Choosing The Right Home

Allocate Time for an Adjustment Period When one is faced with a major change, along comes a need for equilibrium. Assisting with change can be exhausting—or rewarding when it is done responsibly.

Long–Term Care Regardless of what type of long-term care setting you choose, it is advisable that you compare facilities. For your convenience, we have provided a brief checklist that you could take with you when visiting. The first step is to make a list of facilities that will meet your requirements for care and your budget. Once financial eligibility and level of care have been established, ask yourself which center/residence makes you feel most comfortable and is most likely to meet your loved one’s physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual needs?

Throughout this decision-making process, it is crucial to keep the person who is to be admitted to the facility/residence involved in the selection process. This can determine the success or failure of the placement. Things to evaluate include: the comfort level inside the facility/residence; the appearance of the residents; activities of the residents; interaction between the staff and the outside environment.

Developing a Plan – next, draw up a plan of action. Which of your alternatives appeals to you and best suits your needs and budget? The objective is to arrive at a choice that will provide the most advantages and the fewest drawbacks, and is acceptable to as many persons involved as possible.

The Trial Period – since decisions late in life often end up being permanent, a trial period is recommended. Stay in a facility/residence on a temporary basis. See if family members live up to their agreement to visit and provide transportation. The important thing is that everyone involved really tries to make the arrangement work. Try to agree ahead of time how success will be measured.

Evaluating the Trial Period – After you’ve evaluated the trial period, you can adjust your thinking, make permanent plans, or set a different goal. Having agreed to this review process ahead of time enables everyone to admit that the plan is working out better than expected or poorly. Whatever your decision, you’ll feel better having made it with all options clear to you and the best interests of everyone having been fully examined.

Prepare Your Safety-Net from a Position of Security – though most of us may remain healthy and energetic, none of us can predict our personal future or that of a loved one. Starting early to avoid problem areas can end up giving us ways to protect our property and maintain our well-being even as we loose our abilities or enter a long-term care setting. It is much more pleasant to prepare for our future from a position of health and security than to wait for a crisis and make decisions in grief and haste. Once someone is ill and hospitalized and making plans for future care, several issues affect his/her ability to make a smoother transition with less emotional and financial pain.

Health – taking steps to stay in good health is vital. Be aware of your overall health, your problem areas, and your future risks. It is never too late to begin an exercise program or to give up bad habits. By taking these steps, your years of living actively will be extended.

Finances – I cannot be too adamant in encouraging each of you to make aggressive efforts to become educated about your future assets, benefits, and various insurance coverage. The ways to pay for nursing home or private care must be considered and planned for realistically.

Legal Issues – another part of the “safety-net” of information you will want to put in place are legal assurances that your wishes are carried out and that personal property is both protected and available for your care when needed. The time to explore who is willing to make decisions for you, the benefits of a power of attorney, the implications of a “living will”, and the need for a legal will is now, while you can make clear decisions and call on the advice of your family, attorney, or pastor.

Housing – safety, security, cost of upkeep, accessibility, types of residents who share the facility/residence, and geographic location are important considerations.
Hobbies and Interests – let’s not forget to develop new interests or modify old interests to our new life-style. One of the most striking characteristics of the elderly who accept change with peace of mind is that they have remained interested in the world and its activities. Many people take up painting, corresponding with a pen-pal, etc. Others have passionate interests in reading, old movies, or telling jokes. These people, maybe unknowingly, have trained themselves to look toward the unknown, challenge themselves, and stay interested in gifts they can take with them to share and expand, whatever their health status or dwelling place.

Support Systems – this is a general term for friends, relatives, and resource persons you hope to have available to you when help is needed. This is an area we often neglect and assume we cannot change in later years. Everyone should work hard at developing close relationships with persons of different ages. Older friends may not be around or be able to help in later years. Most people are more than willing to help you if they had a chance to get to know you.

Making plans for your future in later years deserves the same attention, excitement, and positive outlook you gave to choosing a college, planning for children, and your career.
A safety-net of information about health, finances, and legalities while continuing to develop personal interests and friendships will support and sustain you through times of difficult decision making. Every day is an adventure.
Creativity, Activity, and Longevity – the power of creativity in life is monumental. Artists and innovators know this from experience. Yet, creativity is by no means limited to artists. It is something that all of us can draw upon to refresh, invigorate, heal, and connect.
There is a multitude of ways to be creative in our lives. It may involve paint or canvas, storytelling, choosing our clothes, gift giving during the holidays, or even the way we arrange our home.

Creativity in its many forms is boundless. One population that can benefit enormously through creative activity is the elderly. At a point in life when circumstances cause complex emotions and challenges, adjustment to daily living, or more leisure time, creative art forms may offer a hobby, passion, and a valid tool for dealing with life issues.

Artistic endeavors help seniors stay engaged in life, bringing happy memories alive, bridging the past with the present, and offering choice and control. Writing life stories, making memory books and organizing photo albums can connect those in someone’s life today with those from their past, helping to keep alive a part of themselves. Identity loss or change may be experienced due to a loss of a spouse, family members, retirement, or a move, which may lead to depression. Creative activity has been shown to reduce depression and isolation, offering the power of choice and decisions, two aspects that seniors may feel they are losing. Simple choices such as whether to have a plant in one’s room, the arrangement of furniture, picking the time and night of the movie, and which vegetable to eat have a profound impact on the health and well-being of an elderly.

Choice and Creativity go hand in hand with optimizing health and longevity. Creative activities also offer a new means of communicating and accessibility. People with physical or mental challenges due to stroke, heart attack, or other factors have reported improved mood and self-esteem through art.

The days could be a monotony of functional routine: -eat, groom, and sleep. There is something in the act of story-telling that is necessary and healing. The art form is highly personal. While one may be drawn to watercolor, another may find music, writing, gardening, or dance to be fulfilling. These forms can all provide outlet, joy, and stimulation.

Both, the act of creative expression and social interaction are vital to the mental and physical wellbeing of people. Without these two key aspects in life, the days may become monotonous and depression may result. These things can be overlooked in the scramble of doctor appointments and daily needs of the elderly. Research supports the idea that social and creative deprivation can actually impair brain function.

Dr. Cohen, the lead researcher of a 25 year study on creativity and aging in more than 200 senior citizens, says: “Expressing ourselves creatively can actually improve health, both mentally and physically. Creativity is a natural, vibrant force throughout our lives – a catalyst for growth, excitement, and forging a meaningful legacy”.

Creativity reinforces essential connections between brain cells, including those responsible for memory. Creativity strengthens morale. It alters the way we respond to problems and sometimes allows us to transcend them. Keeping a fresh perspective makes us emotionally resilient. Challenging the brain can relieve sleep and mood disorders. Reading, writing, and word games increase one’s working vocabulary and help to fend off forgetfulness.

Capitalizing on creativity promotes a positive outlook and sense of well-being. That boosts the immune system, which fights diseases. Welcome to the creative age. An active and creative mind is a healthy mind. Although it is common knowledge that physical inactivity can cause the body to deteriorate, the concept of brain exercises is a more recent development, encouraging people to avoid monotony in their everyday routines. Mental exercises can enrich the existing connections between brain cells and even forge new ones.

Why Geriatric Care Managers or Physicians? – objective planning for life’s major transitions is very difficult for all of us. It is especially hard if you are faced with negative rather than positive changes, when there are more options than you can understand, or when you are asked to assume a new role in the decision making process.

Unfortunately, all of these conditions may prevail when making choices for senior housing and/or care. Aging is not for sissies as the sarcastic Betty Davis quite accurately determined. All the hard stuff seems to be saved for those years when we have the fewest resources – health, money, family, and friends. As the social and medical landscapes have changed, it is easy to feel baffled when we most need to be decisive. Quite a number of us will be asked to make decisions for our loved ones which cause us discomfort: a child for a parent, an able spouse for a partner whom is disabled. Fear, guilt, sadness, and other emotions cloud our perceptions when these tough moments surprise us. That is the time when the help of an objective, but empathetic professional is critical.

Just as a teacher can weather the vagaries of his young charges better than an emotionally involved parent can, so a Geriatric Care Manager is knowledgeable, understanding, and more goal-oriented than a family member can be. They can relieve you of the worry that something more could be done. Our team of professional consultants, through their services, can allow you to concentrate on your relationship with your family member, rather than trying to provide social services that are outside your area of expertise, overly time consuming, and costly.

A Geriatric Care Manager Can Help by Providing:

• Professional Assessments including the evaluation of current conditions, outline of choices of action, and recommendations for the future
• Direct Services which might mean individual and family counseling, determination of financial needs, budgeting, government and insurance forms, and finding alternative housing
• Careful selection of linkage to community and private resources, coordination of services and monitoring of in-home care
• If you need counseling, many geriatrics care managers are licensed by the state to provide this service and their fees are set by community standards.
• Their ability to solve problems related to aging is more targeted than that of general physicians.

A helping hand can keep your family member involved in a satisfactory lifestyle which age and illness previously prohibited. Typically, care managers evaluate a senior’s situation with regard to health needs, housing choices, and financial needs and then provide a recommended care plan.

Getting Loved Ones to Accept Alternative Living Arrangements (Adult Family Home, Nursing Home, Assisted Living, etc.) – convincing elderly loved ones to move from the comfort of the home they’ve known for many years can be one of the toughest hurdles for families to accomplish. If it is time for your loved ones to alter their living situation, here is what you can do.

Think Safety First – keep in mind that your loved one’s safety is the most important thing. If you know that they cannot remain in their home safely, don’t let your emotions override what you know need to be done. Don’t wait for a broken hip, a car accident, or a crisis call before you step in. Recognize that when you were a child, your parents would have done everything possible to keep you safe. Now, as hard as it is, you have to be the “parent”, and you have to make the best decisions for their safety.

Get References – ask if they are happy with the accommodations, food, service, activities, cleanliness, reliability, personnel.

Ask about Activities – adult children are often filled with guilt for moving their parents out of their home. That is, until they see them flourishing in a new environment and participate in activities that they haven’t enjoyed for years. Make sure that there are numerous activity options. Does the facility/residence offer field trips, games, crafts, singing, dancing, gardening, cooking, exercising, etc.? Monitor the activities to make sure they are happening.

Take things slow, calm, and steady, making their safety your goal. Reach for support. Reach out for help from family and friends and look into a support group.

Value-Based Perspectives in choosing an Adult Family Home – Adult Family Homes, Nursing Homes, and Assisted Living Communities are popping up all over the country. So many choices have made identifying the best value a real consumer challenges. All facilities are attractive. All offer meals, house-keeping and activities. However, the philosophical focus of a family atmosphere can make the difference between simple maintenance and a comprehensive, proactive environment with a sense of belonging.

The most effective facility/residence does much more than provide meals, housekeeping, and bathing assistance. Choosing well and getting the best value requires that you ask additional questions. Start with these: – Do they monitor resident’s health and wellbeing, both physical and psychological? Ask how. You want to hear that they have a case management system that starts with a thorough baseline assessment when the person moves in, and an individual care plan for building strength and managing chronic conditions. You want to hear that residents are reassessed frequently and that their individual programs are adjusted accordingly. Do they encourage independence or dependence? Expect specific answers that involve teaching the use of assistive devices and how to manage pain and chronic conditions. Listen for the philosophy that elderly individuals should be empowered to remain in control of their own lives. Avoid any place that seems to treat elderly adults like helpless children.

Does the place look like a hospital or nursing facility? Healthcare should be present and attentive, but almost invisible. How much training do they give their direct caregivers?
How much do caregivers know about symptoms of change? How good and effective are their communication skills? How motivated are they and what is their outlook on life in general? Are the family members in harmony with each other and optimistic about life?
How well do they deal with conflict? You may ask for an example. What is the staff turnover rate? Is the staff respected, appreciated, and rewarded? How? Is the staff well paid and in accordance with employment laws? Does the staff have frequent on-going training on a wide range of topics?
Happy Caregivers = Good Caregivers = Happy Residents.