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Ashley Milne-Tyte for NPR |
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In the movie The Bucket List, Morgan Freeman plays a retiree who benefits from the impromptu largesse of an equally elder buddy, played by Jack Nicholson, in living his autumn years to their fullest. Television’s The Golden Girls find each other when seeking roommates in Miami.
Off screen, though, social support isn’t always so reliably serendipitous or quirky. And people in need of non-family support in old age may represent a growing demographic.
Ailene Gerhardt, a patient advocate, founded Navigating Solo, a network which offers support for “solo agers.” Solo agers are people who are expected to plan for their financial, housing, and daily needs in their later lives; rather than relying on family members, they will act alone, with the help of hired professionals, or within support systems including others like themselves.
"Instead of looking at the concept of solo aging as something that's a crisis to be solved — it's not a crisis to be solved … It's a reality to be supported,” says Gerhardt. And the amount of support needed appears to be increasing. A 2023 AARP report reveals that one in ten adults over age 50 lives alone and doesn't have a partner or children, reports Ashley Milne-Tyte.
"Whatever foundation we build now … is going to be hugely important for generations that follow,” urges Sara Zeff Geber, a writer and speaker about solo aging. Geber delivers talks to professionals like financial planners "to bring awareness to the fact that not everybody is a couple and not everybody has that proverbial adult daughter to help them."
She highlights the need for support systems; for example, not every patient who undergoes anesthesia has someone to provide a ride home.
Some people finding support from a network of local groups called The Villages, with a shared aim of helping people live independently.
"Anywhere from 30 to 60%" of members are solo agers, says Barbara Hughes-Sullivan, the executive director of the nonprofit Village to Village Network. The Villages provide services including rides to appointments, domestic help (like moving furniture or changing lightbulbs), friendly check-ins, and even social events.
"I went through my battles of thinking I was an exception to that rule, I could be the human who didn't need social connection – because I don't need a lot of it, but I need it,” says Carl Smigielski, a Villages member and volunteer in Rhode Island.
After his husband died in 2019, Smigielski doesn’t expect to have a caregiver of his own. So, now he’s starting a new village in his rural area. "The social support, regardless of how able we are, that's intrinsic to us.”
Learn more about how helping solo agers could help everyone.
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There are two kinds of people — those who dump their leftovers in the compost bin and those who love them. Our audience includes “leftover people,” without question! After NPR’s Life Kit ran a story on how to reduce food waste, listeners wrote in with their own ideas for how to transform leftovers into new treats.
Cooking from scratch is often healthier than restaurant or packaged food, so it’s worth getting inspired by these tips. Here’s a sampling:
🥘 Layer your leftovers in a biryani casserole
Layer bits of meat and vegetables into a baking dish, alternating them with layers of rice. Try adding fresh mint on top and drizzling warm milk infused with saffron strands. Seal with foil and bake at 400 F. — Pradosh Mohapatra
🥪 Smash your leftovers into a crunchy panini
Make aioli by whisking together mayo, olive oil, sriracha, garlic (or garlic powder), lemon juice, and Dijon mustard. Slather it onto your favorite bread before layering on leftover meats and vegetables. Put it in a sandwich press until it’s hot and crunchy. — Pradosh Mohapatra
🍗 Simmer up a rice soup with that chicken carcass
Start with a rotisserie chicken, and remove (and refrigerate) usable meat. The remaining carcass goes into a stock pot. Add frozen celery tops, onion skins, a bay leaf, sage powder, salt, ground paper, and maybe a garlic clove. Cook it for hours, then strain the stock, and taste for flavor. Now try make a porridge-like soup: add a quarter cup of rice, diced vegetables, and leftover chicken into 32 oz. of stock. — Jennifer Webster
🧑🍳 Make a tofu scramble
Combine chopped leftover veggies with tofu (prepped by squeezing out the water then cubing or crumbling). Add the tofu and nutritional yeast to a skillet that you heated (low-medium heat) with a teaspoon of neutral oil. Brown slightly. Add chopped veggies (like peas, carrots, potatoes, green beans, lima beans). Add seeds (sesame, poppy, and/or raw pumpkin), herbs and spices. Simmer until blended. — Jennifer Sabie
Find more leftover tips from NPR listeners
Plus: Find more advice for using leftovers from professional chefs |
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Zoe McDonald/Vermont Public |
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Long summer weekends calling? Tips for planning the perfect quick trip |
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We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism online.
All our best,
Nicholas Burns and your NPR Health editors |
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