, plight of retirees unable to find/hold jobs, effects on younger workers).
Julia Métraux, San Francisco, CA, Disability Reporter, Mother Jones/Center for Investigative Reporting. Project – Series, Aging with Disability (struggling with complex health issues and/or disabilities to remain at home and avoid institutional care).
Victor Rodriguez Tafoya, Sacramento, Palabra, news service of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Project: Series—“Shadows of Service: PTSD and Aging in Post-9/11 Veterans” (lingering battle, cognitive health, innovative treatments).
LaReeca Rucker, Tupelo, MS, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Project: Series–“Nowhere to Run: How Mississippi’s Older Adults Face Tornadoes Without Safe Shelter.”
Cassandra Spratling, Detroit, MI, Detroit Free Press. Project: Series–“Reducing heart disease among older Black Americans.”
Mark Swartz, Silver Spring, MD, Editor & Publisher, Aging in America News. Project: Series–“Shoring up America’s Care Infrastructure in the Wake of Medicaid and Related Cuts.”
Correction: An earlier version of this GBONews.org inadvertently omitted Julia Métraux of Mother Jones/Center for Investigative Reporting from this list. We apologize for this error.
2. THE STORYBOARD
*** “How reporters helped to expose major concerns with a for-profit rehab corporation,” by Liz Seegert, AHCJ Health Beat (Aug. 18, 2025): Seegert, “Aging” blogger for the Association of Health Care Journalists, writes, “KFF Health News journalist Jordan Rau and New York Times data reporter Irena Hwang teamed up to uncover a disturbing trend among rehabilitation facilities owned by for-profit companies.”
Their Story: “‘Even Grave Errors at Rehab Hospitals Go Unpenalized and Undisclosed’ looked at inspection reports, lawsuits, government data and corporate records, finding that Encompass Health, a key player in this arena, had major safety problems — including patient deaths — yet federal officials did little to penalize them.”
For Health Beat’s “How I Did I” column, Seegert interviewed Rau and Hwang, who “shed light on the specifics of their investigation and offer ideas for how other journalists can investigate for profit facilities in their community or state. Many of their suggestions can be used for reporting similar stories within other health care sectors as well.”
*** “The role reversal in caring for parents is ‘wild.’ Taylor Swift knows it all too well,” by Madeline Mitchell, USA Today (Aug. 15, 2025): The Lede: Taylor Swift’s family caregiving for her father didn’t get the media sparkle of her flagstone-size engagement diamond, but when her father, Scott Swift, underwent a quintuple bypass surgery this summer, he said what many dads in his situation might say to their kids: ‘You guys are busy … don’t come.’ But the pop star knew better.”
The Awww: “She was there with her mom and brother when her dad woke up from his procedure and stayed with him as he recovered. . . ‘We just all moved in with him for the whole summer, pretty much,’ Swift said, adding that he needed help walking around. ‘He was, like, the loveliest patient ever. He just kept saying, “thank you” over and over again.’”
Podding With the Supers: “Swift opened up about her father’s surgery, and her role as one of his caregivers, during her appearance on her [NFL champ] boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast, New Heights . . . The interview, … has garnered more than 15 million views on YouTube since it streamed on Aug. 13.”
A Stat: “Swift’s caregiving story is also significant in the care world, where advocates are always trying to spread awareness about the struggles of caregivers, who now make up nearly 25% of the American adult population, according to a recent report from the AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving.”
Plus these recent stories by 2024-25Journalists in Aging Fellows.
*** “Detroit’s Latino Elders Are Preserving History and Providing a Foundation for Identity, Pride, and Resilience,” by Estefania Arellano-Bermudez, EL CENTRAL Hispanic News (Aug. 14, 2025)
The Lede: “On a recent Friday afternoon, historian and community elder Osvaldo “Ozzie” Rivera met at the Design Build Green Hub in Detroit with volunteers and a strategic planner to plan a Latino oral-history project. The Mexican and Puerto Rican communities have been in Detroit since roughly 1910, yet their history has never been fully documented. . . . The pandemic was a stark reminder of how easily community histories can disappear.”
A Quote: “ ‘A number of us felt we could no longer sit by while that story remains untold,’ Rivera said. A professor of Afro-Latino history and culture at Wayne State University, Rivera, 71, sees history as more than a bridge between generations; it’s a vital tool for preserving cultural identity.”
Depression Era Deportations: “Oral historian and justice activist Elena Herrada, 68, also works to preserve the overlooked stories of Mexican American elders, many of whom experienced the trauma of forced repatriation to Mexicoduring the Great Depression.”
*** “What Every Woman Should Know About Menopause & Hormone Therapy,” by Anjana Nagarajan-Butaney, India Currents (June 20, 2025): The Dek – “Menopause isn’t just a personal health issue. It carries serious economic implications for working women, employers, and ultimately, the economy.”
The Lede: “Fifty-year-old Nehal, who lives in Pasadena and runs an online business, is in the throes of perimenopause. . . ‘I have been suffering a lot for the last two years. And when I say suffer, I actually do suffer.’”
The Stats: “A 2019 Mayo Clinic study found that nationwide, 20.3% of physician respondents (OBGYNs) had received no menopause education during residency, and only 6.8% felt adequately prepared to care for women going through menopause.”
A Quote: “The problem is access,” says Dr. Karen Adams, Director of the Stanford Program in Menopause & Healthy Aging in the OB/GYN department. “Literally, people have to wait eight months to see me. I mean, there’s just not enough of me to go around.”
Revised Findings: “In the early 2000s, following the release of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) faced a major setback. The findings raised alarms by suggesting a link between HRT and increased risks of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and stroke.
“The impact was immediate and far-reaching—prescriptions plummeted. In 2000, about 1 in 5 women over 50 were on HRT; by 2008, that number had dropped to fewer than 1 in 20. . . However, in the years that followed, a reanalysis of the WHI trial revealed that HRT use in younger women or those in the early postmenopausal phase had a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.”
The Cost: “More than 1 million women in the United States go into menopause each year. A national survey by AARP reveals that 90% of women over the age of 35 experience one or more menopause symptoms.
“With nearly 50 million women in the U.S. workforce falling within the menopausal age range, . . . [menopause] carries serious economic implications for employers, working women, and ultimately, the broader U.S. economy. The Mayo Clinic estimates that the U.S lost $1.8 billion in work time per year and $26.6 billion annually after medical expenses were added.”
*** “Caring for Gladine: A Las Cruces man’s account of caregiving for his wife with dementia,” by Leah Romero, Source NM, (New Mexico, June 2, 2025):
The Lede: “When Gladine Lindly, age 70, was diagnosed with dementia in 2018, she and her husband Steve Gaskelldecided to manage at home. But as Lindly’s dementia progressed, Gaskell quickly realized he needed help taking care of her.”
The Care: “The couple moved to Las Cruces, where Lindly had better access to medical care… ‘She said, ‘I want you to be my caregiver… I don’t want to go into a home or facility,’ Glaskell recalled. ‘I proceeded to walk into the doors of Home Instead to apply for a job because I wanted to learn. …’ He worked with several patients for two and a half years, until he decided he needed to be home with Lindly full-time.”
The Research: “According to a report published by the National Institutes of Health, over 6 million people live with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia in the U.S. . . . The New Mexico Caregivers Coalition reports that about 419,000 family caregivers in New Mexico provide unpaid care annually, an economic value estimated to be about $3.1 billion.”
His Continuing Care: “Lindly passed on Jan. 7, 2025 at the age of 77. Since then, Gaskell . . . He started working with the Alzheimer’s Association’s New Mexico chapter a couple of years ago and now facilitates a men’s caregiver group at Munson Senior Center once a month.”
*** “The reality of AI’s promise to curb older adults’ loneliness,” by Alexa Mikhail, Fortune Magazine’s “Well (May 31, 2025): The Dek – “Brenda Lam uses an AI chatbot at least once a week. For the 69-year-old retired banker from Singapore, the chatbot brings her peace of mind.”
The Crux: “Many older adults are struggling with loneliness, and one in three feel isolated from others, many of whom live alone, have retired, or don’t have the same social connections as they once did. According to the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging, 37% of older adults have felt a lack of companionship with others.
“It’s a crisis that the former Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, warned about . . . with a 2023 advisory on the epidemic of loneliness and the healing effects of social connection and community. Research shows loneliness increases the risk of heart disease, dementia and early mortality.”
A Quote: Walter Boot, PhD, “of the Center on Aging and Behavioral Research at Weill Cornell Medicine, says while AI is moving fast, he’s not yet convinced that it’s a long-term solution for older adults. . . “The evidence base isn’t there yet.’”
And: Nancy Berlinger, PhD, a bioethicist at The Hastings Center for Bioethics, who studies aging populations, . . . says, “ ‘If we could reduce the paperwork side of being old and caregiving, and help people to do things they want to do, well, that’s great, … noting that, still, we aren’t quite there yet. ‘Who’s going to be the IT support for that chatbot? I still think it’s the family caregiver.’”
3. GOOD SOURCES
*** “AI and Older Adults Survey – Surprise, surprise — it is accepted and useful,” by Laurie Orlov, Aging and Health Technology Watch (AHTW, Aug. 13, 2025):
The Lede: “The University of Michigan polled older adult responders – and the results are in. In a recent survey of more than 1000 adults aged 50+, the University of Michigan poll, fielded inside Michigan and nationwide, demonstrates that Artificial Intelligence technology is useful to older adults – and that they are not intimidated by it.
“As with other studies, those with less education had somewhat less trust in AI-enabled information, and those with health disabilities also were somewhat less trusting of the information they found. (Source: July, 2025 University of Michigan AI Poll).”
The Stats: “Half of the responders are comfortable using AI-powered smart devices. . . They found that the 50-64 age group had a higher confidence level than those aged 65+. As with other tech, confidence level for use of AI was higher among those with higher incomes. “
Orlov Projects: “What will happen within the next few years – we’ll stop talking about it as a ‘thing.’ It will be part of the technology infrastructure that we all expect (and expect to work!) in our daily lives . . . For every constraint and limitation that the determined media staffer researches and finds, someone else, professional or amateur, finds a benefit that improves the quality of the information or service.”
Editor’s Note: Laurie Orlov’s AHTW blog is a solid source for keeping current on tech-industry and academic research and trends in aging. Not only is she following developments in AI, but AHTW reports on ongoing concerns, such as, “Caregiving in the US 2025 – More tech, but not as much as caregivers could use” (July 30, 2025), and “Tech for Hearing Loss – trends, what’s new and interesting?”
4. SOCIAL SECURITY WATCH
*** “Social Security turns 90 today, and the program is at a crossroads,” by Mark Miller, Retirement Revised(Aug.14, 2025). The Dek — “Financial solvency and customer service crisis both need attention.”
The Lede: “Today, Social Security is our only universal retirement program. By contrast, only about half of private sector workers are covered by retirement saving plans, and many arrive at retirement with inadequate savings.”
So What?: “Social Security also ushered in two critical ideas to American life. One is the very idea of retirement as a time of independence from work. . . . But when [President Franklin D. Roosevelt] signed Social Security into law on August 14, 1935, he also was inaugurating a new era of social insurance in the United States — the concept of government-sponsored national programs that pool contributions by employers, workers and (in some cases) the government to protect Americans.”
What’s Up?: “The Social Security Administration, which administers the program, is under pressure from the Trump administration, which has pushed out about 7,000 employees at a time when its work force already was spread too thin. It also has initiated sweeping changes in its systems, asserting that the agency is rife with waste, fraud and abuse.
“A key barrier to progress is consistent misinformation about Social Security peddled by Republicans over the years. We hear consistently that the program is ‘running out of money,’ that it is a driver of the federal deficit and that the trust fund is imaginary. Or, we hear Elon Musk repeating the old (false) saws that Social Security is a ‘Ponzi scheme,’ and that the program is rife with waste, fraud and abuse.
What to Do?: “Getting Social Security back on track will require sorting out these myths from the truth. In my latest column for the New York Times, I examined the history of Social Security’s creation, and debunk the six most commonly heard myths about the program.
*** “Social Security has existed for 90 years. Why it may be more threatened than ever,” by Fatima Hussein, Associate Press (Aug. 14, 2025):
Past and Current Challenges: “The new tax law signed by Trump in July will accelerate the insolvency of Social Security, said Brendan Duke at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. ‘They haven’t laid out an idea to fix it yet,’ he said. That law has a temporary tax deduction for people 65 and over that applies to all income, not just Social Security. But not all Social Security beneficiaries can claim it; among those who cannot are low-income older adults, who do not pay taxes on Social Security.”
Oh-Oh: “The privatization conversation has been revived . . . most recently when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent . . . said new tax-deferred investment accounts dubbed ‘Trump accounts’ may serve as a ‘backdoor to privatization,’ though Treasury has walked back those comments.’”
The Polls: “The public has been widely against the idea of privatizing Social Security since Republican President George W. Bush embarked on a campaign to pitch privatization of the program in 2005, through voluntary personal retirement accounts. The plan was not well-received by the public.”
The Debate: “Glenn Hubbard, a Columbia University professor and top economist in Bush’s White House, told The Associated Press that Social Security needs to be reduced in size in order to maintain benefits for generations to come. He supports limiting benefits for wealthy retirees.”
“Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the preservation of Social Security benefits, is more worried that the administration of benefits could be privatized under Trump, rather than a move toward privatized accounts. The agency cut more than 7,000 from its workforce this year as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to reduce the size of the government.”
But Wait, There’s Worse
*** “Former Biden administration Social Security boss Martin O’Malley stated, ‘Trump and DOGE created “greatest theft of personal data in U.S. history,’” in this interview by Ali Belshi, MSNBC (Aug. 28, 2025):
The Toot: “A new whistleblower complaint filed by Social Security administration chief data officer, Charles Borges,alleges that DOGE workers violated the law in copying the Social Security data of more than 300 million Americans to anunsecured cloud system, which only they control. That “apparently lacks any security oversight from the Social Security administration or tracking to determine who’s accessing or has access to the copy of this data.”
O’Malley (also former governor of Maryland): “I do believe that this is the greatest taking of personal identifying data in us history, greatest theft, pirating away (whatever you want to call it) of any sort of access to the personal identifying data of Americans.”
Existing Protections: O’Malley continues, “There is always required risk assessments to be done in an excruciatingly detailed way: risk assessments on the cyber security, risk assessments on privacy, risk assessments on the fraud risk. None of that appears to be done in this case. . . It is, according to [Borges], the chief data officer of the largest domestic program in the United States of America, a naval veteran.”
*** “The Woman Behind The New Deal,” Throughline, NPR (48-minutes, June 5, 2025): The Dek — “From Social Security and the minimum wage to exit signs and fire escapes, Frances Perkins transformed how people in the U.S. lived and worked.” If you don’t know the story of the first women in a presidential cabinet, the one who persuaded President Franklin D. Roosevelt to establish Social Security, the 40-hour work week and more, this podcast is one of the best backgrounders you’ll find.
5. GEN BEATLES NEWS
*** Aiola Virella won a 2025 National Prize for Journalism from Puerto Rico Journalists Association (Asociación de Periodistas de Puerto Rico) for her three-part Metro Puerto Rico investigative series, “Dementia in Puerto Rico” (May 15-16, 2025). Honored in the Special Report category for print media, Virella’s project had support from Report for Americaand our own Journalists in Aging Fellows Program.
Although the series ran in Spanish, Virella said that the stories covered how Puerto Rico’s aging population faces “a growing public health crisis linked to dementia-related conditions,” that “most hospitals in Puerto Rico are unprepared to treat dementia patients; and a new epidemiological report “reveals high rates of chronic illness, obesity, and depression among caregivers in Puerto Rico.”
*** Next month, former AARP Bulletin Editor Robert Wilson, age 74, will publish his first novel. The Love You Take (Warbler Press). Wilson is the former editor of American Scholar and Preservation, Wilson’s fiction preserves a baby boomer’s foray through the politics and romances of the 1970s, beginning with a college protest in the wake of the National Guard’s fatal shooting at Kent State University in May 1970.
Novelist Ann Beattie (The New Yorker Stories, Chilly Scenes of Winter) blurbed for the book,“Robert Wilson’s energetic, funny, sad, extremely relatable book about transitioning into adulthood is played against the serious backdrop of Vietnam and its aftereffects.” And the Kirkus Review deemed The Love You Take, “a meandering but often insightful novel about love and aging.”
Wilson told GBONews.org, writing a novel is “something I’ve wanted to do since I was 22. But 45 years as a journalist got in the way until now.” He’s also the author of three biographies (Clarence King, Mathew Brady, and P. T. Barnum).
To request a review copy and press material, contact Mary Bahr, mary@warblerpress.com. Say you saw it in GBONews.–
The Journalists Network on Generations (JNG), founded in 1993, publishes Generations Beat Online News (GBONews.org). JNG provides information and networking opportunities for journalists covering generational issues, but not those representing services, products or lobbying agendas. Copyright 2025 Paul Kleyman. For more information contact GBO Editor Paul Kleyman.
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