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I have never been the type that wants to age at home. I don't mind having to go to an ALF/nursing home. The one that my sister was in was really nice. I know how much it would cost and it is manageable. I could also go to the veterans home that my brother was in - also nice.
Hey all I need is wi-fi - a comfy bed, TV, my meals and I am good. Now these places do take you to medical appointments and stores. The ALF even has margarita night on Fridays!!!
As difficult as your mom's situation was, she was very lucky to have a father who stepped up and helped to make things more doable for her.
I've seen 75+ year old people trying to deal with the logistics of taking care of their elderly 95+ year old parents - moving them from states away, dealing with selling a house/paring down/hauling junk to the dump, even flying to a far away state to escort their parent home and trying to take care of them in their guest bedroom until they can find a facility to place them in....all while trying to take care of their own health needs and home.
It's crazy and really unconscionable that people go through that kind of thing without any sort of resource to help them.
Yes. God knows what would have happened to us without my grandparents.
I see a lot of it working in skilled nursing homes. We had one elderly frail man in his 80's who had to put his overweight wife into and out of a car 3x/week to take her for dialysis. She was what we call "Max Assist" to transfer, which means even we were providing maximum effort to stand her because she was unable to. I don't know how he was doing it at all. But he couldn't afford medical transport 3x/week and had no choice.
I have never been the type that wants to age at home. I don't mind having to go to an ALF/nursing home. The one that my sister was in was really nice. I know how much it would cost and it is manageable. I could also go to the veterans home that my brother was in - also nice.
Hey all I need is wi-fi - a comfy bed, TV, my meals and I am good. Now these places do take you to medical appointments and stores. The ALF even has margarita night on Fridays!!!
I feel that way sometimes, but I am also a person who likes to control the environment, and you can't do that in homes. If it's too cold in the dining room you can't just get up and change the thermostat like at home. Little things like that, that you can no longer control, are going to be tough for me to give up.
Yes. God knows what would have happened to us without my grandparents.
I see a lot of it working in skilled nursing homes. We had one elderly frail man in his 80's who had to put his overweight wife into and out of a car 3x/week to take her for dialysis. She was what we call "Max Assist" to transfer, which means even we were providing maximum effort to stand her because she was unable to. I don't know how he was doing it at all. But he couldn't afford medical transport 3x/week and had no choice.
Unfortunately, that sort of thing happens and the next thing you know the caregiver gets injured and needs assisted living, too. No one wins in a situation like that.
None of that negates the responsibility of the family members to take care of their own. Life's hard, always has been, and elder care is a part of that, as inconvenient of a truth that is. If a person needs to rearrange locations, jobs, have less toys and endless "entertainment" etc., because the workers don't exist to do this care, or the money doesn't exist to pay for this care, then so it should be. Reminds me of that old Medicare commercial where they (facetiously) push granny over the cliff, and we certainly don't want to do that.
I feel that way sometimes, but I am also a person who likes to control the environment, and you can't do that in homes. If it's too cold in the dining room you can't just get up and change the thermostat like at home. Little things like that, that you can no longer control, are going to be tough for me to give up.
I would just put on my big fluffy robe!
Well actually they don't want you running around in pjs - so would have to put on a nice sweater.
One can use Medicaid (if possible).....and dwellings which take Medicaid.
Very few people nation-wide end up in a nursing home permanently. The percentages are small.
Or if one has the money, perhaps move geographically to where home health care workers are available.
But just a couple years ago, home health care workers or home care workers were readily available through agencies which exist to provide them. And these agencies still exist.
Collectively, we are a compassionate people. At the same time, the high costs of retirement are things we each have the ability to plan for - in fact, we have our entire lifetimes to plan for it. This includes the high cost of care when we are elderly.
Everyone throws up the "whatabout" example, which of course is not a convincing argument. "Whatabout," they typically say, "elderly people who cannot afford to pay?"
Well, why CAN'T they afford to pay? They had an entire lifetime to plan for it. Did they retire early? Did they spend a lot of money on vacations? Cars? Tattoos? iPhones? Expensive after market wheels & tires on Escalades? Etc?
Have you checked the prices on nice Assisted Living facilities? Many, if not most people, cannot afford them - often are $4000 to $6000 per month. (also depends where you live geographically)
One can use Medicaid (if possible).....and dwellings which take Medicaid.
Very few people nation-wide end up in a nursing home permanently. The percentages are small.
Or if one has the money, perhaps move geographically to where home health care workers are available.
But just a couple years ago, home health care workers or home care workers were readily available through agencies which exist to provide them. And these agencies still exist.
All you are doing is to casually brush the problem aside, minimize, offer non-solutions and seemingly trying to prevent a thoughtful discussion - to what purpose is unclear...
What difference does it make to someone needing nursing home care that the percentages are small.
Earlier in the thread you were minimizing the need for legal support for ending life by saying that one can always stop eating.
Facing home-care worker shortage - move to where there is none. The article provides facts from today and you counter with anecdotal assertions from a few years ago.
We are in early 60s and are in a group that can pay a premium to tackle these issues, up to a point. We do not have family on the continent to fall back on - so the landscape of the care options interests us. My thought in posting the article was to have a thoughtful discussion. You are doing anything but. If you think it is a frivolous topic, feel free to move on to something you find substantive or interesting.
In the end, what is a home-care worker shortage is likely to translate into impacts on the assisted and continuing care facilities who hire from the same/closely related pool in terms of their costs and actual (as opposed to their ideal) staffing levels. Furthermore, there is ongoing demographic change towards an aging population which is likely to exacerbate the problem in the coming years.
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