Thirteen percent of the American population is over 65 years old, and the average life expectancy by 2020 is projected to be 80. Add to those facts a decreasing number of people available to care for the elderly, and you have what many gerontologists believe is a looming crisis.
Most of those elderly do not want to go to an assisted living facility or a nursing home; they want to grow old and die at home. But few are planning how best to do that.
Louis Tenenbaum is the founder of the "Aging in Place Institute" and was a keynote speaker at the Montana Gerontology Society conference held recently in Missoula.
In this feature interview, Tenenbaum talks with News Director Sally Mauk about some of the ways people can up their chances of being able to grow old in the home they choose.