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Help as you get older
For people in the United States who are getting older and want to stay safe, independent and looked after, and for the people who love them. One phone number that finds help near you. Staying in your own home. Falls. Medicines. Help paying for Medicare. Memory worries. Being alone. Driving. Scams, and what to do if someone is mistreating you. Putting your wishes on paper. And the words to say when you call. One thing at a time.
Right now
- Feeling low, alone, or like a burden? Call or text 988, at any hour. The 988 Lifeline says it is there for emotional distress, or if you just need someone to talk to. In danger, or hurt after a fall: 911.
- One number for help near you: the Eldercare Locator, a public service of the U.S. Administration for Community Living. Call or text 1-800-677-1116.
- Can’t afford Medicare? Medicare.gov says of its Medicare Savings Programs: “Even if you don’t think you qualify, you should still apply.”
- Scammed? The National Elder Fraud Hotline is for fraud against anyone 60 or older: 1-833-372-8311, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern.
More help
- Looking after someone older? When you’re caring for someone and When you’re worried about someone.
- A doctor’s visit coming? Appointment prep builds a one-page sheet to take with you.
- Not sure a call or message is real? Scam check.
- Short of food or money this month? Food help, When the money runs out and low-cost care.
- Someone has died? Grief and After a death: the practical things.
- Served in the military? For veterans.
- Not safe at home? When home isn’t safe.
- All our free tools and Get help now.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). The facts come from pages read on October 1, 2026: the National Institute on Aging (part of the National Institutes of Health); the Eldercare Locator and the Administration for Community Living; Medicare.gov; Social Security; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Federal Trade Commission; the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Elder Fraud Hotline; USAGov; the State Health Insurance Assistance Programs’ national site; the National Council on Aging’s BenefitsCheckUp (a nonprofit); and the 988 Lifeline. Dollar limits are the federal ones Medicare.gov lists for 2026, and they change every year. We could not open the National Center on Elder Abuse’s website that day, and we did not find the Eldercare Locator’s opening hours, so the page does not state them. We did not read any state’s rules, Medicare’s sign-up deadlines and penalties, what each part of Medicare covers, or anything on wills and financial powers of attorney. A few lines are our own suggestions, and the page marks them as ours. This page saves nothing: no account, no cookies, nothing you tick is stored or sent, and no analytics (privacy). Scarlet Beast is not a government agency, a medical practice or an aging services provider, and takes no money from anyone named here. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].