Armed and Taking Charge

The senior home care services industry increasing demands results from today's demographic, economic, and technological changes which have created a population of seniors (a.k.a. baby boomers) that are living longer, healthier, and active lives.

We are not blaming the parents of yester year, however, the baby boom generation is not settling for the ‘alone and invisible' scenario as their parents experienced. In taking care of their aging parents, experienced seniors know and understand the heavy burden of caretaking.

The baby boomers recognize and respect that their adult children have lives, careers, and a family of their own, which overtime may cause conflict in providing the necessary care for them. In some cases, the adult children may eventually be or unable to provide any care for them. From that lesson, today's seniors are initiating pro-active planning for life after retirement and as they continue aging.

In bygone days, elders and their adult children lived in old-fashioned neighborhoods where a nucleus of family, friends, and neighbors have a support network that allowed them to assist each other with the caretaking of aging members of the community. The caretaking activities would have included taking the elder members to doctor appointments, grocery shopping, recreational outings, conversations, administrating medication(s), gatherings, or meal preparations. The responsibility was shared; caretaking was less stressful for the adult children and other families.

The adult children that are caregivers of the 21st Century is often faced with searching for alternative living arrangements and/or care giving providers for their parents. The search may include locating supportive nursing services, respite care, or assistant living facilities. The costs, depending on services may be expensive, along with other barriers such as cultural, language, mis-housed in care facilities, abuse, or suffering the proverbial ‘generation-gap' with the younger employees.

The most heart wrenching, challenging, and difficult barriers to care for some seniors are the required liquidation of valuable assets in order to qualify for Medicare benefits. To qualify for Medicare services, the senior must spend down all their assets to zero to receive Medicare.

Using assets toward elder care is a boomer's dream. In addition to this dream, the idea of convenient services, an inter-generational community and a model solely not based on business but inclusive of people caring with elderly people in mind is welcomed. The baby boomers armed with the past experience and knowledge provides them with foresight to request these elements for elder services.

Therefore, with a community created and focused on being a elder-friendly will provide the type of senior home care structure that is practical, affordable, convenient, and bundle with a stimulating social environment. Thus, a senior's desire to live in a home of their own is fulfill.