Age in Place: When it Doesn’t Work
Let’s embrace challenges; without them, there will be no innovations.
Aging in Place
Howard Gleckman once wrote a thought-provoking piece on the challenges of aging in place. His premise was that factors having to do with social issues, more so than medical concerns, are often the barriers to aging in place:
~ Lack of qualified caregivers
~ Lack of services such as basic transportation
~ Lack of housing or funds for repairs
~ Lack of social networks and isolation
His solutions include 1) more flexible Medicaid programs (they pay for NH, but limited benefits for home care) and 2) emphasis on long-term care insurancewhich will provide financial resources to care for loved ones.
Gleckman concludes that we can’t keep everyone home (i.e. those with severe dementia), but postponing institutionalization of the elderly, by even months or years, is a goal worthy of our best efforts.
I agree keeping the dream of aging in place alive is not easy, and neither is telling a loved one they must leave their home…As a society, We need to do better.
Listen to: Convincing an Aging Mother to Take a Hard Step
________________________________________________________________________________________