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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Senior Living

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2026 | PAGE 7

Fall Senior Living Guide

Pages 7-12

PAGE 8 | SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2026

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Senior Living

Helping Seniors Stay Mobile and Independent

by Falls Church News-Press

Mobility City of Fairfax County

For many older adults, the question of where to live as they age does not begin with assisted living. It begins with something much simpler: Can you still get around your house, complete everyday chores and comfortably do the things you have always done? Those questions are worth asking long before mobility becomes a serious problem. The National Institute on Aging recommends thinking about longterm care before it is actually needed, giving individuals and their families time to consider available services, costs and living arrangements. “The best time to think about long-term care is before you need it,” the agency advises. There is no specific age when someone should move to a one-level home, give up stairs or consider an independent or assisted-living community. Health, strength and mobility vary considerably from person to person. But the years approaching and following retirement can be a good time to begin taking an annual inventory of the home and the everyday tasks required to maintain it. AARP recommends looking at a home with future needs in mind, including whether stairs have adequate handrails, bathrooms are accessible and doorways are wide enough for a wheelchair or walker. Its HomeFit recommendations also include no-step entrances, a firstfloor bedroom and bathroom and, when practical, locating laundry on the same floor as the bedroom. “The safest stairs are no stairs at all,” aging-in-place specialist Esther Greenhouse Lilly told AARP for its 2024 Smart Guide to Aging in Place, recommending single-level living when possible. That does not mean everyone should abandon a two-story house at a particular birthday. AARP also notes that stairs can provide useful exercise for older adults who remain healthy enough to use them safely. The idea is to recognize changes before they become limitations. Can you carry a laundry basket upstairs com-

fortably? Is getting groceries from the car becoming difficult? Can you safely step into the bathtub or shower? What happens when the grass needs cutting, snow needs shoveling or something in the house needs repair? Transportation should also be part of the conversation. If driving became difficult tomorrow, would groceries, medical appointments, social activities and other necessities remain accessible? Safety becomes increasingly important with age. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 14 million Americans age 65 and older, about one in four, report falling each year. Falls are the leading cause of injury among adults 65 and older, and about 37 percent of those who fall report an injury requiring medical treatment or restricting their activity for at least a day. That makes a periodic household checklist useful even for healthy, active seniors. The National Institute on Aging recommends relatively simple changes such as removing loose rugs, improving lighting around stairs, installing grab bars near toilets and showers and adding nonslip surfaces where floors may become wet. Eventually, that checklist may lead to larger decisions. A homeowner might renovate a bathroom, convert a firstfloor office into a bedroom, hire help for household chores or move to a one-level home. Others may decide an independent or assisted-living community makes more sense because transportation, meals, maintenance and other services are readily available. The key is not to wait until a fall, injury or health problem makes the decision unavoidable. Preparing a home for the future or considering a different living arrangement does not necessarily mean giving up independence. In many cases, planning ahead is precisely what can help preserve it. Instead of waiting to ask what you can no longer do, the better question may be what changes you can make today that will allow you to keep doing it tomorrow.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Senior Living

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2026 | PAGE 9

PAGE 10 | SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2026

Senior Living

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Senior Living

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2026 | PAGE 11

PAGE 12 | SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2026

Senior Living

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Protecting Senior Citizens From Modern Financial Scams

BY FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Since we’re on the topic of artificial intelligence, there is another side of the technology boom that deserves attention, especially for older adults. We now have AI sales bots capable of carrying on conversations, automated systems that can call thousands of people, and technology that can make a telephone number appear to be something it isn’t. Artificial intelligence can even recreate someone’s voice from a relatively short audio sample. The technology game has changed, and unfortunately, scammers know it. Imagine you’re 75 and technology isn’t something you work with every day. Your phone rings and the caller ID appears to say Social Security, your bank or even a local police department. How are you supposed to know

whether the call is legitimate? What if the person on the other end sounds exactly like your son or grandson? That is no longer hypothetical. Attorney Gary Schildhorn received a call from someone he believed was his son, Brett. The caller said he had been in a car accident, injured a pregnant woman and was under arrest. Schildhorn told CBS News there was no question in his mind that the voice belonged to his son. The story became even more convincing when Schildhorn spoke with people claiming to be his son’s attorney and a court official. He was on his way to withdraw $9,000 when his real son called him on FaceTime. He wasn’t injured or in jail. His father was being scammed. The Federal Trade Commission has warned that scammers can use artificial intelligence to clone a family

member’s voice. A criminal may obtain an audio sample from a social media post or online video and use it to make an emergency call more believable. The financial stakes are enormous. Americans aged 60 and older filed more than 201,000 complaints with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025, reporting more than $7.7 billion in losses. In Virginia alone, residents 60 and older reported more than $220 million in losses, according to the FBI. Medicare fraud remains another concern. Scammers may offer supposedly free medical equipment, claim a new Medicare card is required or threaten that benefits will be canceled unless information is provided immediately. Medicare advises beneficiaries to protect their Medicare number like a credit card and not

give it to someone who contacts them unexpectedly. Email and text scams have become more convincing as well. Poor spelling, strange wording and bad formatting were once easy warning signs. AI can now help criminals produce polished messages that appear to come from banks, businesses, government agencies or people you know. Rather than clicking a link in an unexpected message, open the company’s app yourself or type its known website into your browser. Caller ID should not automatically be trusted either. Phone numbers can be spoofed so a call appears to come from a familiar organization. If someone claims to represent your bank, Social Security, Medicare or a police department, hang up and independently find the organization’s official number.

For a bank, call the number printed on the back of your debit or credit card. Also pay attention to how someone wants to be paid. Requests for gift cards, cryptocurrency or unusual money transfers should immediately raise suspicion. The FTC warns that legitimate government agencies will not demand payment with gift cards. The common thread running through many of these scams is urgency. Criminals want their victims frightened, confused and acting before they have time to verify what they are being told. Technology may have changed the game, but one of the strongest defenses remains decidedly low-tech: Slow down, hang up and call someone you trust. Most importantly, verify the story yourself before sending money or providing personal information.