| Good luck, Leslie!
My father's older brother and his wife (and her sister, who never
married -- whom my generation all calls "Aunt Nieta") just moved
to a retirement community. This isn't going to help you a great
deal since they live in Oregon, but I was *very* impressed with the
setup of the place. It consisted of a bunch of single-story duplex
houses (my aunt and uncle have one side of their duplex, and Nieta
lives in the other side; they had a door put in connecting the two
laundry areas together). There is a hospital and nursing-home facility
in the development, as well as a "community center" and restaurant
(I would call it a sort of coffee shop, really) attached to the
nursing-home building, and various recreational things such as a
stocked trout stream and pool (my uncle, who is close to 80, is still
an avid fisherman). Housekeeping help and cooking help are available
for the residents who need help in these areas, and in several places
in each house there are emergency-call buttons, which are connected
to the hospital -- in the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, and maybe
other places I didn't notice (when I visited it, my aunt and uncle
hadn't moved in yet, though Nieta had, because they had a lot of
trouble selling their old house). The retirement village is run
by the Mennonites (some kind of conservative-leaning Christian sect,
I think), but you don't have to be a member to apply (obviously,
my relatives aren't) -- mostly means things like that the coffee
shop/restaurant does not serve alcohol and maybe not caffeinated
beverages. I was very impressed with the place. There were lots
of activities going on when we visited, public transportation to
several places for those who didn't drive, and most of the homes
had gorgeous gardens planted in front (Nieta had sweet peas all
around the duplex); residents who were not up to doing their own
weeding and planting could hire someone to help. I guess you would
actually call this a sort of retirement-condo. It was especially
nice that the hospital and nursing care facility was right there,
since my uncle has several health problems; residents staying there
are still near their relatives and friends in the community.
I don't know whether this helps or not...but it sure gave me ideas
about what to look for, should my mother ever want or need to find
such a place.
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| Quoted (without permission) from Boston Globe, 'From Home to Life Care' by
Jean Dietz. This is the first of a three part series. (I missed the
second installment; anyone have it?)
"When you're pushing 80, it's not easy to make new friends. But, after
only a month of living at The Willows in Westborough, Earlene Allen and her
husband, Edward, a retired engineer, were starting to feel comfortable, and
knew 34 residents of the new retirement community by name.
"It's an ideal situation. Neither of us have anyone close to care for us,"
said Earlene Allen, a former teacher, interviewed soon after she had pared
back the contents of their 11-room home in Milford to fit into a three-room
apartment at The Willows.
In warm climate sates such as Florida and California, retirement
communities, offering "life care" in various forms, have been successful
for years. But, until quite recently, most middle- and upper-income
Massachusetts homeowners expected to live in their own homes until they
died.
North Hill in Needham Heights, Carleton Willard Village, a complex in
Bedford, and Loomis House in Holyoke were the first Massachusetts life care
communities.
Now, however, as many as 12 more of the private communities - which offer
independent apartments adjoining nursing home facilities when needed - may
be on line in the state within a year or so.
Others, including a $45 million complex in Westwood sponsored by the Mass.
General Hospital in partnership with the National Medical Engerprises and
to be developed by Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, are in the planning stage.
So-called "life-care" communities - such as The Willows, which includes 202
apartments for independent living, studios that may be converted for
residents who need more personal care, an adult day health center and a
140-bed nursing home - are one form the new developments are taking.
Most offer the older couple or individual a contract for lifeetime housing
and various health and social services in exchange for a substantial
entrance fee and monthly payments. There are endless variations on the
theme in regard to living accomodations, services and financial
arrangements.
"There is a big demand. Developers are bullish on Massachusetts. They
know that North Hill, for example, filled up and had a long waiting list
without a line of advertising," said Richard Rowland, the state's retiring
secretary of elder affairs.
An Easier Move
Rowland thinks that the life care communities, for those who can afford
them, offer a good housing option. Following an illness, for example, he
thinks the arrangement makes it easier for an elderly person to move back
to his or her own apartment. But Rowland also mentions potential risks.
About 10% of similar developments in other states, according to Rowland,
have experienced major financial problems.
Rowland is an active sponsor of pending legislation regulating sale of
assets in life care or continuing care retirement communities to provide
protection for residents when contracts for housing units guarantee partial
or complete coverage of nursing home care.
In addition, for the first time, private developers have started to open
"congregate living" facilities and private apartment developments for
seniors offering varying degrees of services and protection in the
immediate environment.
State-funded congregate housing began here in 1978 as an innovative program
integrating shelter and service needs of the elderly. In congregate
housing, residents have at least a private bedroom and may share other
facilites. But, according to Tina Gorman of West Suburban Elder Services,
typical homeowners are ineligible for state-funded housing, which is
limited in the greater Boston area to individuals with no more than $15,000
in assests and $15,000 in income.
Luncheon, Dinner Included
Developer David Zussman has converted a property on the Jamaicaway - once
used as a home for unwed mothers by the Salvation Army - to a congregate
living facility.
"The Georgian" - a 25 unit private facility - has two apartments with two
bedrooms and two baths. But most residents have small units, all of which
include kitchenette facilities.
The rental fee includes luncheon and dinner served in an attractive dining
room. Communal rooms include a library, living room and laundry. There is
weekly housekeeping and flat-linen service, limousine service for shopping,
a social program and help in arranging medical services.
Not a nursing home
Unlike life-care communities, which require a substantial entrance or
endowment fee, "the Georgian" works on a rental basis. The rent ishigher
than would be charged for a comparable apartment, but includes all support
services. In case health needs change so the resident needs nursing care,
the yearly lease can be severed.
"The Georgian is not a nursing home. It's a service for elder people who
want to maintain more independence than is ofter possible when they live on
their own," Zussman says.
Lifetime Rights
Still another retirement community in Massachusetts is found at Webster
Green, a 75-unit development in Needham built and operated by McNeill &
Associates of Westwood, a company that has been developing housing for the
elderly for some 30 years.
What Webster Green primarily offers is spacious apartments, some communal
rooms and easy access to shopping and community services because of its
location. Most residents have sold their homes to pay the $100,000
endowment fee which, in addition to monthly payments, gives a resident
lifetime rights to an apartment. Dinner service is available two evenings
a week.
Should a resident wish to move from Webster Green, 90% of the endowment is
refunded, a higher percentage if residence is for less than a year.
Based on the company's experience in operating several thousand units of
housing for older people, William Roop, a McNeill vice president, says he
believes that most older people never need nursing home care.
"There's a certain philosophy, a fine connection between physical and
emotional weel-being", said Roop. "when people get up in the morning and
look forward to something to do with friends, they feel better than being
lonely in a big house."
Privacy or Company
Most people who live at Webster Green are retired. The majority drive
their own automobiles. Others take a minibus to a shopping area.
"People get around here. Some go south in the winter or to Maine in the
summer. People here are friendly, but no one overwhelms you. There's
privacy. There's also company if you want to visit," says Bill Mahoney, a
retired insurance underwriter, who moved to Webster Green with his wife,
Edith, after selling a two-family house they had owned in Brighton for
years.
Whatever type of retirement community interests seniors, it is improtant
for potential residents to have their lawyer go over the contract with
them, says McNeill and Associates' Diane Boyd. Boyd did the marketing for
the Webster Green complex.
"Find out how solvent the backers or developers are. In some communities
in other states, people have lost everything," she warns. Boyd finds that
most questions are raised by potential purchasers about the age of
residents than about the financial condition of companies involved in
development.
"There are individuals who say that they would never want to live anywhere
with all those old people," syas Boyd. "Usually, the person who says that
is about 92."
Next: The pros and cons of life care arrangements.
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