Series
Faces of Aging
Aging in America is not one experience. It is shaped by the specific history your body carries. Eight installments move from weathering through the Black church as safety net, familismo and its weight, aging on the reservation, the model minority myth grown old, re-closeting in care facilities, the long road home for veterans, and living between two countries. Each community's story is told on its own terms.
BGM-12A
Weathering
The Biology of Lifelong Racism
Weathering describes the accelerated biological aging that results from the chronic stress of living in a racist society. What that concept means for Black Americans aging into a …
BGM-12B
The Black Church as Safety Net
When Formal Systems Fail
For many older Black Americans, the church has functioned as the social service system, the mental health resource, and the community anchor that public institutions never fully …
BGM-12C
Familismo and Its Weight
Hispanic Families, Care, and the Expectations We Carry
Latino cultural values around family and elder care create real communities of support, and they concentrate an enormous burden on individual family members who have no …
BGM-12D
Aging on the Reservation
Native Elders, Sovereignty, and Survival
Native American elders face some of the most severe health disparities in the United States, shaped by dispossession, the chronic underfunding of Indian Health Service, and a …
BGM-12E
The Model Minority Grows Old
Beyond the Myth of Asian American Success
The model minority myth has obscured the enormous diversity within Asian American communities and the specific aging challenges facing recent immigrants, monolingual elders, and …
BGM-12F
Re-Closeted
LGBTQ+ Seniors and the Fear of Being Seen
LGBTQ+ older adults who spent their adult lives out are entering care settings where they feel pressure to hide who they are, afraid that providers who don't accept them will …
BGM-12G
The Long Road Home
Veterans Aging with the Weight of Service
Immigrants who built their adult lives in the United States and whose children are American are facing a retirement decision no financial model fully captures: whether to return to …
BGM-12H
Aging Between Two Countries
Immigrants and the Geography of Belonging
Living partly in the United States and partly in a country of origin is a real strategy for a growing number of older immigrants, and it comes with Medicare coverage gaps, Social …
