Historic Numbers of Americans Live by Themselves as They Age - KFF Health News

More than 16 million Americans living alone while growing old are often overlooked.

Being alone can magnify difficulties and contribute to worsening health.

Studies find seniors on their own are at higher risk of becoming isolated, depressed, inactive, having accidents, neglecting to care for themselves.

This is, first and foremost, an older women’s issue, because women outlive men.

Peggy Drexler : In Maine , Ken Elliott , 77 , a retired psychology professor, lives by himself in a house in Mount Vernon , a town of 1,700 people 20 miles northwest of the state capital.

In Manhattan , Lester Shane , 72 , who never married or had children, lives in an 11 -by-14-foot studio apartment on the third floor of a building without an elevator.

Kate Shulamit Fagan , 80 , has lived on her own since 1979 , after two divorces.

Four and a half months later , Fagan returned to St. Petersburg and was renting a one -bedroom apartment in a senior building.

“I’m not completely settled, but I feel fabulous,” she told CNN.com . “Here, I know if I want to go out or I need help, quite a few people would be there for me.”.