| "Aging In Place" is a senior care industry term for | | | | Families of seniors have to be willing to take a closer |
| helping elderly remain in their home rather than live | | | | look at the lives their elders are really living. If they |
| with family or go into assisted living. I hate this term. | | | | are slipping in to dementia, is it because they have |
| It sounds like leftovers rotting in the refrigerator. | | | | nothing to do other than watch Jeopardy and play |
| Who wants to do that? | | | | solitaire and nothing to think about or is it for organic |
| We are all living longer than anybody expected. The | | | | reasons? I'm not entirely convinced that all dementia |
| original Social Security business model expected | | | | is organic. In my senior move management practice,I |
| people to retire at age 65 and be dead by age 72! | | | | have seen many seniors blossom both physically and |
| Not so, now. It is not unusual for people to live well | | | | mentally when they are reconnected with the outside |
| beyond eighty and indeed the population of those | | | | world. So can they be Safe, Happy and Engaged in |
| 100+ continues to grow. In fact, futurists predict that | | | | Life at home? Maybe. It will take more than a visiting |
| by the middle of this century, living beyond 100 years | | | | nurse and food delivery to accomplish it. Seniors need |
| will be the norm. | | | | to BE in the world - participating at a Senior |
| So what exactly needs to be addressed when | | | | Community Center and taken to their beloved |
| seniors want to remain in their home? I'm here to tell | | | | symphonies,lectures or theatre as well as interaction |
| you that aging in place is more than grab bars in the | | | | with younger people. A couple of basic classes on the |
| tub and Meals on Wheels delivery. Remaining at home | | | | internet wouldn't hurt either! Sending email to their |
| should not mean monotonous days filled with TV and | | | | grandchildren would be such fun! |
| solitaire and nothing else to look forward to. | | | | So much of their lost mobility is due to lack of |
| Let's discard the term "aging in place" right now. I | | | | exercise. A colleague of mine commented the other |
| prefer using the term "Safe, Happy and Engaged In | | | | day that if she saw one more group of seniors |
| Life at Home". No rotting in the frig allowed. If your | | | | playing balloon volleyball, she was going to scream. |
| beloved senior is rotting at home, its time to make a | | | | Seniors need physical activity too -from professionals |
| change or move them somewhere else. | | | | - not just the person who is also in charge of arts |
| The term, "use it or lose it" is applied here in the | | | | and crafts. We have to remember that these little |
| very truest sense. In this youth oriented world, | | | | old wrinkled bodies once ran the world, indeed |
| seniors are made to feel irrelevant. With most of | | | | SAVED the world and still have a lot of show us and |
| them non tech savvy, the internet makes them feel | | | | we owe them more than a life of Jeopardy and |
| left out. The world is scarier now, crowds make | | | | Solitaire at home. |
| them nervous and politics make them crazy. Isolation | | | | If you have a loved one who wants to stay at |
| diminishes their social skills and makes them even | | | | home, make sure they are not rotting like leftovers |
| more reluctant to re engage in life. So what is the | | | | in the frig. If you choose to move them to assisted |
| solution? | | | | living, stay clear of balloon volleyball! |