Living Longer ... Aging Well
29 Minutes
Although many cultures venerate their elders, looking to them as living repositories of wisdom and experience, America, with its "forever young" self-image, does not. Lacking societal support, how are Americans supposed to age well-to grow older with grace and understanding-and make life's final decades a meaningful experience? This program features the stories of exemplary individuals who, despite the inhospitable social climate, are growing older with courage and dignity. (29 minutes)

Living Longer ... Living Better?
29 Minutes
Thanks to recent advances in medicine, longevity is on the rise. But will America's youth-oriented society finally develop the maturity to respect its elders? And will the Medicare and Social Security infrastructures be able to meet the needs of the Baby Boomers? In this program, experts including medical ethicist David Solomon, the directors of the Aging with Dignity Institute and the Forever Learning Institute, and the author of Another Country...Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Elders examine these and other pressing quality-of-life questions. (29 minutes)

Substance Abuse in the Elderly
29 Minutes
Faced with complex regimens of medication and diminished tolerances for alcohol, many elderly Americans run the risk of falling into the trap of substance abuse. In this program from The Doctor Is In, senior citizens discuss how they deal with these challenges, while Dr. James Campbell, director of the geriatric center at MetroHealth Medical Center, and Carol Colleran Egan, director of older adult services for Hanley-Hazelden Center, present some innovative programs created especially for elderly people. A Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Production. (30 minutes)

Caregiving
26 Minutes
Every day, 25 million Americans provide care for loved ones. This program, hosted by NewsHour's Ray Suarez, looks at the rich rewards and wisdom that often attend such care, as well as at the hard work that home healthcare entails. Drawing on the direct experience of family members and others, including author Beth Witrogen McLeod-whose book Caregiving, the Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize-the program also offers caregiving advice and information that is both practical and profound. (26 minutes)

Difficult Decisions: When a Loved One Approaches Death
26 Minutes
When a loved one's fate lies in another's hands, the decisions can be overwhelming. This program, hosted by NewsHour's Ray Suarez, follows two families as they grapple with life-and-death decisions inside an ICU. A doctor, an ethicist, and others help these families through the process of making decisions on behalf of those who are no longer able to communicate their wishes. La Vera Crawley, of Stanford University's bioethics department, helps the families better understand the difficult decisions they are expected to make. (26 minutes)

Growing Old
74 Minutes
Most people are unwilling to confront aging-even many seniors live in denial of it. Some fear losing their independence and autonomy, while others simply can't accept the graying of their hair. This program explores the varied landscape of aging in America, presenting the realities-physical, medical, emotional, and economic-of growing old in a youth-obsessed society. Whether they are well off in retirement, financially marginalized, in good health, or terminally ill, the film's participants provide moving and provocative commentary and raise several challenging questions. What exactly is the healthy way to grow old? Is age a disease to be battled or a beautiful stage of life to be embraced and celebrated? Perhaps most importantly, how can we reverse our society's neglect of the elderly? (74 minutes)

Accepting Life's Transitions
29 Minutes
Aging is a series of transitions, some gradual and some abrupt. How do people come to terms with these changes? This program examines the aging process from beginning to end, defining age from the viewpoints of biology, psychology, society, functionality, and the law. The impact of current behaviors and attitudes on one's future self is also discussed, as well as dying-itself a part of life-and the stages of grieving. In addition, the program addresses the health challenges faced by older Americans and indicates why some seniors cope better than others. (29 minutes)

Dying with Dignity: The Sun City Choice
15 Minutes
In this program, NewsHour correspondent Susan Dentzer reports on life and death in Sun City, Arizona, a vibrant retirement community where hospice is the preferred form of end-of-life care. Dartmouth Medical School's John Wennberg and others consider the desire of many senior citizens with terminal illnesses to make peace with death rather than fight it. They also confront the fact that statistics show no direct correlation between costly ICU interventions and patient longevity. As America's elderly population doubles over the next 35 years, will more seniors opt for meeting the end in the Sun City way? (15 minutes)

Elder Abuse: America's Growing Crime
16 Minutes
It has been estimated that 1.5 million elder Americans suffer neglect, mistreatment, and even financial exploitation at the hands of their own families. In this program, ABC News correspondents Diane Sawyer and Marti Emerald probe what is quickly becoming the fastest-growing family crime in the U.S. Together they investigate several cases of elder abuse and examine the efforts of crusaders such as the members of the ground-breaking Fiduciary Abuse Specialist Team, a volunteer network of social workers, bankers, lawyers, doctors, and police personnel who seek out evidence of financially abused senior citizens. (16 minutes)

Toward a Better Death
27 Minutes
This informative program explores the choices open to terminally ill patients and their families, presenting the options available for comfortable end-of-life care that attends to physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Medical experts and caregivers discuss the difficult choices that arise, including the moral and legal controversies and medical options available when a cure is no longer an option. Important information about living wills and health care proxies is also provided. (27 minutes)

I'm Really Going to Miss Me: Coping with Terminal Illness
59 Minutes
How do people approach life when the end is near? Taking a personal rather than clinical approach, this sensitive documentary records the intimate thoughts and feelings of Bobbie Martin, diagnosed with leukemia; Jeff Swinerton, with lymphatic cancer; Paul Starr, with AIDS; and Chennelle Jaramillo, with Batten Disease, a degenerative neuromuscular disorder. Hopes, fears, regrets, the reactions of others, and preparations for the end are all candidly discussed, offering a penetrating look at what life is really like for those who don't have long to live. (59 minutes)