So, I've been investigating this issue this past year.
My family's model has always had my grandparents and now my parents aging in place in their nice family homes. While one grandmother and another grandfather died of disease in hospital, the following have died of old age in their homes: grandma 99, grandpa 79, step-father 93.
Now my parents are 84 and 81 and they are staying in their fine homes, too, but my mother is starting to lose it mentally and so I've been investigating alternatives where she might best live. She's been opposed to figuring this out but her standard of living has cratered and the time is coming for a change.
Meanwhile, I've had a number of high school friends die in recent years, and my best friend has moved to a swanky RV park near Palm Springs. It has multiple pools, 18 holes of par 3 golf, pickleball and tennis, community dining and a ballroom. And all the residents are social and physically active. I visited my friend there and was introduced to the idea of Active 55 communities. They party, and are enjoying life. I saw people my mom's age living well! An amazing contrast to me!
But for mom, she's now beyond that, so I've been reviewing the stages and trying to decide what's best for her. It seems the stages are:
Active 55
Independent Living
Assisted Living
Memory Care
Skilled Nursing
I call Aging-in-Place the DIY plan, and have decided that my family model is not necessarily the best way to go. It leads to physical and mental inactivity. Isolation is not good. In fact, perhaps it is akin to poison.
The old Family Plan model rarely happens anymore. Multigenerational living seems to be from a bygone era.
The Active-55 communities I've checked out can have fantastic gyms and social networking opportunities. This keeps people engaged, and that keeps folks young. If you want to age well, don't age alone.
I thought I'd raise this topic and see what you all have to say about it.
My family's model has always had my grandparents and now my parents aging in place in their nice family homes. While one grandmother and another grandfather died of disease in hospital, the following have died of old age in their homes: grandma 99, grandpa 79, step-father 93.
Now my parents are 84 and 81 and they are staying in their fine homes, too, but my mother is starting to lose it mentally and so I've been investigating alternatives where she might best live. She's been opposed to figuring this out but her standard of living has cratered and the time is coming for a change.
Meanwhile, I've had a number of high school friends die in recent years, and my best friend has moved to a swanky RV park near Palm Springs. It has multiple pools, 18 holes of par 3 golf, pickleball and tennis, community dining and a ballroom. And all the residents are social and physically active. I visited my friend there and was introduced to the idea of Active 55 communities. They party, and are enjoying life. I saw people my mom's age living well! An amazing contrast to me!
But for mom, she's now beyond that, so I've been reviewing the stages and trying to decide what's best for her. It seems the stages are:
Active 55
Independent Living
Assisted Living
Memory Care
Skilled Nursing
I call Aging-in-Place the DIY plan, and have decided that my family model is not necessarily the best way to go. It leads to physical and mental inactivity. Isolation is not good. In fact, perhaps it is akin to poison.
The old Family Plan model rarely happens anymore. Multigenerational living seems to be from a bygone era.
The Active-55 communities I've checked out can have fantastic gyms and social networking opportunities. This keeps people engaged, and that keeps folks young. If you want to age well, don't age alone.
I thought I'd raise this topic and see what you all have to say about it.
