Cost of Assisted Living

In any given year, more than 10 million people, most aged 65 or older, are in the long-term care of assisted living or nursing home facilities in the United States. For their families, that means considerable 'out of pocket' expenses must be dedicated to the cost of assisted living. In fact, some estimates suggest that over 75% of those expenses are borne directly by the patient themselves or their immediate and extended families.

If you and your loved one are considering making the move toward senior living or a nursing home environment, you'll certainly want to know as much about the costs that are involved as you can. The cost of assisted living will no doubt make a significant impact on family finances, but one of the many advantages the concept offers is that it's typically much less than the cost of a nursing home.

Comprehensive care nursing facilities can cost up to 50% more than their counterparts in assisted living. The reasons are fairly obvious; the patients in the care of nursing homes typically have magnified medical and domestic needs compared to those in senior living. As such, everything from medical staffing to liability and malpractice insurance must be dealt with in larger numbers than required for partial senior living. At the end of the day, nursing homes are really just smaller versions of hospitals, while senior living can take any of several different approaches, all of which are generally considered to be closer to a home environment than the classic nursing home model.

So what is the cost of senior living? The answer, of course, is that it depends on a broad range of factors, such as the amount of care needed or the patient's location.

Depending on whether the patient will need intermittent care in his own home or a full-time staff at a senior living building, the difference in cost can range from a few hundred dollars per month for in-home care, to several thousand dollars for an upscale apartment in a room and board facility.

As for location, the same cost of living factors that affect those without senior living needs will have an impact on those who do. Estimates suggest that depending upon which state the patient will reside within, the cost can vary by more than 150%. For example, 2007 estimates point to an annual cost of assisted living in North Dakota at just over $23,000.00 per year. Washington DC, however, would have cost over $60,000.00 in the same year!

The cost of assisted living will always be dependent on a variety of elements. The decision to place a loved one in the care of strangers, professional though they may be, is hard enough without the financial aspects to consider. But with a small investment in time to research your options, you may find that the financial sting of the experience can be minimized without compromising on the quality of care.

Assisted Living in California

Assisted living is growing in popularity all around the United States, but it is especially robust in California. With such a large elderly population and an ever-growing need for senior care, California has seen a huge amount of demand for this senior service. Thankfully, this is a field that is growing steadily, creating more opportunities for seniors to find an appropriate home and creating jobs in the process. This is a win-win scenario for all parties involved.

The numbers coming out of California speak for themselves. For one, 91 percent of seniors are satisfied with their assisted living experience, according to one estimate. This is a good thing as the more that people are satisfied with their situation, the better the level of care that is being provided. For starters, this means that California is providing exceptional care and is currently meeting this huge demand in an adequate fashion.

California currently has roughly 7,700 register assisted living facilities with over 164,000 residents. Additionally, these homes provide about 68,000 jobs. These numbers are ever-increasing, making this information quickly outdated. The fact remains, however, that California's assisted living environment is a crucial part of the social and economic health within the state. Without these jobs, California's healthcare sector would likely be falling behind the rest of the nation in job ratios. Fortunately, there is always going to be a need for this type of service and as a result, there will always be jobs provided.

But this is something that needs to be continuously monitored. California is not the only state where assisted living is helping out the economy. With the Baby Boomer generation reaching their elderly years, there might actually be a shortage coming up for assisted living and this field definitely needs to evolve in order to reach the growing demand.

Some estimates say that there will be as many as 91,000 missing healthcare professional positions coming up within the geriatrics field. Many of these positions will likely be in California and the state needs to look at what it can do to make sure that all seniors who need care are receiving it. This is not a problem that needs to occur, especially in an economy like ours that needs as many jobs as it can get. With the growing need for assisted living facilities within California and the rest of the U.S., there is going to be many jobs created in the future. By monitoring this situation, the state has been given an opportunity to do a lot of good for its residents. By taking advantage of this situation, California can truly create a lot of healthcare jobs and help out its elderly population at the same time.

Learn What Home Care and Health Care Providers Offer

Home care services range from highly skilled medical care, nursing and therapy to simple household task, such as activities of daily living (ADLs).

Arranging a program involves some searching and organizing and often requires you to use services from more than one source. To do this, you need to learn what services are offered by recommended agencies and individuals.

Particularly nursing and other medical services can be provided by home care or home health care agency. We will start by understanding what services this agencies provide.

MEDICAL SERVICES: agencies can provide a number of medical services, including skilled and basic nursing, rehabilitation therapies, and dietary services.

NURSING: With a physician overseeing the course of treatment, a home care agency can provide generic nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and licensed vocational. These highly skilled nurses plan and monitor health care, give injection and intravenous medication, and instruct you on self-administered medications, injections, and treatments. Aides, who work under the nurses' supervision, may monitor pulse, blood pressure, and temperature.

THERAPIES: Most agencies provide a physical therapist, respiratory therapist, speech therapist, or occupational therapist. These specialists give short-term assistance to people recovering from an illness or injury and ongoing therapy to those with permanent disabilities.

NUTRITION: Most agencies can arrange for someone to help plan a diet and show how to prepare foods that provide proper nutrition and meet special dietary needs. You may also be able to get help in shopping for and preparing meals of have prepared meal brought to your home.

MEDICAL AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES: Agencies can provide medical equipment and supplies, such as hospital bed, wheelchair, walker, oxygen equipment and various home testing and monitoring equipment and supplies for incontinence and other conditions. You can buy or rent the equipment form the agency or from a medical equipment company with which the agency does business. Some home care agencies will also inspect your home for safety needs and arrange to install any necessary equipment, such as support railings, access ramps, of an emergency response system.

NONMEDICAL PERSONAL CARE: Most people who consider this option do not need skilled medical care as much as they need assistance with personal tasks that have become difficult because of frailty or other physical debility. This type of care is provided not by skilled medical personnel, but by Home Health aides. Aides are the people who spend the most time with the elder. Their tasks vary, depending on your needs, the rules of the agency and the willingness of the individual aide, but in general they include assistance with personal care, such as eating, dressing, and bathing, help with household chores, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and paying bills. For this kind of nonmedical assistance, home care is often better than residential care. Home care is provided one-on-one, whereas residential facilities have staff-to-resident ratios of one-to-ten or more. By choosing and monitoring a home care agency or individual home care providers, you may be better able to control the quality of care you receive. One of the great advantages of home care is that is permits an older person to maintain a feeling of independence and comfort in familiar surroundings. Also, you may be better able to control the care received and to avoid care that isn't necessary or desired. There could also be significant financial saving if the care you need is not too complicated. While residential care facilities average from $ 30,000 to $150,000 a year, this can average from 25% to 80% less, depending on what care is required. The things you provide yourself at home like food, drugs, and supplies, come without any nursing facility mark-up.

On the other hand, remaining at home also isolates some people from social activity and limits mental stimulation. Although friends and family often intend to provide lots of companionship, too many elders wind up spending their days in bed asleep or watching television. An organized elder residence on the other hand, offers both a community of people and a constant stream of activities.

RESPITE CARE: The primary responsibility for care and companionship often still rest with family members. Particularly if an elder requires extensive monitoring, it can become a substantial burden on family members to always stay around the house. Some agencies provide temporary respite care - a companion for the elder, whose presence allows a family member to leave the house and go to work, attend to other business, of simply have a break. Obviously, you can also make private arrangements for someone to fill this need.

You're a Care of the Elderly Nurse, So Prove It!

I've always had an interest in the older person and our society. Sometimes our society lacks the courage or conviction to change people's circumstances, we as people make up that society and may deny the older generation a distinctive voice by our preoccupation with our own busy lives.

I can only speak for myself and today I was not preoccupied. I witnessed an incident which made me stop and reflect on the hardships our elderly have to endure. Walking this morning on my way to work, I saw a very sad older gentleman walking fast past a gambling casino with a bag in his hand. His pace quickened as he walked by, ever watchful of his surroundings. He was then approached by a very irate worker from the premises stating the old man stole milk from the doorway. I shouted back obviously the elder gentleman needed to steal because he had a need - a need to survive.

Trust me, I do not advocate stealing no matter how small the item but it's a sign of our times, that our older generation have to resort to do this. In his mind this was his only option. My quick intervention meant the old man was able to walk away maybe with a little more pride than before and as I passed him he gave me a wink and a gracious smile of gratitude. I'll never forget that look but his grin does not take away from the problem and it poses a question - Are we looking after our elderly and are we providing better care in the community and nursing homes or are we leaving it up the next person to make a difference?

How do we treat our elderly and as nurses do we still have the passion to make a difference? Gerontology /care of the elderly has always been considered the poor man's nursing. It was not exciting or rewarding enough, but that image or stereotype is quickly disappearing but if you have lost passion for your field you should not be involved.

Are we still willing to try and make a difference to peoples lives or are we too busy with our own lives to see what's happening even on our own doorstop?

If you are a nurse working in nursing home or hospital please take the time to get to know your patients / residents. No matter where you come from or where you have trained, take time away from your nursing tasks and hold their hand and let them know that you are their named nurse and you still care. No matter how stressed you are and how long your day is remember you can go home anytime but your patients/ residents can not. You're their lifeline not only for all their nursing needs but also as a contact from the outside world. You are their source of all knowledge.

Never be afraid as nurses to give just that little bit more of acceptance because no matter what small action you do, it could mean so much to someone else. If you are that nurse who is still passionate on what they do I say well done. Be proud of yourselves and in a small way do something to celebrate the difference to people's lives - to have the power to make and change.

Helping Seniors Transition to New Living Arrangements

Geriatric Care Managers often get requests to help senior adults find new housing. These requests may come from the seniors who are overwhelmed with their current situation, the adult children sandwiched between their immediate families and their parents, or concerned friends. There are many things to consider when looking at making a change to different living arrangements. Geriatric care managers are positioned well to assist in guiding these decisions because they typically have walked this road with other clients before you. The care manager will be able to give you much insight into community resources, living arrangements that might be most suitable for your needs, and options that are affordable for you.

When considering new living arrangements, there are many things to consider. Is now the time to consider moving closer to your children geographically? Many folks find that they would like to be closer to their families, while others feel that staying close to their lifelong friends and circles of activities are a better option. What is your budget? Do you have resources that you haven't yet tapped into such as VA benefits, Home and Community based programs, long term care insurance, or savings that you would like to use for housing? Do you have equity in your home that can be used for the next phase of your life? Your geriatric care manager can help you look at financing options and recommend a financial planner if needed.

What level of housing do you need? There are many differences in the levels of care available for seniors, including independent living apartments, service supported independent living, assisted living facilities, residential homes for the aged, and nursing homes. Do you want a complex that offers care across a continuum of levels? For example, there are complexes across America that offer independent living apartments, assisted living, and nursing home care all on the same campus. These are places that you can call home for the rest of your life, knowing that you'll always be able to get the care that you need.

Don't make any decision without thoroughly weighing all the options. Your geriatric care manager can help you with information that will set you on a clear path to the best decision for you individually. For help finding a professional, well qualified, geriatric care manager, I recommend www.caremanager.org.

The Importance of Home Health Care Agencies

If your senior parents require your full-time assistance and help, you should consider hiring home health care agencies to care for them whenever you can't be around for them. Although we want to be there for our ageing or sick parents, this may not be possible because of our demanding job schedules and other daily duties such as taking care of our own family, doing household chores, among many others. Asking the help of a home health care agency may be the best option for you and your parents who don't need to be placed in a nursing home or other facilities. Providing senior home care for them will allow them to enjoy their remaining days with their family in a familiar and comfortable environment.

With home health care agencies, you can receive many benefits allowing you to live a much easier and stress-free life. With someone providing care for your senior parents when you are not around, you have nothing to worry about. This will ensure that you have more time to relax and care for your own needs, which is almost impossible if you're the only one in-charge of caring for your parents. When you are overburdened with the responsibility of caring for your parents and for your own family, you might become unhappy and irritated and this could lead to more tensions and worries in your family. Home healthcare agencies can help by sending professionals who are trained and suited to provide all kinds of help to your senior folks, ranging from personal care services to medical services. Because they know and understand the real needs of your elderly parents, they can help in maintaining a perfect balance in your home.

There are cases wherein seniors are weakened by their feelings of solitude and loneliness due to their minimal interaction with other people. These feelings become more intense when they become sick or are bedridden. Unfortunately, when this situation is not properly addressed it might lead to severe depression and thereby lessen your parents' quality of life. Home health care agencies are aware of all these and they can send professionals who are equipped not only with proper training but also with enough experience to effectively handle the situation. By providing constant support and company to your parents, home health care professionals can help them live a better life.

Because home health care agencies will play a major role not only in the lives of your senior parents but in your whole family as well, you should take some time to consider which agency to hire. What is most important is to assure that you contact an agency that can provide appropriate care services for the care recipients. Knowing the professionals they're hiring is also an important aspect to consider when contacting home health care agencies.

The very first thing you should do is to have a list of accredited and licensed home health care agencies. This will give you the assurance that your parents would be receiving the best and the right type of home health care.

Once you already have this list, your next step is to make a shortlist based on how near they are to your home. This will allow you to personally visit and know more about them. It is important to know the agency's operation history as this will help you determine whether they are qualified to care for your folks or not.

Reference checks are very crucial. You have to make sure that the person providing care for your folks is not only licensed but also has a clean background. Hence it is important that you ask the methods employed by home health care agencies in their hiring of health professionals.

Consider the services that the home health care agency offers. You have to make sure that they offer what your senior parents require as well as whatever the doctor would prescribe to them. The agency should be able to coordinate well with the medical condition of your parents.

After choosing one particular home health care agency, set an appointment with them. This will give you the opportunity to discuss with them all the important things that you want to ask and clarify with them. Make sure the agency allows you to choose the home health care professional who will work with your senior parents.

Adult Day Care - Services and Facilities For the Elderly

Centers for adult day care focus on providing elder care and companionship for senior citizens who require monitoring or assistance during the day. This can help family members or others caring for the elderly to be able to go to work, run errands, or have some personal time with the assurance that the senior citizen is being cared for and is safe. This program aims to delay or prevent the necessity of moving to a nursing home by offering alternative care, enhancing self-esteem, and setting up opportunities for socialization.

Types of Adult Care Facilities

Two types of day care exist. One type is called adult social day care, and it offers senior citizens social activities, meals, recreation, and some health-related care. The other is called adult health day care, and it offers elder care with more specialized health, therapeutic, and social services for senior citizens with severe medical disorders and disabilities and those more prone to requiring care in a nursing home.

Senior citizens who take part in these programs usually do so on a scheduled basis. Following is a list of some services offered in adult care centers:

• Counseling


• Education


• Evening care


• Recreation


• Health screening


• Meals


• Medical care


• Physical therapy


• Exercise


• Socialization


• Supervision


• Respite care


• Transportation


• Medical management

Adult day care centers are generally open during normal business hours. They may stand alone or be a branch of senior centers, nursing homes, home health care agencies, religious institutions, hospitals, or schools. Those providing the elder care may monitor medications, provide meals and snacks, perform therapy, set up social activities, and organize transportation to and from the center.

Is Adult Day Care the Right Choice for Our Family?

If you are wondering whether you or a family member can benefit from adult day care, the following case study might answer some of your questions. Paul is a 69-year-old man who has had a stroke. He moves in with his son, David, and daughter-in-law, Kira, for supervision and support, but since they both work, Paul needs a different type of care during the day. Their solution is for Kira to take Paul to an adult day care center in the morning and for David to pick him up after work. The center is able to monitor Paul's medications and provides lunch, some physical therapy, and social activities with other senior citizens while David and Kira are at work.

Adult Day Care Facilities: Choosing the Right Facility

When searching for the right adult day care center for you or your loved one, it's important to note that there may be vast differences among centers, so you may want to find out about each center near you. Visiting the centers and talking those providing the elder care and other families who take part in this program may help you determine whether a certain facility meets your needs.

Another important factor to consider is cost, which can range from $25 to $100 per day depending on factors like which services are included, where the center is located, and the type of reimbursement. These costs are generally not covered by Medicare, but some financial assistance may be available through federal or state programs such as Medicaid, the Older Americans Act, and the Veterans Administration.

Contacting your local aging information and assistance provider or area agency on aging can provide you with listings and information of specific centers located near you. The Eldercare Locator (www.eldercare.gov) can help you connect to these agencies. This is also a helpful website to peruse if you're considering assistive technology as an option. Some area agencies can assist senior citizens and those involved in their elder care with finding and buying low-cost assistive technology, as can local civic groups, religious and veterans' organizations, and senior centers.

If you're looking for general information about adult day care and its programs, the National Adult Day Services Association can link you to a state adult day care association. You can reach this service at http://www.nadsa.org.