A Senior’s Guide to a New Living Environment

LTC315/Alternative Living Environments

A Guide for Older People, Their Families, and Caregivers

Helping our aged-parents appears to be a continual or ongoing matter. They live in their own home and plan on remaining there until they die. Only a couple of areas of problems surface for them and for their children, relatives who try to help them, take care of them, go shopping for them, patch the roof for them, fix the leaky faucet and pipes in the bathroom and kitchen. Their grass needs cutting again and who will help this time raking up the leaves or help pay for this major chore to be done? Due to all of the trees on their lot, the raking needs to be done a couple of times a week which can amount to about 300+ bags of leaves per season. The only problem visible here is who will do the work and who will pay for this mammoth undertaking. Mom and Pop cannot afford to stay in their home any longer and need to begin preparing to move out into a nursing facility for couples who can still get around and take care of themselves.
At this point, that the family members are preaching “safety and affordability,” although Mom and Pop continue hammering on their independence and autonomy in their living style. It is unfortunate that eventually, they will need to be placed into some type of assisted living facility.

There is a time in our lives when we must begin to prepare for one of the inevitable in life, and this time the reference is for those individuals who will be seeking all of the pertinent and necessary information regarding their living in some type of organized health care facility. Whether the information is for one person or a couple, their seeking the important information is mandatory for their peace of mind and body. Their overall health requirements would determine which type of health care center would be used for them. There are so many important aspects that the person must investigate to ensure their stay in the facility as being experiencing uninterrupted. One of them would be the facility’s policy regarding financing and their ability to deliver the services vital to the patient. If the payments to the facility are, for some unexplained reason, delayed it would not go well for the patient because of the delay in payment on their account. After some months of delay in payments, the patient can be forced to leave the premises.

Our area has a plethora of various nursing homes, complete with all types of therapy. One of them in our area has several types of therapy: occupational, physical, respiratory, and speech, along with all of the therapists who deal with those types of therapy. These facilities generally provide care for the elderly but there are other instances in which younger people employ their skilled nursing and rehabilitation help. Sometimes there are younger people who may have some type of special needs as they are afflicted with being developmentally disabled or mentally ill, or perhaps they may need help with alcohol or drug rehabilitation, or possibly the younger individual may have been involved in an accident. The service levels have made a huge jump in their accommodations over the past several years. It is a fact that the staff of the nursing homes are then able to give a great deal of the same type of care that used to be required within the confines of a hospital, such as a Wound Care Nurse. They used to be strictly working in a hospital and today, they are also available in nursing care facilities. Although the resident may have a major illness or cancer or require special services, much of their care then can be relegated to a nursing home and return to their individual homes as quickly as possible.

There are several types of nursing care facilities, among them being:

Independent Living

This facility will pay attention to the elderly residents who can take care of themselves. It is a safety measure, for the facility, to have somebody look in on and check up on the residents. That procedure can take place in their own home or an apartment, or a retirement community, or many nursing homes have their own independent living-type apartments.

Assisted Living

These facilities are designed to center on giving assistance with the resident’s daily living activities in an apartment-type of style. The facility can provide as much help and service as the resident requires, such as helping with housekeeping, or preparing their meals, laundry, or assistance with their medications, in addition to checking in on how they are doing. One of the more popular services is that of the pharmacy and equipment rentals that are available for the residents.

Congregate Care

Another type of independent living that has all of the aspects of community environment. If the resident desires, they can have their meals prepared and served to them in the community-style dining room. This type of facility also has a convenience store, even a bank, a barber shop, and beauty shop, laundry services, housekeeping if so desired, pools, transportation to various areas and, of course, 24-hour security.

Skilled Nursing Facility

This type of nursing home is more of the traditional type of facility. Residents are provided with medical and nursing services for those elderly residents who have serious illnesses or perhaps some type of disability on a 24-hour basis. These facilities must have licenses granted by their state and federal governments, as they supply Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA’s), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN’s), Registered Nurses (RN’s), and they must be licensed to provide them.

CCRC – Continuing Care Retirement Communities – or Life Care Communities

Beginning to choose a place to reside, the above-type communities are there to offer another dimension of service. As the elderly person or couple begins their new residency, they generally only require the basic levels of concern and care. It usually is not necessary for them to require somebody be in their unit with them daily. This type of facility commonly permits the residents not to have to be concerned regarding changing their location, environment, as they will continue to receive the specific kind of care needed by them throughout their residency.

Hospice Care

My personal favorite is with this type of nursing home because of the work that the facility and care givers put forth daily. This facility provides the patient with a combination of being at home intermingled with the nursing home environment. They provide assistance that would benefit a terminally ill person and the support for their families is so necessary through the tough days and nights ahead.

Regarding the financial and insurance requirements, Medicare (and Medicaid) gives a huge assist for many residents in nursing homes, but only pay up to certain amounts, such as paying for the first 100 days. There are always stringent restrictions on just how much they will pay. It is unfortunate that disability insurance does not pay the costs of nursing homes. The more care involved, the more the care costs.

Whether the patient is a Muslim, Christian, or Jew, there are dietary rules that would be available to these individuals. Should the resident require time and space for religious reasons (such as praying) that is available within the confines of the nursing home. Whether it is for cultural beliefs or traditions, the resident by themselves or in a group setting should be able to practice their beliefs without problems.

It would be a terrible situation for the resident (singly or with a spouse) to get settled in a facility and have a routine established, only to find that the facility is primarily for Asians or Eastern European individuals, and they serve borscht three times a week. That is just fine if a person likes borscht, but if they do not, it can be a living hell.

If the older person is unsure of what they are doing, the family or caregivers must step forward and guide the person into the type of facility that would be best for the person.

For certain, some nursing residences may not be for every retired older person. The class or caliber of care options keeps going on and flourishing, particularly with the new options of senior care that are ever-expanding to meet their limitations financially. Prior to making any decisions on nursing facility care, the person or family member or caregiver must determine the facility best suited for the person to live in a quiet and comfortable lifestyle.

References

Chicago Tribune, Health Section, April 8, 2012

Arthritis Today, Your Health, November-December 2011

www.ahca.com