Author: rc dev

What is a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC)?

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Within a few months of touring various communities, having endless discussions with family members, we decided a CCRC suited their wants and needs best.

Before I fell in love with the senior living industry, and decided to make it my career, I was simply a granddaughter trying to find the best community for my beloved grandparents. I had no knowledge about senior communities, as I had never needed to know about them. Then, dementia and medical issues plagued my grandparents, and my family was at a loss about how best we could help take care of them. Thus, began my search. I found everywhere I went there were various acronyms and terms. Month to Month communities, CCRC’s, IL, AL, SNF’s and Memory Care, what did it all mean? I became educated quite quickly, and within a few months of touring various communities, having endless discussions with members of my family and grandparents, we decided a CCRC suited their wants and needs best.

I found CCRC stands for Continuing Care Retirement Community. What they offer are various levels of care contained on one campus. The goal is to offer their residents the ability to what many of us refer to as “aging in place” in order to accommodate their changing needs. The types and levels of care at each CCRC will differ. While they will all offer Assisted Living, CCRC’s may also offer Independent Living, Memory Care, or a Skilled Nursing Facility.

CCRC’s will also have what are called Entrance Fees or a Buy-In Fees. This is a large lump sum that is determined by the community, based on the type of financial program they offer. There are 3 different options of Entrance/Buy-In Fees.

1. Life Care – This tends to be the most expensive, as you are normally guaranteed unlimited Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing care as long as you live within the community.

2. Modified – Your fee will cover all Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing care for a set period of time.

3. Fee-For-Service – You pay for Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing care as you need it.

Another difference between CCRC’s and their Entrance or Buy-In Fee programs, is the refund of that fee once you or your loved one are no longer living in that community. This can be a big factor in the decision making process. Some CCRC’s will refund 100% of the fee within a certain timeframe after moving out. Others will refund a portion, while some will refund none at all.

Researching the vast options available for senior living can seem incredibly daunting and overwhelming at times. However, after the tours have been done, and all of your questions have been answered; when you find that perfect community, it will all have been worth it.

Article Provided by:
Molly Cole,
Chateau Retirement Communities
425-488-2400
www.ChateauRetirement.com

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What you need to know about elder care referral agencies

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Having experts in your corner will reduce your stress and save you time. Knowing what to look for in referral agencies, will help you find the best results.

From sprawling retirement communities with hundreds of residents to adult family homes with only a few, the options for senior living are endless. Working alone, most people will be overwhelmed with the choices available and will pick something because it is close or familiar, later discovering that it does not meet their needs. This is where referral agencies come in to play.

When it is time to seek out housing or care, you will benefit from the experience of a credible referral agency. Having experts in your corner will reduce your stress and save you time. Knowing what to look for in referral agencies, will help you find the best results.

Association of Senior Referral Professionals of Washington
(ASRP of WA), is committed to establishing and promoting professional and ethical standards within the senior housing and care referral industry; as well as to those who provide supportive and ancillary services for older and other frail adults within the state of Washington. A common business interest of all members is to create a unified and consistent voice which promotes, develops and facilitates:

1. Ethical standards which create a quality experience for seniors, frail adults, and the people who support them.

2. Recommended best practices and the education of members, with a shared goal of improving consumer awareness of options and increasing the ability of consumers to make informed decisions.

3. Education to increase the knowledge and skills of members regarding aging, aging related products and services, communication, decision-making and conflict resolution.

4. Education to increase consumer awareness of aging, senior housing and care options, effective processes for making life transition decisions, and to improve communication amongst family members, and with health care professionals and insurance carriers.

5. A means for consumers, senior housing and care providers, health care professionals, other professionals or community members to provide feedback to the entire referral industry.

6. The use of referral professionals as a means of making effective use of time, energy and resources for consumers and senior housing and care providers.

7. Transparency, disclosure, accuracy of information, and effective, recommended business practices within the senior housing and care referral industry.

8. Protection of consumers by communicating residents’ rights, current and future RCWs & WACs impacting consumers.

9. Collaborative opportunities for consumers and members of the association to have a voice in future legislation and regulation regarding senior housing and care services.

10. Protection of consumers by communicating the option to file complaints to the Ombudsman, The Department of Social & Health Services, Adult Protective Services, The Attorney General, and other regulatory or social service agencies.

Article Provided by:
Susannah Youngquist, CayCare Inc.
844-582-7767
www.asrpwa.org, www.CayCare.com

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Connecting people to resources

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While most of us don’t need to be reminded that we are growing older, many of us need a gentle push to think about how aging affects our everyday life.

While most of us don’t need to be reminded that we are growing older, many of us need a gentle push to think about how aging affects our everyday life. In 2011, the first baby boomers reached 65 causing a surge in the number of older Americans, a trend that which will continue for the next 15 years.

It’s never too early to start thinking how aging will affect your life and the life of those you love. The good news is that living a full life is more likely today then any time in the past. Planning now for the future can help ensure that your retirement years are the best.

But what exactly does ‘planning for the future’ mean? It’s about thinking through options and finding the best solutions now to meet your needs tomorrow. Sometimes the questions are thought provoking – is your current house the best one to retire in? Sometimes they are more obvious – is it time to have grab bars put in the bathroom or a ramp installed over the front steps. And sometimes the questions are scary – is it time to give up the car?

The good news is there are a range of resources available. There are businesses and non-profit organizations that will work with you to come up with the best solutions to meet your individual needs whether it’s grab bars, stair rails, meal preparation or getting to doctor appointments.

While addressing changes to your physical environment is important as you age, it is just as important to maintain your social connections to friends and family.

Getting older need not mean losing touch with the important people in your life. There are social options through your local senior center including exercise classes, craft circles, dance lessons, table games and even day trips to local activities. And, yes, many offer bingo! Libraries can be another way to connect with others in your community. Besides books, movies, and music available for checkout many offer author talks, computer classes and book clubs. Volunteering can be a personally enriching and satisfying way
to stay connected.

Often what most people need is someone to listen and help come up with the best solution for them – helping to find the right service at the right time. Your local Senior Services organization is a valuable starting point. In Snohomish County the Aging and Disability Resource number is 800.422.2024.

Article Provided by:
Senior Services of Snohomish County
425-513-1900, 800-422-2024
http://www.sssc.org

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A legacy to remember

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Millions of everyday families find comfort in having a place of remembrance to visit on special days like birthdays and anniversaries.

To remember and be remembered are basic human needs. Since the beginning of time, memorials have been based on the belief that no one truly dies until their memory has faded from the hearts and minds of the people who knew and loved them.

The pyramids of Egypt and the Taj Mahal are two famous memorials, but memorials needn’t be extravagant to be meaningful. Millions of everyday families find comfort in having a place of remembrance to visit on special days like birthdays and anniversaries.

While the value of permanent memorials hasn’t changed, memorials themselves are taking a new direction. Unique, highly personalized memorials are replacing the standard headstones of yesteryear. Today’s memorial formats range from upright monuments featuring photographic images to garden benches, from flat bronze markers, to glass-front niches. Custom built monuments are also available.

“A good memorial professional will take the time to get to know your preferences and guide you to options that reflect the life and personality of the individual being honored, within your budget,” says Rich Snider, Sales Manager at Mountain View Memorial Park in Tacoma.

We asked Snider how they create personalized memorials at Mountain View. He said, “We start by asking about what was important to the individual. What made them smile? What were they passionate about? When we talk to various family members and get their thoughts, the perfect theme always rises to the surface. Then we show them some options with that theme.”

The needs and comfort of visitors is another consideration in selecting a memorial. Some families choose memorial benches to provide a place for guests to sit and reflect, while others choose an indoor mausoleum to protect visitors from the elements. Still others select an outdoor space near the roadway to allow easy access for family members who may find a long walk difficult.

When planning a memorial, it’s important to consider both present and future visitors. One of the reasons most people prefer cemeteries for their permanent memorials is the assurance that their memorial will be preserved indefinitely. That means your great-great granddaughter can come to pay her respects and connect with her ancestry whenever she wants. This may not be possible if you opt for scattering in the ocean or a memorial tree in your backyard.

Simple or elaborate, a customized memorial will be a comforting reminder of your loved one and the legacy he or she left behind.

Article Provided by:
Mountain View Funeral Home,
Memorial Park & Crematory
253-448-3994
www.MountainViewTacoma.com

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Elder care tips: Ensuring a beneficial relationship with a care provider

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Hiring an elderly health care services provider enables you to entrust that professional with some of the responsibilities of caring for your parents

Developing an elder care plan for your aging loved ones enables you to ensure your parents get the care and assistance that will meet their physical, cognitive, medical, mobility, and emotional needs on a daily basis. While it is completely normal for you to want to take on all of the responsibilities of caring for your seniors, handling all of these tasks on your own would likely not work out in the long term. Trying to add all of these responsibilities to everything you already do to take care of your own personal lives can leave you exhausted and incapable of giving your best to any of your responsibilities. Hiring an elderly health care services provider as part of your elder care plan enables you to entrust that professional with some of the responsibilities of caring for your parents so that you can focus your time and energy more efficiently and effectively.

Use these tips to help your parents enjoy the best relationship possible with their care provider:

Plan Thoroughly: Have a clear idea of what you and your parents expect from the relationship with your care provider. Clarifying these expectations enables you to pursue the factors of the relationship that you see as most important and allows you to narrow your focus when seeking out a care provider.

Think Family First: Before you get a care provider involved, consider your family contribution to the care plan first. Determine how much you can practically do for your parents and ask how much your siblings would like to do. This makes it easier for you decide how much responsibility the care provider will need to take so you can give clear guidelines from the beginning and avoid confusion.

Communicate Openly: It is important to see the elderly health care services provider as an employee rather than someone who is doing you a favor by taking care of your parents. Communicate openly with the care provider about your expectations, your standards of performance, and your feelings about their care for your parents so that they can continue to improve.

Support Individuality: You want to be an active part of your parents’ care, but in order to support a quality relationship, you need to give them the space and freedom to create and build that relationship on their own. Support your parents’ ability to get to know the care provider and enjoy spending time with them on their own terms, including participating in activities, going on outings, and creating their own approaches to handling care tasks.

Article Provided by:
SYNERGY HomeCare
425-465-5300
www.SynergyHomeCare.com

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You paid for it (Long Term Care Insurance)

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Unfortunately only 10% of seniors have Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI). Sadly over 90% of seniors never file a claim on their policy.

So Use It When You Need It
In 2014 Long Term Care Insurance carriers paid over $7.8 billion in claims. Seventy Percent of seniors over 65 will need assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s). Unfortunately only 10% of seniors have Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI). Sadly over 90% of seniors never file a claim on their policy. Those that do often have problems getting their claims approved.

Benefits of Utilizing Your LTCI Policy:
Stay at home with a higher degree of independence, improves quality of life, safety and fall prevention, and monthly premium may stop.

Care may need to be certified by a health care professional:

  • Registered Nurse
  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker
  • Medical Doctor

Key Terms in Your Policy:

  • STAND BY ASSISTANCE: Another person needs to be in arms reach to intervene in the event the policy holder is going to injure oneself.
    You don’t have to be 100% dependent on another person to help assist you with ADL’s. You simply need to have somebody close by to help if you are about to fall.
  • HANDS-ON ASSISTANCE: Another Person must physically help you perform 2 or more ADL’s. Without someone physically helping you perform these ADL’s you would not be able to perform them.
    • This is what most seniors believe is required to use their policy. However it’s not the case.

To use your policy you must need either hands-on assistance or stand-by assistance to perform two or ADL’s.

  • CONSTANT SUPERVISION: Policy holder is a safety risk to self or others if left unattended due to a cognitive impairment.

A cognitive impairment is enough to activate a claim. No assistance with ADL’s are required.

Must need assistance with at least 2 of the following ADL’s: bathing, dressing, toileting, continence care, transferring, or feeding.

Policies will pay for homemaker services secondary to needing assistance with 2 ADL’s: housekeeping, laundry, meal prep, and transportation services.

All policies are different. It’s critical to understand what is in your specific policy prior to activating a claim. The policy may pay for care:

  • Only in your home
  • Only in a nursing home
  • Only in a facility or nursing home
  • Comprehensive (Both in the home or facility.

Hiring a home care company with experience, expertise and understands the claims process is essential in getting your claims approved to pay for care.

Article Provided by:
Robert Christensen
Amada Senior Care
253-881-0014, 425-458-2778
www.AmadaSenoirCare.com

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Assisting our parents as they age

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When we recognize and acknowledge that aging is the process of loss; we will be more prepared and capable of identifying the signs that our loved ones need help.

Helping our elderly parents age gracefully will be among the most difficult tasks we encounter.

When we recognize and acknowledge that aging is the process of loss; we will be more prepared and capable of identifying the signs that our loved ones need help. Sometimes the need can be very obvious when it is caused by a functional loss in their abilities to provide for their own activities of daily living (ADL), which include bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, walking, and transferring.

At other times the shift in our relationship with our parents is more gradual and our roles slowly reverse. The clues are more subtle and less obvious. The following may be signs or warnings that our parents have entered the stage of life where additional assistance is needed.

  • Is hygiene appropriate such as groomed hair? Are the clothes clean and seasonally appropriate?
  • Any change in activities like attendance to church, card games, book club or other social groups?
  • Is there weight loss or gain?
  • A change in behaviors such as saying mean and hurtful things to others? Is sarcasm confusing to them? Are they having a difficult time being empathetic?
  • Are there suddenly new collections of items in the home? Is there an abundance of everyday items such as 20 bottles of laundry detergent, 15 bags of cat food or more tea than one can drink in a lifetime?
  • If English isn’t the first language, are they speaking their native language more often?
  • Is mail piling up? Are bills being paid late or not at all?
  • Are there more burnt pans or old leftover food in the refrigerator?
  • Are there unexplained bruises on the body?

Naturally the need for assistance does not magically translate to the willingness or acceptance of help. How does one maneuver through this maze? There isn’t a single simple answer. Each experience is unique and we need to approach these changes individually. One common denominator is that respecting the dignity and independence of the aging parent is critical. The ability to provide assistance for the safety and changing physical needs of our parents, while maintaining their individual dignity and independence, takes great effort and work. Gradually helping with tasks is easier for our loved ones to accept. Having a team to help support us through this stage of life is essential. William Shakespeare said “An old man is twice a child.” This quote helps me recognize that needing assistance is not a bad thing and gives permission to accept help gracefully.

Article Provided by:
Kathy Lyons, Certified Senior Advisor
BrightStar Care
206-777-1190, 425-679-0310
www.BrightStarCare.com

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Home Health Services and Medicare

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Before you start getting your home health care, the home health agency should tell you how much Medicare will pay.

How often is it covered?
Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and/or Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) covers eligible home health services like intermittent skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language pathology services, continued occupational services, and more. Usually, a home health care agency coordinates the services your doctor orders for you.

Medicare doesn’t pay for:

  • 24-hour-a-day care at home
  • Meals delivered to your home
  • Homemaker or Companion Services
  • Personal Care or In-Home licensed care

Who’s eligible?
All people with Medicare who meet all of these conditions are covered:

  • You must be under the care of a doctor, and you must be getting services under a plan of care established and reviewed regularly by a doctor.
  • You must need, and a doctor must certify that you need, one or more of these:
    • Intermittent skilled nursing care (other than just drawing blood)
    • Physical therapy, speech-language pathology, or continued occupational therapy services. These services are covered only when the services are specific, safe and an effective treatment for your condition. The amount, frequency and time period of the services needs to be reasonable, and they need to be complex or only qualified therapists can do them safely and effectively. To be eligible, either: 1) your condition must be expected to improve in a reasonable and generally-predictable period of time, 2) you need a skilled therapist to safely and effectively make a maintenance program for your condition, or 3) you need a skilled therapist to safely and effectively do maintenance therapy for your condition.
  • The home health agency caring for you must be Medicare-certified.
  • You must be homebound, and a doctor must certify that you’re homebound (you have trouble leaving your home, or leaving your home is not recommended).

You’re not eligible for the home health benefit if you need more than part-time or “intermittent” skilled nursing care.

You can still get home health care if you attend adult day care.

Note: Home health services may also include medical social services, part-time or intermittent home health aide services, medical supplies for use at home, durable medical equipment, or injectable osteoporosis drugs.

Your costs in Original Medicare

  • $0 for home health care services.
  • 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for durable medical equipment.

Before you start getting your home health care, the home health agency should tell you how much Medicare will pay. The agency should also tell you if any items or services they give you aren’t covered by Medicare, and how much you’ll have to pay for them. This should be explained by both talking with you and in writing.

Article acquired from:
www.medicare.gov
Provided by Retirement Connection

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On Mentoring

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“Mentors have a way of seeing more of our faults than we would like. It’s the only way we grow.”
~ Padmé Amidala, Star Wars: Episode 2 (Written by George Lucas)

A great mentor can be a mirror, helping you see the blind spots you don’t see for yourself; especially in the areas where we need the checks, balances and safeguards of others looking out for us and motivating us. I am thankful for my many mentors – past and present.
~ Amy Schmidt

Legacy

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“The best way to be missed when you’re gone is to stand for something when you’re here.”
~ Seth Godin

The past year I have lost several friends and I miss them and their insight, but I am often surprised at how everyone appears to move on. I often wonder if I will make a big enough difference and will I be missed for more than a brief fleeting moment. My grandfather passed away more than 20 years ago and I still reference him and look to our time together for advice. He made a difference. What will you be remembered for?
~ Amy Schmidt