New story in Aging America series for Sunday

The next installment of the Aging America project focuses on how some older people are joining “villages” in which volunteers help them with everyday tasks, such as doctor visits and minor home repairs.

The approach is seen as an alternative to moving into nursing homes. The story slugged “Aging America-Villages” and photos moved Tuesday in advance for use this Sunday, Nov. 13.

Aging America is a joint project by the AP and APME to examine the effects on society – positive and negative – as Baby Boomers age. While the AP staff has produced most of the stories to date, the goal is to involve reporters from member news organizations across the country.

As with the Broken Budgets series, another joint national reporting project by AP and APME, the Aging America series will be on-going. Please look for stories from the series on the wire, but also look for ways that you can plug in. You can write local sidebars to wire stories. You could offer a reporter to contribute to a national story. Or propose a story or project.

Find background on the project here: http://www.apme.com/?page=AgingAmerica

For more information, contact your local AP bureau chief or Terry Spencer, AP news editor in Miami, tspencer@ap.org; or Alan Miller, managing editor / news for The Columbus Dispatch and an APME board member, amiller@dispatch.com.