What's it like to live alone as an older person with memory issues?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-05-27 01:00

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Older adults living alone need more support to manage their medication, according to US researchers. The team surveyed 116 people over age 55 with cognitive impairment (such as trouble with memory), and 54 social contacts (such as friends and family of the older people), and found these adults face many challenges living alone, particularly when it comes to medications. Participants described daily struggles to remember medications without outside reminders or encouragement, a fear of the negative effects of medication (such as drowsiness) while alone, and trouble navigating medication-related bureaucracies without help. The team also found that many older adults were withholding information from health care professionals in order to maintain their independence.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Internal Medicine

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of California, USA

Funder: This work was supported by grants R03AG078804 and K76AG088411 (Dr Growdon); R01AG085347 and P30AG044281 (Dr Harrison); R33AG086944, P30AG044281, and 2K24AG049057 (Dr Steinman); and R01AG069147 and R56AG062165 (Dr Portacolone) from the National Institute on Aging. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Growdon reported receiving personal fees from Alosa Health and serving as deputy editor with honorarium for themednet.org outside the submitted work. Dr Harrison reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health paid to her institution outside the submitted work. Dr Steinman reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study, receiving royalties from UpToDate for chapter authorship outside the submitted work, and serving as cochair of the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria of Potentially Inappropriate Medications in Older Adults. No other disclosures were reported.

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