Plan Ahead for Getting Older and the Potential for Continuing Care

When do you think you will start to need help with simple activities of daily living? What if you are hospitalized and cannot go back to your home? Wouldn’t you want to choose where to live instead of your children (if you have some)?

We all want to maintain control of our lives. We want to stay where we are, and this works well as long as we can take care of ourselves. Once we cannot, we will have to depend on others. This is one way to ensure that if and when you are unable to live alone, you can have made this decision and feel confident about it. We should think about this in advance, and consider how we will transition into another living environment.

An easy way to evaluate how well your home would work for you should you become disabled is to look around your home now. Can a walker or a wheelchair get into the bathroom? Can you get into the shower if you cannot get over the side of the bathtub? Could a wheelchair get through the doors of your home? Many homes have door frames that are less than 30 inches wide. Not enough to accommodate a wheelchair. Do you have to go up steps to get into the house or go up to the bedroom?

All of these questions can shed light on whether or not you can reasonably continue in your own home if you need help. There are several facilities that you could live in, from a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) to assisted living. Both offer housekeeping, laundry, meals, entertainment and activities. Many assisted living communities allow the residents to live privately in an apartment, but also may offer skilled nursing should you need it for short periods of time.

The time to consider, evaluate, look around and choose is while you can. After you have experienced a serious medical event you may not be in any shape to make your own plans. You can find out more information at the caregiving resource center: www.CARF.org.