When a Friend Becomes a Caregiver

People outside the family frequently step into helping roles when older adults need assistance.

By: Paula Span

Outlets: KFF Health News

Published: September 10, 2026

Words: 1,259

Last Updated: 1 week, 1 day ago

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For several years, Nicole Straight and Patricia Wood, who lived across the street from each other in Sausalito, California, were more neighbors than friends, exchanging sociable greetings and occasionally having coffee.

Then, last October, Wood took a fall, broke her neck, and spent three months in rehabilitation. When she returned to the house she shares with her niece, she couldn’t walk without assistance. “I still don’t dare go up and down stairs unless someone is …

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