A basic question faces all families beginning to grapple with the needs of a frail, vulnerable older family member: staying home or moving—most often to an aging community of some type.
A few days back, President Biden put himself on the side of aging-at-home, at an event marking the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.
“People would much rather stay, if they could, just with a little bit of help, in their own homes rather than go to a home,” Biden said. “And it’s less expensive.”
Aging Solutions has been helping families make this decision for more than 20 years, and over that time, we’ve found that aging family members almost always prefer staying home.
And with reason: we have found our ‘home’ clients tend to enjoy a less stressful life when living in familiar surroundings. Some researchers have posited that a longer life may be possible when that life is lived at home.
Managing these transitions is core to what Aging Solutions does. After an assessment, we let clients know our recommendations but we don’t second-guess. We serve clients and families both at home, and those within assisted-living or other communities.
Note that the eldercare industry itself has two sides: providers of in-home care services on one side and on the other, venture capitalists acquiring and building housing (and hospices) for aging Baby Boomers at a furious rate. One is being built today on a site less than a mile from Aging Solutions’ offices.
Because of the greater profit pressures on VC and real-estate firms, we always advise our clients to read contracts very, very carefully. Many assisted-living communities charge large up-front fees. Costs over an aging lifetime can be huge.
We’ll focus on the pros and cons of this debate in future posts. So…visit early and often!
