Will there be affordable long care facilities for us in the next 20 years?
I take care of my 93 year old mom in her home where I’ve lived for more than ten years. I don't receive any pay but I get free room and board.
I don’t have any medical experience but I think I earn my keep managing her affairs and health needs.
I was a stay-at-home mom for most of my children’s young lives so I can’t say I have my ducks in a row for my future.
Being alone wasn’t in the plan back when we were making decisions regarding our kids, to the extent that I can’t claim my husband’s social security benefits for five more years, until he reaches retirement age.
I am 66. My kids informed me not to expect them to care for me, long before I began to think about it. Fortunately, my mom has most all her mental faculties and hopefully I will, too.
I wonder if there will be better options for living arrangements for us in the not too far away future, than there is today.
I’ll continue to help others but please understand that both immigrants and elders can be difficult. No matter what we offer people or how generous we think it is, people lived doing things their own way and want to continue doing so. I get it, I like the way I organize my kitchen cabinets and live in my home and on and on. I want to do it my way just as everyone else does 😊🙏
It wasn’t through SilverNest, but wow! These were women that could not, would not live with other women no matter how difficult their situation was.
Oh well, I haven’t given up and hope to see something that works 🙂
One thing I noticed, Dad was happier with the caregivers who were in their 40's and 50's as they were able to hold a conversation. Luckily he had two such wonderful caregivers who were there for him for over a year. The younger caregivers had lost their ability to converse due to being glued to their cellphones. That isn't a good sign of things to come.
In my area, I have a choice of many independent living place, lots of assisted livings, but not many nursing homes. The buildings will be there, but will there be enough employees to help out? Will there be enough people from around the world willing to jump through all the red tape to be part of the U.S. society, and to work these jobs?
Every day I hear how adverse these immigrants are to providing personal care to you, me! or our loved ones. Lately I’ve listened to hundreds of Venezuelans insist they will never be that desperate that they’ll wipe some old white person’s wrinkly old *ss in order to live in this country. They’d rather wash cars, clean floors, pick berries, deliver pizzas and so on.
They don’t have nursing homes all over and do not get why we do. They see North America, the UK.. and Australia? (Only been there once so I have no opinion) and don’t understand why we’d not provide for our our parents, family, friends that they’d need to live away from us. It’s really just different. So different.
Next week I’ll travel and will hopefully have more positive things to share but right now it’s a bit of a mess.
Regarding the future: there are so many advances in medicine and technology in a year that I don't think it's a productive exercise to think about "what might be". They may come up with a cure for dementia, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, etc. and become so good at replacing body parts, we just can't imagine right now. I'm connected to the med-tech industry and can assure you lots is going on.
The biggest issue now and maybe into the near future is the supply and demand of inexpensive physical labor. Birthrates have dropped, younger generations do not want to do that "icky" work at any price. For right now the govt needs to fix the immigration policy so that low-wage workers can legally come in and fulfill their dreams of pursuing happiness, and others can get the affordable care they need.
So that's our plan. Robots. Programmed to cut toenails, plus drink service for Friday happy hour :)
I'm sorry to hear how long you ended up taking care of your mother, and yet you lost her at such a young age.
Please accept my sympathies.
Medicare is a godsend to most (as long as you have the finances to support it), but those with no resources have Medicaid to foot the bill which government pays for exclusively. Not always the best of care. We could stop with removing the tax cap so everyone at all income levels would be contributing which would add a substantial boost....but that's just for starters. Seems government is sleeping at the wheel when it comes to long term planning. As for me, my plans are to move into a retirement manufactured home park because of the affordability and leaves me with remaining assets to simply enjoy life. Don't want my kids to have the burden of taking care of me....I will spend down my money and then check out. We'll see how that goes : )
My oldest daughter intends for me to get a mobile home with funds from my mothers house.
I”m not at all confident that there will be any inheritance and I’m not building any backup for myself while caring for her these last twelve years, so I have no idea what I’ll do.
I noticed something interesting a few weeks ago when I was checking out companies. I don't know if this is a trend or not, but suspect it might be, or may become so.
I discovered that one nationwide home care agency is owned by an LLC, which also owns another company in the general geriatric medical and care field. This could make more cash available for purchasing home care and related companies, creating more competition. But the LLC ownership obviously means that the individual partners are looking for returns, now and in the future.
What I think really needs to happen is more focus on caring at home, with funds allocated for retrofitting homes which may have been designed for much younger occupants. And that depends a lot on who's elected, whether or not a strong consumer lobby can successfully lobby Congress, and whether or not the institutional lobby will out maneuver the citizen lobby.
Another focus that needs to be strengthened is the family and extended community one, to help support aging in place. There's a vast difference between the senior centers in this area. A few are outstanding. In my father's community the SC had a registered dietician and social worker on staff, plus two small buses for transportation. My community finally got a bus last year, but only for 3 hours per day.
The kind of system libraries have, facilitating lending of books to other libraries, would be helpful. And the less experienced senior centers could learn from the more experienced ones.
AARP considers itself an advocate for improved issues of senior living. The field could use more advocates, but those focused sincerely on potential patients as opposed to increasing their share of the market.
What I would, and plan to do, is start retrofitting to adapt to age limitations. I'm using bookcases to store canned goods which used to be stored in the basement so I don't have to go up and down to get food. I'm planning (emphasize "planning"!) to downsize to eliminate the amount of "stuff" to clean.
Later this year I'm going to have the electrical system upgraded to add more outlets so I have some on each side of the rooms, to eliminate connecting cords and potential trip hazards.
In a rather unpleasant task, I'm pulling up all the carpeting to eliminate vacuuming and dust.
These are just for starters.
They no longer move the economy forward. Baby boomers born in the early 60s will still need an excess amount of $ spent to prolong their lives... very few willingly die once they’ve outlived their ability to contribute to the economy.
Survival instinct kicking in? Selfishness? Who knows.. Might be that survival of the species, community, family.. just isn’t their priority anymore.
Sad, isn’t it? Passing away/death used to be seen as natural. Good. They live their life well and hope the coming generations have the opportunity to do so also.. They give their lives up in order that others can survive and thrive.
So, after those last boomers die? Hopefully the younger generations will come to the conclusion that this isn’t working and will make some changes.
THAT is the issue isn’t it? That we live so long that our bodies give out and make us useless even to ourselves...
Here in Canada Medical Assistance In Dying MAiD is a legal option. I know of two people who have chosen that route. There is no pressure by doctors and the patient cannot have dementia. There is controversy regarding the no dementia clause as many feel that if a person states in writing and has the document, witnessed, when they are ok that if they get dementia they want the option to die it should be allowed.
The option of refusing treatment has always been with us. A friend’s Dad chose to stop dialysis when he got bone cancer. He slipped into a coma and died 3 days later.
I like the Dutch combination of nursery school and nursing home. I hope when I need nursing care that is an option locally.
I am either at the very tail end of the Baby Boom or the beginning of the next group. If I live as long as my parents, I expect nursing homes to have lots of vacancies.
Further, I can see families objecting to it for their loved ones. “Anybody but mine” I can see being an issue.
There are mild versions of death panels now, I agree. For instance, there is rationing for organ donation recipients.
I read and see so much healthcare/surgeries/treatments, etc. for elders who really have no quality of life. That can't continue.
The government needs to put regulations in place for facilities that can be enforced or they don't get paid. Being a for profit business will always keep the standards low and prices high.
I think that those of us that have dealt with our parents will figure out how to live with quality and not have to spend upwards of 10k per person monthly.
Sometimes I think that there will surely be a death panel, because there will just be too many of us aging baby boomers to maintain the system.
But a Gen X'r who works in our office tells me no to that, because the aging Boomers will present such an opportunity for jobs and money!
In the first place: what jobs? Computers are doing all the work now and don’t require health insurance or sick days.
In the second: what money? I haven’t even contributed to my social security for years, but they say there won’t even be any of that left.