Aging

Minnesotans are living longer and that trend is expected to continue. According to Minnesota State Demographic Center projections, the number of adults 65 years and older is anticipated to double between 2010 and 2030. That means 1 in 5 Minnesotans will be an older adult.

MPR News is looking at this shift and what it means to all of us.

Related: End in Mind delves into how our culture engages with loss, dying and death and offers resources to live more and fear less.

State begins rapid testing of all residents, staff of long-term care homes with COVID-19
Teams of public health personnel and Minnesota National Guard medics will perform targeted, but in-depth testing in about 20 long-term care facilities throughout the state beginning on Thursday. 
Deaths in nursing homes spur officials to increase testing, bolster staff levels
As the number of deaths in long-term care facilities from COVID-19 has grown, so too has the pressure to address the issue. Minnesota officials say they have a new plan to try to get a better handle on the problem after hundreds of older adults have died.
Faced with 20,000 dead nationwide, care homes seek shield from lawsuits
Faced with 20,000 coronavirus deaths and counting, the nation’s nursing homes are pushing back against a potential flood of lawsuits with a sweeping lobbying effort to get states to grant them emergency protection from claims of inadequate care.
Pandemic aggravates Minnesota care center staffing shortages
Staffing has become such a challenge at some Minnesota care facilities due to the coronavirus outbreak that a few aren't sure how they're going to get through the weekend, the head of an industry group said Friday.
'Deadly phase': Minnesota's long-term care facilities fight to control coronavirus spread
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities had hoped to keep the coronavirus mostly outside of their doors. But despite their efforts, COVID-19 cases have spread to more than 90 congregate care facilities. More than 70 percent of Minnesota's fatalities are traced to long-term care homes.
Coronavirus entered my father’s nursing home and nobody warned me. I did not get the chance to save him.
Reporter Jan Ransom’s father was the fourth resident of his nursing home to get COVID-19. Nobody told her about the first, so she couldn’t move him before he got sick. “I think that’s very unfair,” her father told her a week before he died.