People sit at tables in a room decorated with hanging paper lanterns and snowflakes, with a presentation screen on the wall and numbered table signs visible.
About 80 attendees listen to speakers at the Northwoods Senior Breakfast at the Eagles Club in Merrill, Wis., March 28, 2026. (Addie Costello / Wisconsin Watch)
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Hi, Wisconsin! Health reporter Addie Costello here. 

I spent last Saturday with around 80 attendees of a senior breakfast in Merrill, and it was one of my best-spent weekends so far in 2026. 

Northwoods residents packed a banquet hall to eat, talk with neighbors and list the biggest issues they face as older adults. 

The Senior Empowerment Project, an organizing group focused on issues impacting older people in rural areas and small towns, organized the event and asked me to give a short presentation about my reporting on long-term care issues. The most exciting part? Once I finished talking, a microphone was passed from table to table as older adults shared the questions and issues they think about the most. 

Where can they get transportation on the weekends? How can older adults afford to stay in their homes as property taxes increase? Where can they get nutritious food? 

Posters on an orange wall read "Care workers are treated with dignity and paid what they are worth" and "Seniors are no longer isolated, but integrated into community life" with framed art also on the wall.
Wall decor is shown at the Northwoods Senior Breakfast at the Eagles Club in Merrill, Wis., March 28, 2026. (Addie Costello / Wisconsin Watch)

I left the event with a long list of questions I plan to answer in a new project. We’re calling it Q&Aging, a series of short stories where I interview experts to answer your questions about getting older in Wisconsin — whether about health care, housing or what comes next.

If you’re a diligent reader of Wisconsin Watch newsletters, you may remember us asking people last year to share their experiences with hospice. Or last month, when I asked for questions about long-term care. 

We’re now getting back to you with answers. Here’s a look at our first installments of Q&Aging: 

Can you tour long-term care facilities without an appointment? 

A reader’s email inspired this story. The short answer is yes. Read on for more specific tips from experts.  

A collapsed wheelchair is parked next to a wall in a hallway with carpeted floors and a doorway nearby.
A wheelchair sits outside a resident’s room inside an assisted living facility in Horicon, Wis., Aug. 15, 2024. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)

What to know about hospice and palliative care in Wisconsin

I reported this as part of our collaboration with several Multi-Media Channels, which cover swaths of northeast and central Wisconsin. Find the full Dignity in Care project here.

Don’t leave a mess: What Wisconsin families should know about wills, trusts and end-of-life planning

Here, Multi-Media Channels Editor Taylor Hale reports on the important paperwork we all need to stop avoiding — for the benefit of our loved ones.

If you have a question or a suggestion for the series, fill out this form or contact me directly at acostello@wisconsinwatch.org or 608-616-5239.

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Addie Costello is Wisconsin Watch’s digital/audio health reporter. She originally joined as WPR’s 2024-2025 Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow embedded in the Wisconsin Watch newsroom. Her reporting has been published by Marketplace, USA TODAY, the Austin American-Statesman, public radio stations across Texas and several publications in her home state of Nebraska. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.