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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LordSquidworth
Seems like for what these places charge one can hire someone to tend for them at home.
If my parents estate is going to be sucked dry, I'd rather just hire someone to take care of them at home. Nothing is going to make these homes attractive, for myself or my parents.
Yes, it will such the estate dry in most cases.
From what I have seen figure about $3,000/month for in-home care 40 hours a week, and that's if someone in the family can handle the evenings and weekends. For the adult family home we used the normal price is about $4,500 for 24/7 and all meals, a much more cost-effective solution. They and some others will also accept a few medicaid patients where they get less. The bigger assisted living facilities vary greatly depending on location and demand, but I know people paying as little as $3,200 month in our area and as much as $6,500/month in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I still maintain that for a social person the "home" is better for them than in-home care. If they are very solitary then in-home is definitely a better choice, but choosing the provider is even more difficult.
How to attract seniors to your facility?
Start by hiring the best cook you can afford, get a van and arrange outings and provide transportation and maybe even an escort to dr's appointments, or hair and nails, museums, theatre, etc.
Provide a big garden and outdoor space, have visiting guests to present lectures on interesting stuff, and tutorials on crafts, cooking, etc.
Basically provide a home and a lifestyle, that's what many people want for their elders imo.
What can be done to make old people want to live in an old folks home?
Assume you are in that industry. It seems like all the focus is on getting the children to want to stick their elderly parents into an old folks home. What about actually getting the old people to want to come and live in your establishment?
What are the cons an old person sees in a senior living establisment?
I have done a lot of work in this arena. The large majority are not grim warehouses where you put Grandpa and wait for him to die. Some points:
1) Have a really nice facility with plenty to do, good meals, and a sense of community bout it. I have seen some really nice communities where I thought, "You know, this wouldn't be bad at all."
2) The decision-making is really 50/50, with the senior needing to make the decision. So you really have to point out the merits of living in a community versus the continued work of keeping up a home. Discuss the companionship, the activities, and the help that's available at a moment's notice.
3) Couples in particular want to have security that comes from knowing that they'll have care, regardless of their situation in life. For example, Continuing Care is a huge selling point, allowing people to transition from independent living to assisted living to skilled nursing (If necessary). If you are a couple, knowing that is available is quite important.
My mother did not willingly go to an assisted living center, but after a few days she realized it was a good place and she was ok with it. Even contented. She was 95 and a high level patient. Her physician said she would pass at any moment. As it happens she lived for 16 months. She would have preferred being at her home, but she did not want me to take care of her. She thought she could care for herself. It was a quandary, but after she became all right with being where she was, it stayed that way.
I think a sense of independence is most important. SOme of these retiement communities have allthese activities, great facilities etc and the parents still hate to be put in them, they want to maintain independence. I would say have different plans where people who need assistance can get assistance but peole who are still healthy and independent can maybe keep a car on property pretty much be left alone but checked on occasionally, etc. I think thats the biggest thing.
Find a niche that nobody else is doing. Remember reading about someone trying to do an old folks home for gay people.
definitely---I'm a middle aged horse owner and my buddies and I are talking about creating a retirement community where we can keep our steeds with us as we all age.
Find a niche that nobody else is doing. Remember reading about someone trying to do an old folks home for gay people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suz1023
definitely---I'm a middle aged horse owner and my buddies and I are talking about creating a retirement community where we can keep our steeds with us as we all age.
The niche is where it's at!
I'm interested in something like this as well. I'm only in my 30s but i wonder what will happen to all of us child-free when we are seniors.
Its not that i think adult kids of elders do a terrific job of caring for their parent, but most of us dont like hearing about people's kids now so i doubt we'll want to when we're older.
Is this population too big to be considered a niche?
SOme of these retiement communities have allthese activities, great facilities etc and the parents still hate to be put in them, they want to maintain independence. I would say have different plans where people who need assistance can get assistance but peole who are still healthy and independent can maybe keep a car on property pretty much be left alone but checked on occasionally, etc. I think thats the biggest thing.
There are already continuing care communities, where people can buy in, and they also pay a 'monthly fee' -- they start in independent living and then move up through assisted living, and then into the nursing area should they need that care. The campuses have acres and acres, walking trials, shuttle buses/vans, activities etc.
The catch is making all this AFFORDABLE for the majority of people. THAT's the catch. If you're a business you have to pay people a GOOD wage -- and the GOOD places have a LOT of staff -- from dishwashers to management, to sales people, nurses, doctors, grounds people -- and they have to comply with Lrd knows what kind of regulations. All that costs money.
AND, as was said getting an older person to want to go.
The gay retirement community IS a great idea. A 59-year-old gay friend of mine was talking about that just the other day. Said she and her partner would LOVE to find a place like that. I think she said she knew of one, MAYBE two....or that she'd heard people talking about one that might start.
Too many places make you feel like you are being warehoused while you are waiting to die. Many are just grim. And why work your whole life to end up like that? That's why many seniors will do anything to avoid these places.
Me personally, if I was an owner I would want to give these folks a way to enjoy more of the things they used to. Like have a kitchen available for the residents and maybe a low cost daycare on the premises to let the elders interact with children. Those who were with it could tutor as well. A child can never have too many grandparents in their lives.
My father was in a lockdown Alzheimers unit for his own safety and the safety of the public. It was like jail. I read once about a place in Holland where the patients had like a small town environment where they could roam freely. That's most likely a much better quality of life for these people.
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