YOUR HEALTH
How to Choose a Senior Living Community By Joseph Maroon, MD, FACS, and Jeff Bost PAC Growing older can be both a joy and a challenge. Celebrating the birth of grandchildren, more time for golf and visiting family and friends are just a few of the many pleasures that occur with more free time as work responsibilities lessen. But for many seniors, challenges of money, maintaining good health and avoiding potential disabilities can make the reality of growing old more of a burden.
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n a recent survey in 2022, 50% of seniors reported that their biggest financial fear was not having enough money saved for retirement. Despite ever increasing health care costs, housing remains the single greatest expense for most people as they age. The choices we make on how we spend money, especially as we age, becomes critical when it comes to where to spend our “golden years.” Senior living communities have become an extremely popular choice for many seniors who want to improve health care options and at the same time remain independent as long as possible. Senior living communities can also provide financial stability with regards to long-term housing costs. Unfortunately, deciding to move into a senior living community is too often done for the wrong reasons. Without adequate research, as to whether the community will fit with your needs, can lead to regret and significant financial loss. Most senior living communities provide a spectrum of care and independent living options. It is important to determine your care needs, if any, and how they match with the services offered.
Examples of Senior Living Choices: Independent Living – Typically, an apartment or private home located within a Senior Care Community. Typically rented and utilities are paid for by the senior. The Community maintains the exterior of the home and often provides additional services, such as transportation, restaurantlike dining, community services and activities. For many this means improved socialization and also the security that if extra assistance is needed it’s available. Examples of extra care may include help with personal hygiene, home-bound meals, emergency care support, home care nursing, aides, wound care and physical therapists. Assisted Living - Seniors in assisted living require greater amounts of medical and assistive support for daily activities. Assistive care often still allows access to enriching activities and social events. Seniors in assisted living may also need specialized support, like memory care or skilled care.
There are a number of governmental agencies that rate senior care communities that can be a big help when deciding on which senior care community is best for you. Medicare is one of the largest and most thorough at both certifying and rating senior care facilities. At their website (https:// www.medicare.gov/), Medicare allows you to find senior care communities in your area and provides both tools to investigate the quality and care of the facility and also has a rating system of zero to 5 stars. Recently, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, St. Barnabas Health System received a “5” Star rating from Medicare. This overall rating is based on performance in health inspections, staffing and numerous quality measures. It also includes scores on fire safety inspections, emergency preparedness, inspection for building design and operational features and any prior Medicare penalties or failures to correct health or safety issues. With “5” being the best, St. Barnabas remains one of the best Senior Care Communities if you or your family are considering next steps in living well. n
Joseph C. Maroon, MD is a Board-Certified Neurosurgeon, Nutritional and Sports Medicine Expert. Dr. Maroon has written and lectured extensively on brain health and healthy life choices. As a competitive Ironman triathlete, Dr. Maroon practices what he preaches and is committed to the promoting healthy choices to his patients and readers.
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