As older adults and their families navigate decisions about long-term care, the importance of one particular factor consistently stands out: an effective partnership between paid caregivers and the care recipient’s family members. Whether care services are being delivered at home, in an assisted living community, or in a skilled nursing facility, the best outcomes occur [...]
Whether due to illness, surgery, or injury, a hospital stay can be a turning point for older adults and their families. While the focus is often on treatment and recovery inside the hospital, what happens after hospital discharge is just as critical. In fact, research shows that nearly 1 in 5 Medicare patients are readmitted [...]
For decades, older adults and families evaluating long-term care options have often faced a difficult reality: While many communities provide compassionate and clinically sound care, the traditional nursing home model has often felt “institutional” … more like a hospital than a home. Today, however, the senior living and care industry is in the midst of [...]
In this blog series, we examine the differences between activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), and what happens when they become difficult for a person. Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) are the everyday, often more complex tasks that support independent living in the community. This includes things like [...]
Planning for the cost of long-term care can be one of the toughest financial challenges many families face. Whether utilizing in-home caregivers or moving to an assisted living or skilled nursing facility, long-term care costs can add up quickly, leaving older adults and their children searching for funding solutions. For homeowners, one often-overlooked option is [...]
A serious health issue often brings difficult choices for the patient and their loved ones about treatment, comfort, and quality of life. Two terms that families frequently encounter in such situations are palliative care and hospice care. These care services can share some common goals, however palliative care and hospice care are used at different [...]
Today is Giving Tuesday, a global movement celebrating generosity, observed on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. Many older adults use the holiday season as an opportunity to give away some of their cash or other valuable assets to loved ones or charitable causes. And while these gifts are no-doubt appreciated by their recipients, there are reasons [...]
When researching the cost of assisted living facilities it is important to understand how pricing works.
We have often written about the mixed bag that is family caregiving. Some people find it rewarding, while others find it mentally, physically, and emotionally draining — or some combination of all of these feelings. Though sometimes logistically challenging, it’s important for family caregivers to take care of themselves too, which may involve finding ways [...]
According to the latest CDC statistics, there are nearly 2.1 million Americans living in our nation’s 46,200 long-term care facilities. This includes 30,600 assisted living communities with nearly 820,000 residents, and 15,600 skilled nursing facilities (also called nursing homes) with around 1.3 million residents. In many cases, these are some of the most vulnerable members of [...]
