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Just as I need a nursing home, as I grow older I long to leave my comfort home and move to a new one. I have never met someone who is. While it's natural to prefer your own place, it's easy to overlook the most common and avoidable reasons for nursing home residency. time.
If you are a senior or soon to be senior, today's aging hardware, equipment, and technology have greatly reduced the need for nursing home residency. You should know that it can decrease. There are so many wonderful things in the world. Also, depending on how strong you want to be to stay at home, you are very likely to be able to avoid the need for a nursing home altogether.
The reason you can't is because it took too long to make the necessary home upgrades.It's never too early to start, but in my experience it's often too late. A true story is a typical story.
I know a couple who moved out of a two-story family home when they were in their 70s and in good health. They relocated to a smaller location on his ground floor layout in an elderly community where all yard work and snow removal was provided. This was their aging plan, but it didn't work. In fact, they were far from their families, which probably made things worse. Neither had a day spent living at home in a "retirement home" longer than in their previous location. why. It takes time these people didn't give themselves, so time to innovate in ways that account for the three main problems of aging: decreased muscle strength, decreased athletic performance, and decreased mental acuity.
When I help home owners upgrade their finances to age well in their homes, there are three stages of transformation. Tier 1 is the easy one that generates a lot of quick profits and usually he completes it in 30 days or less. This includes installing handrails, towing aids, fall alarm systems, Wi-Fi cameras (so you can monitor your loved ones from a distance), access ramps, and more. For an article I put together, visit baileylineroad.com/aging-in-place-planning to see some of the quickest and easiest Tier 1 home enhancements to make.
Tier 2 includes room-by-room modifications designed to help you when you need outside assistance for part of your day. These enhancements include accessible bathtubs or showers, elevated toilets, lower kitchen counters and even an elevator system.
But not all of this goes into the bundle. Sorting. The more you go through the 3 stages of hardening, the higher the cost. That said, "expensive" is a relative term here. Compared to nursing home rates, upgrades to improve the lives of seniors are starting to look more reasonable. Things get even more interesting when you realize that like nursing home fees, housing upgrades to improve seniors' lives don't go away completely after they're paid for. When senior-friendly housing is no longer needed, families can sell it for a premium price and recoup a significant portion of the renovation costs. There are many up-and-coming elderly people who want to have their own home for the rest of their lives.
I need a nursing home. I'm glad they exist. But if your dream is to stay home as long as possible, time is the biggest thing to keep in mind.As I said before, you can't start early, but you can certainly start late. I can do it.
Steve Maxwell has been helping Canadians get the most out of their homes since 1988. Visit Steve online at BaileyLineRoad.com for articles, videos, online courses, and the opportunity to ask Steve a question.
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