For nearly 15 years, Paula Spann has dedicated much of her journalistic career to covering one topic: aging and the challenges that come with it.
Spann writes “The New Old Age,” a twice-monthly column for The New York Times' health section about issues affecting older Americans. Some of his recent topics include the costs of aging, the rise of robotic pets as companions, and the dangers of misinformation on social media.
Mr. Spann took over the column, which was still a blog, in 2009. Before joining the Times, he was a contributor to The Washington Post's style desk and magazine, and in 2002 he wrote a story about nursing home residents in Bethesda, Maryland.
“Not much was known about assisted living at the time,” Spann says. “That sparked my interest in spending time with older people and writing about these issues.” Four years later, she began writing her first book, “When the Time Comes,” about the struggles of families with aging parents.
In a phone interview from his Brooklyn home, Spann, 74, talked about how his column's readership has changed over the years and why he reads all of his readers' comments.
What's the best thing about your column?
These are national trends and developments that impact people, rooted in facts, science, and research. When you talk about a large group like older Americans, there is no shortage of these topics. There are about 60 million people in the United States who are 65 or older. It's a very diverse group. There are many concerns for this group, including living conditions, Medicare and other insurance and policy issues, health, and the connection to end of life. It's a large canvas, and that's what makes it fun and always interesting. When I started this column, I thought I'd run out of material in a few years. Of course, 15 years later, there's still plenty to talk about.
Where do you find ideas?
I subscribe to many medical journals, so I'm always looking for what researchers are finding out about aging and health, and overdiagnosis and overtreatment. A lot of advocacy groups interested in Medicare, housing, nutrition, and other issues contact me. If anyone comes within 20 feet of me to talk about aging, I respond right away. Readers also write in the comments section.
Who is the intended readership for this column?
Over time, that has changed a bit. When The New Old Age was originally conceived as a column about aging and caregiving, we thought of our readers as adult children caring for their parents or elderly relatives and helping them make decisions about them. Over time, we realized that many of our readers were elderly. We were writing about them as if they weren't there. Perhaps it helped that I grew older and more elderly along with the column.
So now our audience is not just family members and their adult children, but older Americans themselves, gerontologists, Meals on Wheels staff, long-term care facility operators, advocates, elder law attorneys, anyone interested in this topic. With such a large group, we're getting a lot of attention from many quarters.
your Homeownership Articles What struck me was that it was no longer a boon for older Americans. What was the catalyst for that?
I think it came from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston University, which was studying this topic. And as I looked into it further, it seemed like the reason a lot of institutions and research groups were studying this topic was because interest rates first went down and then went up, which caused rents and home prices to go up. Many of us grew up thinking that owning a home was an ATM machine that would fund and secure our retirement. For some, that may no longer be the case. I think reporters are interested in looking deeper into things that we all assumed were true but that may not actually be the case. And this story was one of them.
I noticed that you enjoy interacting with readers who comment on your articles.
I try to find out how people feel about an issue. Sometimes I get ideas from what my readers share about their experiences. We often talk about the disadvantages of living online, but this is an advantage. When I started my career, if readers wanted to contact me, they had to get my phone number and call me or write me a letter. It's really helpful to know what people think and feel.
What is the biggest challenge in your job?
Finding older adults who are willing to talk about sometimes very personal topics like health care, family relationships, finances, etc. I think having a human story helps dig deeper into these complex subjects. You've all been generous with your time. Just make sure you provide your real name, where you live, and your age. I try to take as many photos as I can, but it can be difficult.
Do you have a favorite column from your 15 years of reporting?
One example where I saw the impact of my writing was when the Department of Justice, which was covered by other media outlets, pursued discrimination charges against the operators of a luxury continuing care retirement community in Virginia. They closed the nursing home portion of the facility and made its posh waterfront dining room available only to independent living residents, much to the indignation of the residents, who had paid good money for the place.