Navigating Assisted Living

Designed as a practical guide through the complex world of senior living, this book offers support and guidance for families to collaborate, leverage one another's strengths, and work toward this higher goal of making sure that their loved ones thrive. Read about how to manage difficult conversations with your loved ones, critical questions to ask during a facility tour, financial breakdown including Medicare and Medicaid, overcoming challenging behaviors, the state-survey process, and much more. With limited resources on the market today, planning for Assisted Living can be overwhelming for those who are making difficult choices for their loved ones. Get to know the industry standards and understand the difference between Assisted Living, Independent Living, and Skilled Nursing. Author and former Community Relations Director at a prestigious assisted living community, Kristi Stalder, offers solutions to almost any situation; financial, behavioral, and emotional, so you can make an educated decision that will be in your loved one's best interest. Non-medical and simple, this book provides the facts and resources necessary to create a flawless transition and support through the entire process.

The challenges of life for elders can be daunting. Whether you are an elder or a caregiver, you don't have to do this alone. I know the journey isn't easy, and through my experience as an elder care nurse, and your effort and greater understanding, we can help develop a life that elders want and deserve, even when they need assistance. In this book, I will help you understand the impacts of aging, challenges of daily life, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, home health and hospice. In addition, I will guide you on how to help your senior loved ones and determine how to integrate family and friends to assist with elder care. Navigating Elder Care provides you with concrete tools to manage the challenges and embrace multiple possibilities for supporting elders. The insights and guidance provided here are based on over a decade of experience, leadership, and education as a certified gerontology nurse working in senior living, elder care, and dementia support.

Named a 2013 Doody's Essential Purchase! "Since there are few books available on this topic that are this comprehensive and well-organized, this book should be of value to anyone interested in the topic of assisted living facilities in the U.S." Score: 98, 5 stars.óDoodyís Medical Reviews "This book is much needed. It offers a practical approach to key issues in the management of an assisted living facility... It is especially pleasing to see the long needed collaboration between nursing, social services, and education that is reflected by the training of the authors. This book is an important milestone for the field of aging and assisted living administration." From the Foreword byRobert Newcomer, PhD, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences University of California-San Francisco Assisted Living Administration and Management contains all the essentials for students new to the field, as well as nuanced information for professionals looking to fine-tune their skills. This comprehensive resource provides deeper insights to address the ever-changing world of the assisted living community, containing effective best practices and model programs in elder care. The authors provide the necessary tools and tips to maximize the overall health, safety, and comfort of residents. This landmark reference, for assisted living and senior housing administrators as well as graduate students, contains the most practical guidelines for operating assisted living facilities. It offers advice on hiring and training staff, architecture and space management, and more. This multidisciplinary book is conveniently organized to cover the most crucial aspects of management, including organization; human resources; business and finance; environment; and resident care. Key Features: Highlights the most effective practices and model programs in elder care that are currently used by facilities throughout the United States Contains useful details on business and financial management, including guidelines for marketing, legal issues and terms, and public policy issues Includes chapters on environmental management, with information on accessibility, physical plant maintenance, and disaster preparedness Emphasizes the importance of holistic, resident care management, by examining the biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging Enables students to evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information on how to operate assisted living facilities

The demand for residential communities for seniors rises as the U.S. population continues to age. This growth means that new administrators and staff members often are learning by trial and error the complicated task of delivering high-quality and consistent services to elderly persons. While many new facilities have been successful, others have been plagued by a variety of administrative and financial difficulties. Senior Living Communities remains the definitive guide to managing these facilities. In this thoroughly updated and revised edition, Benjamin W. Pearce offers a wealth of sound advice and practical solutions. He discusses resident relations, operating methods, staffing ratios, department management, cost containment, sales and marketing strategies, techniques of financial analysis, budgeting, and human resources. New chapters address issues particular to dementia care and architecture, and the appendix contains a department-by-department audit of senior living operations. From the front lines to the boardroom, this book should be a part of every decision-making process for improving and maintaining assisted living, congregate, and continuing care retirement communities.

No matter your parents’ age or stage of life, this comprehensive guide walks you step-by-step through developing a flexible, proactive plan that will allow you to make the most informed decisions for your parents’ well-being—and your own. Millions of Americans are in an active caregiver role or will be in one in the future, yet few have a solid plan for the inevitable challenges of aging. Whether your parents are in their 60s or their 90s, and whether they have years of health ahead of them or already need more support, Successfully Navigating Your Parents’ Senior Years provides the framework and information you need to prepare for and handle with confidence the changes to come. The responsibility of caring for an aging loved one is often daunting—and when trouble hits, the sudden barrage of questions you face can be overwhelming. Have your parents executed their Advance Directives? Do you know what to look for in a senior community (and how to ensure a spot is available when you need it)? If your parents want to stay in their home, what can you do to ensure their safety? Certified aging life care specialist and CEO of Senior Living Strategies Star Bradbury draws on her 25 years of experience in senior living to bring you an up-to-date, comprehensive guide to navigating the tricky waters ahead—starting with putting a plan in place now that maximizes your parents’ independence while providing them with the support they need. Successfully Navigating Your Parents’ Senior Years covers: How to bring up sensitive topics with your aging parents Steps you can take to keep your parents safely independent in their own homes for longer Red flags that indicate your parents may need more help Senior living options and the key questions to ask in choosing any kind of retirement community Alternative living arrangements to consider for aging parents, such as senior roommates, cohousing, and/or niche retirement communities How to get help paying for your parents’ medical care (you have more options than you think!) Legal and financial documents to have on hand in case of a sudden medical emergency Insider tips, helpful checklists, and more Don’t wait for a crisis to begin planning for the future. Successfully Navigating Your Parents’ Senior Years is an indispensable blueprint that will give you the tools and knowledge you need to advocate for your parents when they need you most.

With 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 each day, the need for senior living is growing at a steep rate, and the aging services field has been hard at work preparing for these new customers. Current practices aim to bring the kind of comfort and amenities enjoyed at hotels and resorts to the settings we create for older adults to live in. But what if these efforts are misdirected? Interweaving research on aging, ideas from influential thinkers in the aging services field, and the author's own experiences managing and operating senior living communities, Disrupting the Status Quo of Senior Living: A Mindshift challenges readers to question long-accepted practices, examine their own biases, and work toward creating vibrant cultures of possibility and growth for elders. Shining a light on her own professional field, Jill Vitale-Aussem exposes the errors of current thinking and demonstrates how a shift in perspective can effect real cultural transformation. Her book delves into society's inherent biases about growing older--where ageism, paternalism, and ableism abound--and provokes readers to examine how a youth-obsessed culture unconsciously impacts even the most well-meaning senior living policies, practices, and organizations. Deconstructing the popular hospitality model, for example, Vitale-Aussem explains how it can actually undermine feelings of purpose and independence. In its place, she proposes better ways to create opportunities for older people to exercise choice, autonomy, and self-efficacy. Filled with empowering stories of elders who find purpose and belonging within their senior residences, Disrupting the Status Quo of Senior Living builds on AARP's disrupt aging work and demonstrates that to truly transform senior living, we must dig deeper and create communities that promote the potential and value of the people who live and work in these settings.

Make your later years your best! As many people live longer, they have more choices than ever before to make their later years more fulfilling. With AARP’s Navigating Your Later Years For Dummies, Portable Edition,you discover the many options you have for living independently, getting the best healthcare, and determining what legal papers and insurance you need. You don’t need to make these types of decisions alone. This handy resource also gives you expert advice on how to review your choices and discuss them with loved ones. This practical guide gives you advice on how to Downsize and declutter your home, talking to your family about what they want—and don’t want Decide whether to stay in your home or move to a retirement community Create wills, trusts, advance directives, and living wills Determine when it’s time to let someone else do the driving Facing the changes that come with aging can be tough, but you can make the most of this special time of your life. Navigating Your Later Years For Dummies, Portable Edition, gives you the information you need to stroll confidently into your future.

"As a licensed clinical psychologist, I have worked with families as they begin, and then navigate, the complex experience of making decisions about senior care communities. This process includes, but is not limited to, deciding when to transition a senior from home to a care facility, what type of facility is most appropriate, and the family's budget. Often, over the course of this process, families evaluate the quality of a facility, and what cost options align with only to find that they have lots of questions and relatively few answers, and end up making what amounts to an uninformed decision, despite this being one of the most important that they may ever make. Assisted Living 9-1-1 is a compassionately written practical guide, giving living care decision making. It also provides targeted insider tips and strategies that family caregivers can use to guide decision making and frame discussions with senior community representatives, such that the process of choosing a care facility reflects specificity to straightforward, comforting and empowering resource. This book translates the enigma of decision making into easy to understand language and concise action steps. It is certain to be an invaluable companion to those who are facing and trying to embrace senior care decisions."-Teion Wells Harrison, PHD Licensed Clinical Psychologist "This book is extremely detailed and answers every question that ponders the mind of an individual or even family when it comes to placing or making decisions for your elderly loved ones for an assisted living facility."-Erika Butler, RN"Assisted Living 9-1-1 is a perfect resource for those inquiring about assisted living for a loved one. This book provides hands on instructions on how to prepare for the talk, how to get family on board, and how to solidify plans for assisted living. A lot of families have a hard time accepting the decline of a loved one. Oftentimes there are disagreements in the family about placing a loved one in assisted living, even if it's the right decision. I particularly enjoyed how this book provided conflict resolution to help one navigate through the discord. Overall it's an easy read with lots of helpful information. Two thumbs up!"-Sheena Hall, MSW LSW, Columbus, OHAs a family caregiver for many of us will come a time when a loved one will suddenly need the services of a senior living community.Often this need happens unexpectedly due to a major event in our loved ones' life.With so much educational material available, it can lead to information overload. Most seniors and their families are not prepared for such a life changing event.This leads to the family caregiver taking off work, emotional and financial stress, and making numerous decisions that affect themselves as well as their loved ones well being.Family members do their best to help their aging parent in an overwhelming journey often completing the process with an unpleasant experience or uneasy in their decisions.This quick, simple, and crucial resource will guide you through the complex situations families go through and provide solutions every step of the way so you can make educated decisions with confidence. This book guides you through: *Understanding the differences, positives and negatives of independent living, assisted living, memory care, nursing homes, and continuing care retirement communities; including senior community options many families are not aware of.*How to evaluate senior communities and avoid common pitfalls families regret*A detailed senior community checklist and questionnaire designed to aid in the prevention of getting taken advantage of *The average cost of these senior communities.*Options on how to pay for these services and dispelling some payment myths. *In$ider Tips located throughout the book*Having the discussion with your elder parent*Handling sibling disputes*Determining what level of care is needed for your loved one*And Much M