It goes without saying that as we age, our needs change. Suddenly, it’s not so simple to reach up and grab that book from the top shelf, and even the once mundane task of showering is a difficult and dangerous chore. But leaving home for a nursing facility takes its toll, both emotionally and financially.

The average annual cost of nursing home care in 2011 was $86,040. Hiring in-home assistance is cheaper—but still not ideal—with annual fees averaging $38,000. But is it possible for seniors to maintain independence without completely surrendering themselves to someone else’s care? Yes. It just takes some determination and room-by-room modifications.

See some helpful products and suggestions

Aging in Place: You do not need to leave your home!

Given that 89% of people do not want to leave their homes, this statement featured on the article The Technology for Monitoring Elderly Relatives on The New York Times (July 28, 2010) about new technologies to help people stay at their home, makes total sense.

The purpose of many of these technologies is to provide enough supervision to make it possible for elderly people to stay in their homes rather than move to an assisted-living facility or nursing home — a goal almost universally embraced as both emotionally and financially desirable.

Read More about it…

Living Well with memory loss and Alzheimer's

On Episode Six of the Charlie Rose Brain Series, a discussion of the Aging Brain with Brenda Milner of McGill University, Larry Squire of the University of California San Diego, John Hardy of University College London, and Scott Small of Columbia University. Co-hosted by Eric Kandel of Columbia University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, we find easy information for the laymen about what occurs in the aging memory related to memory loss and the developing of Alzheimer’s

See the program

We, at Living Well Assisted Living at Home,  believe the provide a safety net for the elders, an option to stay at home while providing peace of mind to the adult children and family members.

Read the full article

Read more

Read More

Not all senior care or residential facilities are safe!

America’s largest elderly people live in California. 3.7 million over age 65. Most of these seniors live in institutions and although some of these facilities provide an outstanding care for many seniors,  a staggering number of others are being abused and neglected and even are dying on these residential care facilities. Some of these facilities are so eager to retain the residents that they ignore the issues that will need real medical care and well trained medical staff and keep the residents away from the needed care until it is too late.

Tanya McRae  conducted an investigative report on abuse and neglect of the elderly at skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes. In the video, one daughter shares her story of her mother’s horrific death, and attorneys explain staggering number of other criminal cases.

Watch the video

Home Safety, important matter to age in place.

Our homes fulfill many needs for us. Often, the most basic need is for shelter from the elements and intruders. Once we are protected and secure, other needs can be met. Comfort and a place for self-expression are vital for our well-being. Home gives a feeling of independence. Ourhome should also be a place in which we can be safe from accidents and injuries.

A  Housing Safety Checklist for Older People prepared by Sarah D. Kirby, Extension Housing Specialist, and published by NORTH CAROLINA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE. North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race,color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability. The guide-checklist stresses that “…Home accidents are a major source of injuries and can cause death. Older persons, whose bones are often less dense and more brittle, are especially vulnerable to serious injuries from home accidents. A simple fall that results in a broken bone can become a serious, disabling injury that limits one’s independence…”

On the guide, you will find a series of checklists. Use these lists as you go through your home. Make a check mark next to those items or behaviors that you already have. If there are items that you do not check, then your home is not as safe as it could be. By improving those items not marked, you can make your home a safer and more comfortable place to live. While the suggestions in this publication are for older people, they apply to all age groups as well.

To Download the guide, click here.

Smart technology: GPS shoes for wandering seniors!

Some of the common symptoms of Alzheimer’s and any other type of dementia are lack of memory, confusion, and wandering. These symptoms usually lead to  loosing track of familiar surroundings and thus getting lost. Understanding the symptoms of dementia might help safeguard elderly people who are at risk for getting lost. While infections, tumors, and head injuries can all cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is most commonly behind the phenomenon of wandering. For patients who hallucinate, their risk for wandering might depend on how well they trust their caregiver. If they hallucinate, they may be at low risk or high risk, depending on their trust for the caregiver. If they are suspicious, they might try to get out.

In 2008, Texas Legislature enacted a statewide communication system to help find mentally impaired senior citizens. “I think they are a really good idea,” said Hester, a Lubbock Police sergeant. “(A Silver Alert) could have helped those people. I mean, nobody knew where they were.” But Silver Alerts alone can’t keep seniors safe. On Monday, police officials were preparing an alert for 70-year-old Lubbock resident Jim Hardy Clary, who left home for a doctor’s appointment he didn’t keep. He was found dead before a statewide alarm was raised. Read More about this article

In Virginia, law enforcement officers are learning how to search for missing persons who may not know they are lost. A  4-minute video produced by Kassie Bracken for The New York Times tells us the lessons they have learned.

See the video: lessons from the Lost

More than 40 percent of adult patients in acute care hospital beds are 65 or older. Seventy million Americans will have turned 65 by 2030. They include the 85-and-older cohort, the nation’s fastest-growing age group. Elderly people often have multiple chronic illnesses, expensive to treat, and they are apt to require costly hospital re-admissions, sometimes as often as 10 times in a single year. Living Well Assisted Living at Home has designed a new model of comprehensive care that will help care for elders at home, including those who are frail, recovering from surgery, accidents or any illness. The model also strives to care for those suffering from dementia, at home.

In an article written by Milt Freudenheim for the Health section of the New York Times, in June 28, 2010, we find how geriatricians and other professionals are lobbying for best practices in the field of aging.  In the article it is stressed the fact of how “..to stay independent, the elderly will need to stay healthy. Many of these people could be back on the golf course and enjoying their grandchildren if we did the right thing for them,” said Mary D. Naylor, a longtime geriatric care researcher and professor of gerontology in the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsilvania. Her research showed that even fragile older people could avoid a quick return to the hospital if they are managed by teams of nurses, social workers, physicians and therapists, together with their own family members. Hospital re-admissions, which cost $17 billion a year, could be reduced by 20 percent — $3.5 billion — or more, she said…” Obviously a new approach to care for the elder is imperative if we wnat to promote wellness in this sector of the population and reduce the increasing costs of caring for seniors.

Mr. Freudenheim continues by saying: “…Many internists, family physicians and other primary care doctors are lobbying for payments for a team approach based in the physician’s office. The concept, which they call a patient-centered medical home, will be tried out under the new health care law by Medicare, Medicaid and some private insurers. Secretary Sebelius has called the medical home idea “one of our most promising models for improving the quality of care and bringing down health care costs…”

Read the article.