Ina Jaffe
Ina Jaffe is a veteran NPR correspondent covering the aging of America. Her stories on Morning Edition and All Things Considered have focused on older adults' involvement in politics and elections, dating and divorce, work and retirement, fashion and sports, as well as issues affecting long term care and end of life choices. In 2015, she was named one of the nation's top "Influencers in Aging" by PBS publication Next Avenue, which wrote "Jaffe has reinvented reporting on aging."
Jaffe also reports on politics, contributing to NPR's coverage of national elections since 2008. From her base at NPR's production center in Culver City, California, Jaffe has covered most of the region's major news events, from the beating of Rodney King to the election of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She's also developed award-winning enterprise pieces. Her 2012 investigation into how the West Los Angeles VA made millions from illegally renting vacant property while ignoring plans to house homeless veterans won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists as well as a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media. A few months after the story aired, the West Los Angeles VA broke ground on supportive housing for homeless vets.
Her year-long coverage on the rising violence in California's public psychiatric hospitals won the 2011 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award as well as a Gracie Award. Her 2010 series on California's tough three strikes law was honored by the American Bar Association with the Silver Gavel Award, as well as by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Before moving to Los Angeles, Jaffe was the first editor of Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon, which made its debut in 1985.
Born in Chicago, Jaffe attended the University of Wisconsin and DePaul University, receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy, respectively.
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People who have positive images of aging and have a purpose in life live years longer than those who are negative, studies find. They also have less risk of stroke and Alzheimer's disease. -
Voters age 65 and older make up more than a fifth of the electorate, but they're not hearing the presidential candidates talk about the issues that matter most to them. -
The state GOP convention hears from Donald Trump Friday. If he clinches the nomination, it'll be when California's 172 Republican delegates are awarded in June — and many are working to prevent that. -
New Mexico is using time-motion studies to sue a chain of nursing homes for fraud. State prosecutors say the facilities couldn't possibly have provided the care promised — and billed for. -
Federal rules mostly prohibit nursing homes from refusing to readmit residents after a hospital stay. But states rarely enforce the regulations. Some California families are now suing the state. -
Older women say young Bernie Sanders supporters don't understand the struggles of decades past — and why their elders support Hillary Clinton. -
Many struggle with tremors and balance much of the time, but when the music starts, these people dance. It gives them joy — body and soul. Scientists say dance might have lasting brain benefits, too. -
Rain, and lots of it, is falling in parts of California as the first of several El Niño storms makes its way across the state. In the Los Angeles area, county officials have spent extra to offer more shelter options for its large homeless population.
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Elizabeth Laird was known as the hug lady because she met every deployment — coming or going — from Fort Hood and gave each soldier a hug. She died Thursday on Christmas Eve.
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Testing your hearing is just a phone call away. Doctors hope a cheap, simple at-home test will encourage more people to get their hearing checked, and get help if they need it.
