Wisdom Wednesday: Aging Wisdom's Podcast
Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday, a short, bite-size podcast offering weekly wisdom and insights for aging well, caring well, and living well.
How can you best prepare ahead of a crisis? Or have things in order ahead of when changes start to become evident? Do your homework and research ahead of your parent needing help. Here are some key areas to consider:
This is a common scenario and often what brings families to Aging Wisdom for our expert guidance: The parent that refuses help, especially when it’s clear they need it!
When families begin to see signs that an older adult needs help, how can they start having a conversation? Because nobody wants to say, “Hey mom, you need care. We need to move you.” How do you get there before there’s a crisis?
Having concerns about an older loved one’s well-being is normal. Striking the right balance between fostering independence and ensuring safety can be a struggle for adult children and other care partners.
One of our favorite tools for getting a baseline on long-term care costs is the Genworth Cost of Care Survey. We stress median costs, as our experience as geriatric Care Managers is that LTC costs more than the median reflected in the survey. But again, it’s a great place to start to get a realistic picture of costs, options, and levels of care.
Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), also known as Nursing Homes, are for individuals that have ongoing health or medical conditions that require constant care and supervision or need rehabilitation following a hospitalization.Skilled nursing services focus on medical care.
Adult Family Homes (AFH) are residential homes licensed to care for up to six non-related residents. They provide room, board, laundry, necessary supervision, and necessary help with activities of daily living, personal care, and social services. The adult family home model has created a space for people to get a high-level of care, but in a comfortable home-like setting. AFH are especially wonderful for residents who would benefit from more one-on-one support and a calmer environment.
Memory care is specifically designed to provide a safe, supportive, and structured living environment, be it a stand-alone community or a separate unit within assisted living or a CCRC.
We like families to understand the high as well as the low range of fixed costs and care cost in planning. As we age, care needs often change, and it’s helpful to anticipate the factors that impact assisted living costs because the price structure is dependent on the level of care that a resident requires.