Calendar – Past Event

- This Week: "Living Old" (60 minutes),
March 17th at 9pm on PBS (Check local listings)

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This week, as President Obama attempts to move forward with major health care reform, and increasing numbers of Americans struggle to provide for their aging relatives in a down economy, FRONTLINE is rebroadcasting "Living Old" -- a poignant exploration into the lives of the elderly. For the first time in our history, "the old old" -- those over 85 -- are now the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population.

"We're on the threshold of the first-ever mass geriatric society," warns Dr. Leon Kass, the former chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics. "The bad news is that the price that many people are going to be paying for [an] extra decade of healthy longevity is up to another decade of anything but healthy longevity. ... We've not yet begun to face up to what this means in human terms."

Reckoning with the staggering impact of prolonged life is exactly what producers Miri Navasky and Karen O'Connor attempt in this film: Through an intimate examination of the modern realities of aging -- from the perspectives of the elderly, their families, and the doctors and nurses caring for them -- they paint a picture of a world that will ultimately touch us all.

We hope you'll join us for the broadcast Tuesday night. In the meantime, visit our Web site to sample the full program streamed online, read the press reaction, and also sample some of the hundreds of letters we've received about this film. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/livingold/