The New York Times highlights a growing concern, the childless and aging. More people in the United States remain childless. In 2010, according to census data, nearly 19 percent of women age 40 to 44 had not given birth, compared with around 10 percent in 1980. That is why it is important for people without children to set up a health care proxy that will enable someone to handle medical decisions and a power of attorney for someone to handle finances.
Those without available family risk becoming "unbefriended" when they later lose decision making capacity due to illness or dementia. As I explain in a recent series of articles, few states or healthcare systems have developed adequate mechanisms for taking care of unbefriended patients and residents.
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