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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An NPR probe finds many nursing homes are still prescribing schizophrenia drugs to calm dementia patients — despite FDA warnings — but only 2 percent of excessive-medication cases result in penalties.
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Way too many residents of U.S. nursing homes are on antipsychotic drugs, critics say. It's often just for the convenience of the staff, to sedate patients agitated by dementia. That's illegal. -
Across the country, many voter initiatives were on the ballots. Minimum wage questions were on ballots in five states. In addition, three states and the District of Columbia voted on marijuana issues.
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Longer lives means more decades of intimacy. Drugs that help male physiology match desire have affected more than just the body, men who take these pills say. -
A U.S. attorney has sued two nursing homes in Watsonville, Calif., alleging that they failed to provide the acceptable care they were paid for by the government.
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In the case of an elderly patient with multiple medical problems, having a team of health workers deliver care to the home can be cheaper than expensive stays in nursing homes and emergency rooms.
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There's a growing market in technology to address health problems in older people. But young techies don't always know what their clients really need and want. Enter the focus group of Dad. -
There's good news and bad news about aging boomers, a Census Bureau report finds. They're drinking less and voting more, but they're also heavier, which could mean less independence later. -
AARP ranked each state and Washington, D.C., according to the cost and quality of long-term care and support services. An online scorecard helps consumers compare services in each region. -
Most people don't want to die in the hospital hooked up to machines, but it can be hard to make those wishes known. A doctor's order with more force than an advance directive can help, a study finds.
