Contemporary and Cool Defines Today's Boomerized Home: Increases Home Value While Saving You Tens of Thousands on Long-term Care

Universal design meets style at bath, kitchen show in Las Vegas

Boomers 50 years old and up account for 45 percent of remodels done in The U.S.A. today, according to the National Association of Homebuilders.  The money to remodel the kitchen, bath or the whole house in many cases comes courtesy of the equity in a home in which one has lived at least 20 years. The method by which this happens is called reverse mortgage. The person taking out the equity is the owner/occupant of the house. The cash allows Boomers to age in a cool place until such time they decide to move.  Meantime, the home continues to go up in value thanks to the visit-ability created by the renovations, and opens the door to other Boomers looking for unique home features that suit their vibrant lifestyles and frees them up to pursue life's other passions with the huge savings realized by not having to be in a restrictive environment like assisted living or nursing home.

View our photo galleries of accessible bathrooms, accessible kitchens, accessible laundry, work rooms and offices, accessible living spaces and outdoor living and access.

Accessible Bathrooms to Age in Place

Every year, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Unites States Department of Health and Human Services, thousands of seniors injure themselves in their own bathrooms. Many of those injuries occur while bathing or showering. Seniors report it's gotten to the point they dread going into their own bathrooms. A curb to access the shower must be stepped over. Some experience claustrophobia in the shower area and now avoid taking a shower. Slipping and falling and not having anyone there to pick them is a major fear. Once not a problem, turning on the water or lights are reported difficult tasks for them.  If you live alone and don't have plans to go into an assisted living facility, you should consider making your bathroom safe and functional without sacrificing elegance.

Companies that specialize in retrofitting bathrooms can recommend a variety of solutions such as non-slip tiles, curbless entry to your shower, in-shower, built-in bench, specialty showering apparatus, wide doorway for easy access, touch-only sensor faucets and a wide variety of other solutions to make your bathroom more accessible.

View our photo galleries of accessible bathrooms, accessible kitchens, accessible laundry, work rooms and offices, accessible living spaces and outdoor living and access.

Don’t Get Sick After 5 PM

Don’t Get Sick After 5:00 P.M. Any Day of The Week: Your Doc May Be A 9- to- 5 Guy Soon!

Don’t be surprised if one day you find your primary care doctor working for a large corporation that has taken over the helm at your community or regional hospital. Struggling to keep their private practices financially solvent and their family lives intact, many docs--especially the new generation coming out of medical schools with huge debt-- are opting for a steady paycheck and predictable schedules. Hospitals benefit from this new business model as well, as they push to fill beds and at the same time meet the growing demand for specialties in their emergency rooms. Keeping docs on staff is good for business as they are a reliable source for new patients.

The new crop of Docs, like ordinary folk, just want to have more fun and spend more quality time with family, and not have to worry about whether they’ll be able to meet payroll any given week.  Growing frustration over Medicare cuts adds fuel to the fire, as well as patients’ inability to meet their co-pay obligations.  From the doc’s point of view earning $250,000 a year, getting home in time for dinner, relaxing and being able to take vacations without a hassle makes it all worthwhile.

For now—and we don’t know how long this will last—we have the old-school work ethic of the 50-something or 60-something Docs to meet our healthcare needs. For them, 9-to-5 is just the title to a once popular movie.

Frustration and anger over our current medical system continues.  But there are solutions to many of your concerns.

Universal Wellness Insurance, a form of long-term healthcare insurance, provides a boutique-style, concierge oriented approach to wellness. It is an outgrowth of Universal Design that puts more control over your environment and your health, all without time constraints.

So talk to the Doc as much as you want and know that he or she will be there when you need them. All of our wellness services and programs are personalized and address your ever-changing and discerning lifestyle and wellness needs, which defines who we are and provides a strong foundation for building trusting relationships.

Andy Berger

Andy Berger is the president of Senior Wellness Specialists, a lifestyle and healthcare services company offering Universal Design and Senior Concierge services for all stages of life. 

More Time Spent Talking with Your Doctor Keeps You Healthy and Out of the Hospital

Does your physician give you more than the customary 8-10 minutes to figure out what’s wrong with you?  And in that time-frame can the doctor make an accurate diagnosis and prognosis? Most successful practices have around 7,000 patients and for reasons of efficiency can’t devote any more time than that to a patient. And sometimes this adherence to “time is money” mentality can lead to trouble.

A daughter brings in her 93 year-old frail Mom to see her primary care physician for a persistent cough and congestion in her chest. Doctor listens to her chest, takes her temperature, blood pressure, orders an X-ray and draws some blood. Lab results won’t be back for a few days. Meantime, the X-ray shows the lungs are clear, no presence of pneumonia.  Doctor figures it’s just a bad cold, at worst a slight infection, prescribes a Z-Pac for Mom and instructs both mother and daughter to return for a follow-up in a week or so.

Two days pass and Mom’s condition worsens, she becomes comatose and is ambulanced to the local hospital. Turns out had the doctor spent more time reviewing her medical history and talking with daughter and Mom, he would have discovered Mom had been treated by another physician five years back for an infectious disease called Mercer. He would have also learned that the symptoms Mom displayed at her recent office visit were strikingly similar to those associated with Mercer. If not properly diagnosed, Mercer can be deadly.

That delay, that improper diagnosis lands Mom in the hospital for 10 days. There she receives treatment and is subsequently transported to a rehabilitation center, where she appears confused and is hostile towards employees. The on-staff doctor there sedates the mother. After about 18 hours the daughter gets a call to come and pick up the mother, as the rehab center doesn’t work with aggressive patients. Again, had someone taken the time to check on Mom’s history they would have found she suffers from a form of dementia, which would explain the mood swings.

Nowhere to turn, Mom is once again hospitalized.  And so begins anew the vicious cycle of frustration and anger over a medical system that doesn’t appear to be working optimally.  But there are solutions.

Universal Wellness Insurance, a form of long-term healthcare insurance, provides a boutique-style, concierge oriented approach to wellness. It is an outgrowth of Universal Design that puts more control over your environment and your health, all without time constraints.  So talk to the doc as much as you want. All of our wellness services and programs are personalized and address your ever-changing and discerning lifestyle and wellness needs, which defines who we are and provides a strong foundation for building trusting relationships.

Andy Berger

Andy Berger is the president of Senior Wellness Specialists, a lifestyle and healthcare services company offering Universal Design and Senior Concierge services for all stages of life. 

Long-Term Care Plan for Aging Americans

A recent article in the US News titled, 5 Reasons You Need A Long-Term Care Plan, talks about aging older Americans' need for long-term care assistance. Here are my thoughts on this matter.

Past marketing efforts by insurers to get people to think about, let alone purchase, long-term insurance have failed miserably; hence, the low number of those who have coverage today. Probably lacking the research to intelligently market to a rapidly growing segment of the population (Boomers who would have been in their 30s, 40s even 50s), they instead focused too much energy on seniors nearing retirement where the payoff for agents was more immediate. But soon insurers found their payouts too often resulting in low profit margins. There are probably fewer than five long-term care companies left. Odds are more will leave the game for reasons of low returns.

Better medicine, more healthful foods and more exercise just make it all that much more urgent to come up with innovative programs and services that will help ease the pain for the next 20 years or so. As a company that deals with issues of wellness and health affecting Boomers and their parents, we at Senior Wellness Specialists have tried to reach out to a rapidly dwindling number of long-term care insurers such as Genworth to get them to consider suggestions that could save the country and individuals millions of dollars and at the same time let them profit reasonably. One such provision would have a much greater percentage of citizens carrying a policy that would allow them to maintain a healthy and engaged lifestyle in the comfort of their home. Universal Design changes are one such option.

How childless adults should approach their later years

There is an article in the New York Times "New Old Age" blog called "Aging Without Children" that discusses the topic of how childless adults should approach their later years. Here's my thoughts on this matter.

Significant challenges loom for the tens of million Boomers worried about their wellness as they enter the second half of their lives this year. Many of us are very proactive and have at least some idea how we'll handle aging. Some of us have paid little or no mind to the inevitable.

Some plan to move to be near their adult children in case of a health issue. But what about those with no children?

Consider yourself fortunate if you have family and friends in your life on whom you can rely for assistance should you need it. If you're healthy and wealthy, you'll embrace aging and continue to do as many of the things you love unencumbered: workouts, skiing, biking, sailing, tennis, golf and so on.

When family and friends are not immediately available, consider the next best thing: concierge wellness services and programs to get rid of the angst. These programs, combined with modifications to your home to make it safe and accessible, can save you money in the long run when compared to the rising costs of assisted living facilities.

You can read the New York Times blog post here.

Seniors want to age with dignity and be near loved ones

Saw a recent article in MoneyLife Magazine "Retirement home: Urgent need for Supervision" which inspired me to write today's blog post.

Let's start with a very simple, yet powerful statement: "Seniors want to age with dignity and be near loved ones." This statement has universal application, no matter the culture, no matter the race. Many have saved for this eventuality; others simply don't have the $50,000 to $100,000 per year to pay for care at a quality seniors community.

Even in the United States, the government is experiencing difficulties reconciling the needs of a rapidly aging population. With budget cutbacks a daily occurrence, families find themselves taking on greater responsibility and picking up the tab for their parents' care.

In the United States, approximately 85% of seniors would rather get old in their own home and be near their families. They know how costly it is to go into a seniors campus. For many, these environments are also too restrictive. They have to eat, sleep and participate in activities in a very regimented manner, which they may feel hinders their independence. Often times seniors not prepared for this type of lifestyle don't fare well mentally and physically. And there's always the worry the facility will go out of business. So growing old in one's own home sometimes makes the most practical and economic sense. However. seniors who seem to benefit from being in seniors settings are those who've lost a spouse and need the structure of a seniors' community. They are able to make friends quickly and partake in a host of activities.

Alternatives to seniors' communities are available, however, that allow the senior to age with dignity in a safe environment right in their home, and lets them stay connected with loved ones. This alternative to seniors communities lets you save tens of thousands of dollars.

Universal Design, where the home is retrofitted to accommodate seniors' physical limitations, together with the availability of concierge services that address their wellness/medical needs, make staying at home possible.

You can read the original article from MoneyLife Magazine here.

What are your thoughts on this subject?

Caring For a Parent With Dementia and Providing a Safe Environment for Them

Here is a link to an article that offers good advice on what to do to make caring for a parent with dementia easier. One of the things on the list is "Providing a safe environment for your parent." Universal Design features such as a step-free entrance, large bathroom grab bars, non-slip floors and even elevators and "chair-vators" can all help make make your home a safer environment.  Learn more about Universal Design.

Read article about Caring for a Parent with Dementia

WHAT IS UNIVERSAL DESIGN?

Universal design refers to broad-spectrum architectural planning ideas meant to produce buildings, products and environments that are inherently accessible to both the able-bodied and the physically disabled.

Blending aesthetics into core considerations that offer broader accessibility movement and barrier-free concepts, Universal Design is not only pleasing to the eye, but helps people stay in their own home as long as possible.

According to an AARP survey, almost 90 percent of adults 50+ prefer to stay in their homes as long as possible.

While the homes of many older adults have some accessibility features, a great number lack features that make a home universally designed or even visitable.

Homes that lack important ease of use and convenience features may make it difficult for older residents to bathe, use stairs, enter and exit, or meet other daily needs. Such barriers may precipitate an unwanted or premature move to an assisted living facility or to an institutionalized setting, which can limit independence and be emotionally taxing and financially burdensome. Through home modifications (i.e., custom remodeling for a specific resident’s needs) or the adoption of improved standards in new home construction, universal design and visit-ability features can enhance functionality, independence, and safety for everyone. These features thus enable older adults to age in place and allow people with disabilities to remain involved in family and community life.

View our Universal Design Photo Gallery.


What areas of your home do you think could be improved?  
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