Is Assisted Living Safe for Your Parents? – Live Chat Transcript

Assisted living is big business. Last year, the industry’s largest company made nearly $1.6 billion in revenue.

As America’s senior population grows faster and lives longer than ever before, more families are turning to assisted living facilities to help loved ones age in comfort and safety.

But is this loosely regulated, multibillion-dollar industry putting profits above people?

In Life and Death in Assisted Living, FRONTLINE correspondent and ProPublica reporter A.C. Thompson goes behind behind the closed doors of America’s assisted living facilities.

Whom should we trust with caring for our aging parents? Should these facilities — home to 750,000 American seniors — be subject to more oversight? What’s next for the industry — and for the people at the center of the tragic cases in the film?

We’ve asked Thompson, as well as the film’s producer Carl Byker, to join us in a live chat to answer those questions — and take yours. They’ll be joined by Cheryl Morgan and Eric Boice, who are both featured in the film.

Eric’s mother Joan died after being moved out of an Emeritus facility, where she sustained life-threatening wounds.

Cheryl’s husband, George — who suffered from dementia — died after he was left unsupervised and drank industrial strength dishwashing fluid.

Next Avenue senior editor Richard Eisenberg will also be dropping by to ask questions and offer commentary.

You can leave a question in the chat window below, and come by at 2 p.m. ET on July 31 to join the live discussion.