Aging in Place with Home Instead

We will dig deep into options for staying at home!

It's the best place to be, so let us help!

Check out our blog about Aging in Place~

www.HomeInsteadSWFL.com
Call: 239-241-9765

Transcript

 Speaker 1:
Hello and welcome to the Home Care Pod, your local resource when considering care. Now introducing the home care ladies, Laura Gillian and Audra Bidwell at your service.

Laura Gillian:
Hello all, and welcome back to the Home Care Pod. We are your home care ladies. I'm Laura.

Audra Bidwell:
And I'm Audra.

Laura Gillian:
Hey A, how you been? I know you've been traveling, tell me a little bit about your trip.

Audra Bidwell:
We have, thanks for asking. We just got back from a two-week road trip. We all piled into an RV, started in Florida, headed all through Texas, and Arizona, and through California to a lot of the national parks. Our kids were free-range for like two weeks, and filthy dirty, and the happiest that they've ever been.

Laura Gillian:
[crosstalk 00:00:50].

Audra Bidwell:
So it was super fun and yeah, it was so awesome.

Laura Gillian:
That's awesome. Did you go anywhere that you hadn't been yet?

Audra Bidwell:
No, we hit all the hotspots. We hadn't been out there in long, that Joe and I, my husband and I just wanted to go see those places. Joe and I moved to Florida from California, and so we hit up our favorite rock climbing spots and camping spots. So maybe next time we'll try something brand-new, yeah.

Laura Gillian:
Yeah, absolutely. That's so fun, and how fun that your kids got to experience that.

Audra Bidwell:
Yeah, [crosstalk 00:01:23]. That's right, and then we get back to a tropical storm, so that's always fun. But I'm happy to be home.

Laura Gillian:
Yeah, it's always an adventure, but it's a beautiful blessing to be able to help seniors stay safe. Especially in times like this, when people are worrying, and that's what we're going to be talking about today, how to age in place.

Audra Bidwell:
That's right. So for so many seniors, the thought of ending up in a nursing home frightens them. One study that I think Home Instead pulled together was that about 90% of seniors want to live at home, rather than moving into an assisted-living facility or a nursing home.

Laura Gillian:
Yeah, of course. And fortunately aging in place is easier to do now than it ever has been in the past, and more seniors are choosing home care as a result. So if you're in doubt or undecided, we're going to talk through some reasons that being at home is the best option. First off, aging in place costs less.

Audra Bidwell:
That's right, this is a big one too. And it's a big misconception, a lot of people don't think that.

Laura Gillian:
Absolutely.

Audra Bidwell:
So the average cost, I think this was a JPMorgan survey. I could be wrong on that, I'll link to the blog post. The average national cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home is over $93,000 a year, and for a private room it's over $100,000. Medicare doesn't cover long-term placement. It can help with some part-time basis after a hospital discharge, or related to a certain diagnosis. But if the senior is homebound and the doctors order it, Medicare will cover some part-time skilled care. But we can come in and help with all of personal care needs.

Laura Gillian:
Yeah, and we've said it before here on the Pod, that you already own your home, so you don't need to pay rent at a facility. Most seniors will be successful with around 20 hours of help per week, which costs significantly less than uprooting and moving to a facility.

Audra Bidwell:
That's right.

Laura Gillian:
Next, aging in place is just simply more comfortable.

Audra Bidwell:
Ah, this is my favorite one. Everybody says there's no place like home. Favorite chair, mattress that's broken in perfectly. The smell, the temperature, just being familiar with everything, these are all benefits of staying in your own home. And I have a specific example of this that I love to share. My grandmother is 95 years old, and she has some vision and some hearing reduction. But she's been in the same house since the '50s, and the furniture has not changed since I have been a little girl.

Audra Bidwell:
And even though she has some vision problems, she can move through that house with ease because she just knows it so well. And she's been there for her entire life. And for a minute we thought, "Oh gosh, is this a fall risk?" But once you're there and you watch her, you realize that she just knows it so well. So it really takes some of that nervousness out for us.

Laura Gillian:
Yeah, absolutely. And another thing to keep in mind is that in assisted or skilled nursing facilities, seniors are likely to have to deal with a roommate that they didn't pick. I can't even imagine your grandmother having to have a roommate, and have it be someone that she's unaware of. Or I just think of going to college I'd be nervous about roommates, and it very rarely works out well. So giving up privacy, which is a part of aging with dignity, can increase stress and feelings of resentment. Third, it's been proven that aging in place helps to slow the advancement of memory loss.

Audra Bidwell:
That's right. Loss of memory is of great concern for many people as they age. And being moved from familiar surroundings into an institutional environment can worsen that progression of memory loss. There are studies that have shown that the early stages of Alzheimer's, smells increase memory recall. So staying at home helps ensure familiar sights, sounds, and smells, to keep people connected cognitively, and that's a huge deal.

Laura Gillian:
Mm-hmm (affirmative), absolutely.

Audra Bidwell:
So next, aging in place strengthens social networks.

Laura Gillian:
That's right, aging in place allows seniors to keep their current social network and expand on it. They can be near their friends, and they have freedom to host social events if they prefer, and have people over. Or just having your neighbor come in for a cup of coffee, it's what they've known and done for years, and years, and years.

Audra Bidwell:
That's right, and I know that assisted livings boast their social aspects. We find that moving and making friends at the later stages in life doesn't happen as it does now. And I, once again, have a great example of this. I have a grandmother who lives in an assisted-living facility in my hometown. And they offer wonderful social interactive things, but it takes myself or one member of my family to get her to go do that. Because she doesn't have the initiative that she used to have, to want to participate in things like that. And then when you get her down there and you sit and you see two 93-year-olds socially interacting, they really depend on someone like me or my mom to keep that conversation going. And really engage them, and pull out some memories, and get them talking.

Laura Gillian:
Yeah, especially if they don't have that history.

Audra Bidwell:
That's true.

Laura Gillian:
The neighbor, they maybe lived by that neighbor since the '50s.

Audra Bidwell:
Right, right.

Laura Gillian:
And so I think that's super important. So lastly, aging in place keep seniors independent longer. Seniors have spent most of their lives working, so retirement should be about doing what they want to do. And if you ask anyone, they want to stay home. And it allows them to be more independent, make their own decisions in many areas. They can often still schedule their own activities with home care, unlike a nursing home, where they have to comply with the group's schedule. So, Audra.

Audra Bidwell:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Laura Gillian:
Give me the bottom line.

Audra Bidwell:
All right. In our experience, seniors choose home care because staying at home is better for their physical and emotional health, than being in a facility that they don't really want to be in. They just tend to eat better, they sleep better, and they laugh more often when they're in their own home.

Laura Gillian:
Yep, absolutely.

Audra Bidwell:
[inaudible 00:08:19].

Laura Gillian:
So let us help. At Home Instead, one of our missions is lifting the spirits of those we serve, by offering them dependable and affordable home care options as we help them age in place.

Audra Bidwell:
Yep. If you want to age in place, or learn more about Home Instead senior care, or to schedule a free consultation for a senior in Naples, Fort Myers, Charlotte County, or any [inaudible 00:08:40] surrounding areas, please give us a call today. (239) 596-2030.

Laura Gillian:
Thank you all so much for tuning in, and we look forward to talking to you next time, right here on the Home Care Pod. Bye.

Audra Bidwell:
Bye.

Speaker 1:
Thanks again for listening to the Home Care Pod with Laura and Audra, your home care ladies. To learn more about home care or a career as a caregiver, please visit our website at www.homeinsteadswfl.com, or call us at (239) 226-0007.