By Pamela D. Wilson, The Care Navigator, CSA, CG, MS, BS/BA

Many older adults move from their homes to assisted living communities because they're experiencing challenges remaining at home either physically or cognitively.  Many move because adult children have been acting in the role of caregiver and the time required to support care of parents becomes unrealistic. Some older adults are unable to manage medications, others have difficulty grocery shopping and cooking meals and others are simply isolated, lonely and depressed.  Do assisted living communities support these individuals in remaining as independent as possible or do they further advance the physical declines experienced by older adult by helping too much because it's quick and easy? 

Read more: Do Older Adults in Assisted Living Experience More Physical Decline?

By Pamela D. Wilson, The Care Navigator, CSA, CG, MS, BS/BA

According to the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, 45% of the United States population is diagnosed with a chronic disease; many individuals diagnosed with multiple chronic diseases. Ever wonder how these costs affect the U.S. healthcare system and the consumer? Individuals diagnosed with chronic disease represent 81% of hospital admissions, take 91% of all prescription drugs and represent 76% of all physician visits. These numbers become more impressive when looking at the cost of Medicare hospital readmissions of $17.4 billion (2004 estimate). The Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care reports that 17-19% of Medicare beneficiaries are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days and 34% within 90 days.

While the government bears the costs of Medicare, more education is needed for healthcare providers and consumers who also create and bear costs. It’s common knowledge that since health insurance became widely available in the mid-1960’s the true cost of healthcare has been hidden from the consumer because we rarely see the bills. Few consumers ask about the cost of tests or treatments but rather ask about co-pays.

Read more: Ignorance: Preventing The High Cost of Re-Hospitalization and Skilled Nursing Stays

By Pamela D Wilson, The Care Navigator, CSA, MS, BS/BA, CG

Many young people have never visited a nursing home. Yet our parents and grandparents have sickening visions of nursing homes that play in their minds especially when they think about getting older. The nursing environment has changed significantly from the memory our parents and grandparents hold, however the fear of being "put away" remains in their minds. My own mother made us promise never to put her in a nursing home - or she would come back and haunt us. Fortunately my mother passed away never having spent a single day in a nursing home.

The general population is not as fortunate. Few realize that there is no health care system to prevent individuals from ending up in a nursing home. Medicare does not pay for custodial care. Working children are shocked when the medical system does not provide the type of assistance needed when their older parents become ill. An unless you've personally experienced caregiving it's difficult to understand the stress, pressure and sleepless nights experienced by others worrying not only about their loved one but how they will ever financially survive.

Read more: When Was the Last Time You Visited a Nursing Home?

By Pamela D Wilson, The Care Navigator, CSA, MS, BS/BA, CG

In my weekly radio program, The Caring Generation(www.thecaringgeneration.com), adult children frequently call to express frustration that they moved their parents or that their parents have moved only to be faced with having to move again. Why does this occur?

The need to move parents again often occurs because individuals or families did not consider planning for the long term. They planned for what they believed were needs for today not realizing that health care problems will arise and that care needs will increase as age advances. The situation also depends on the age at which an older adult first relocates. An individual moving at age 65 into an independent retirement community may be able to live in the same community for ten or more years. An individual at age 85, moving into an assisted living community, may only remain in the assisted living community for about two to three years until care needs again advance.

Read more: Moving Your Parents Once Not Twice