posted on September 22, 2011 05:07:37 PM new
How many of you eat just one meal a day?
A friend of mine checked into independent living ,3700 a month for 2 bedroom apt and eats one meal a day!
Food is not that great,is it worth it?
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There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 23, 2011 06:23:35 PM new
Value depends upon the individual.
If your only other choice is a nursing home and you can afford the $3700 a month then independant living is certainly a valid option.
Beats nursing home prices and you have more privacy.
Most ILFs provide onsite activities, transportation for shopping trips and doctor's visits, limited onsite nursing assistance, a sense of community and other benefits you would not receive either living at home or in a skilled nursing facility.
As for the one meal a day, most elderly do not eat much and with a sedentary life style should not be eating as much as they did when they were younger. ILFs expect residents to be self sufficient enough to fix 2 light meals for themselves and the facility provides one healthy cooked meal, usually served in a community dining room.
Other alternative is to hire in home help. It would be less expensive if you can manage the scheduling but you are taking a huge risk in finding someone who is dependable and honest. Even if you spend more money to hire help through an agency , there are still management and integrity issues.
posted on September 23, 2011 11:49:51 PM new
When we were searching for an assisted living facility for my grandfather, 3 meals a day was the norm. Many elderly aren't ready for skilled nursing facilities, but yet aren't able to prepare even "2 light meals" per day--many of them are on special diets that even the most cognizant among them don't fully understand and can't (or refuse to) follow consistently, like diabetic-low salt-low fat. My grandfather, though generally compliant with that particular diet, was convinced --CONVINCED!!!-- that large quantities of Minute Rice were acceptable because it's "converted rice", and, somehow, a vegetable because rice grows out of the ground so a big bowl of Minute Rice was a perfectly balanced diabetic breakfast. Not.
The dietary staff in well-run facilities prepare appropriate meals served in appropriate quantities for their residents, three times a day.
$3700 a month for a 2 bedroom unit sounds about right (from an over-priced Los Angeles area perspective), but not with only 1 meal a day. Does your friend need 2 bedrooms?
posted on September 24, 2011 05:55:27 AM new
Thanks for your comments!
My friend is 88 years old and still alert,day trade options on line!
He does not need 2 bedrooms but he said if he gets sick and need someone to watch over him,then the second bedroom comes in handy!
The dining room is open from 11 am to 6 pm,if you eat more than one meal,then you have to pay for that extra meal(s).
On Sunday,they have buffet !
But I see them including my friend taking the leftover back to their apt ,so yes,oldies dont eat as much!
He has water,light snack in his fridge,across the street is YMCA and a medical center is nearby and plenty of restaurants in the area.
They do have a room for doctor and nurse to come and examine you if needed,I dont think they have anyone who is there all the time.
It costs him 4200 including parking,cable,phone and some spending money,nice location,clean facility and nice spacious rooms.
Here in Houston,it is kind of pricey,many cannot afford that much but I see the visitor parking lot is filled with Lexus,Mercedes,BMW and one stretched limousine !
They claimed the occupancy rate is 80%,I have my doubts !
I dont think I want to eat their food every day,but then I am not 88 years old !
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 24, 2011 06:15:31 AM new
oldies may not eat that much,but if you think back -many grew up in The Great Depression ,eating is very important to them,the thought that they cannot eat 3 square meals a day is scary !
There is another facility which is cheaper,and they serve 3 meals a day,more like college cafeteria food and a 2 shift nurse station,but people are leaving as they dont like the food!
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 24, 2011 06:20:37 AM new
I read one lady sold her home and booked a world cruise ,eats fancy chows,visits different ports around the world and meet interesting people on the cruise and no dishes to wash,no room to clean.
But cant do this forever,sooner or later she would want to be back on land,doing all the mundane things like driving to store or look out the window and find trees and grass not water water everywhere !
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 25, 2011 09:25:26 PM new
My MIL passed away this year and my 95yo FIL never learned how to cook or do laundry. Even if he would do things for himself, he is no longer able to because he has very limited mobility.
We thought we would have to move him to a retirement home because he needed more care than we can provide. We are already managing care and finances for 2 parents in difference states. Thank goodness I found out about a new gov program called CHOICES Long Term Care program.
The main goal of CHOICES is to provide the elderly with long-term care in their home if they do not need actual nursing care.
The program is currently only available to people who would normally be in a retirement home. They have to qualify for Medicaide and the services provided must cost less than the cost of a nursing home. 2 of the parents do not qualify but FIL qualified and is currently receiving 6 hours of in-home care a day, 7 days a week.
The program has been a double bonus for the state because it uses less Medicaide funds than nursing home care and creates new jobs for care providers.
The help is supposed to cook his meals, do the laundry and house cleaning, help him bathe, and take him to doctor's appointment, church, etc.
We still have to provide some supervision because the quality of help has been pretty dismal. I have had to create a notebook about his dietary needs, daily household chores that need to be done and other things you would think would be just plain common sense.
The state does not have training requirements in place for the aides and many of them do not know how to provide home care. Some do not even know how to cook or do laundry and we have yet to have a full week without problems.
Every week we have had 1 or 2 days when the aid does not show up at all. Had a period of 3 weeks when Pop's health took a nose dive and we found out the aid had been bringing him fast food instead of preparing him low sodium meals. Have had more than one load of laundry ruined because the aid did not sort the clothes and had added bleach to the wash. Had the basement flooded twice because the aid overloaded the washer and other stupid things like that. And now we are noticing food, money and even tools missing from the house.
In addition to managing the aides, we also have to manage the medication, finances and lawn care. FIL is happy to be able to be at home and we are happy to not have another parent depending on us for complete 24/7 care but not sure how long we can continue managing the situation.
DH is ready to take his dear old dad to the retirement home and there are days when I am ready to buy the cruise tickets so me and DH can run away from the 3 of them and let them fend for themselves.
posted on September 26, 2011 05:30:58 AM new
I read about this program years ago,it was in Florida,residents of apt complex enjoy living in their own apts and yet have aides to come and clean and cook,and the state saves money.
Sorry to hear about your burden,people are living longer and the caretakers are not getting younger,it is both physically and mentally challenging to care for elderly parents.
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on September 27, 2011 01:43:16 AM new
Thanks for your compassion hwahwa. There was a time when families such as ours assumed we would care for our elderly at home but that was a blissfully ignorant dream left over fom a different time.
On the bright side, at least we are not having to raise the grandkids and great-grandkids like so many of our friends.
posted on October 15, 2011 10:56:18 PM new
Thanks GG. going on 10 yrs with Dad's insanity. I am still dealing with CFS from the stress and travel. Does not leave much energy or patience for the others. L has no patience at all for his Pop so when I finally burn out, heaven help them all.
Almost lost L last month when a routine liver biopsy for hemochromotosis went south. He had a vasovegal reaction and developed a bleed that the doc did not catch before releasing him. I was in TN and came home a week later to find L almost dead. Took 5 days in the hospital to get him stable again and now he is extremely weak so added yet another patient to my list. Of course L is my priority so the rest will have to deal with their own karma for awhile.
