Editors’ Top 5, Week of April 10

Boomerang Seniors: Aging Adults Move to Be Near Mom or Dad
Caregiving for an older family member is not what it was when first studied and coined as the “sandwich generation,” those people squeezed between aging parents and young children, said Amy Horowitz, a professor of social work at Fordham University in New York City. (Sharon Jayson/Kaiser Health News)

Small Community Hospitals Struggle to Avoid a Downward Spiral
Patients are increasingly seeking routine care at large academic medical centers or teaching hospitals, drawn by perceptions of quality or referred by doctors who are now affiliated with the larger hospitals. (Arielle Levin Becker/The Connecticut Mirror)

A Penn Nurse Tackles Ageism in Health Care
What’s the first statistic that medical professionals mention when they talk about patients? It’s the patient’s age, Rebecca Trotta, a Ph.D.-level nurse, pointed out in a lecture Monday to colleagues at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. (Stacey Burling/Philadelphia Inquirer)

How Flawed Science Is Undermining Good Medicine
A scientist from the drug company Amgen had reviewed the results of 53 studies that were originally thought to be highly promising—findings likely to lead to important new drugs. But when the Amgen scientist tried to replicate those promising results, in most cases he couldn’t. (NPR Morning Edition)

Against a History of Medical Mistreatment, African-Americans are Distrustful of Hospice Care
How one group of researchers is trying to open hearts and minds to hospice care, to relieve family members of the burdens of caring for a dying loved one. (Bob Tedeschi/Stat News)