Senior Housing and Assisted Living

One of the most difficult times you may ever have with your senior loved one is the discussion about having them move into a facility. Sometimes it goes easily, other times not at all. But once you have gotten through that difficult discussion it isn’t necessarily smooth sailing from then on. The next step can be almost as difficult. That is actually finding a facility that you can trust and that will take care of your loved one. There is no magic bullet for finding that perfect place but we have collect a few questions and ideas that should help the process along.

So you just walked into a facility and your beginning your tour. What’s the first thing you should do? Take a deep breath and smell the air. How does it smell inside? Every reputable, well run facility should smell good, full stop. If it smells musty or like a bathroom, it could be an indicator of a serious problem. If you don’t like the smell don’t ignore it. Ask the manager why there is a smell. If you don’t get a reasonable answer or the manager wants to deny the smell, move on. There are plenty of other places to look at.

You’ve breathed in and the place smells good! Good news. Now the next observation should be with your eyes. How does the physical facility look? What is the condition of the place. It should be well maintained in every way. The place should be spotlessly clean. The furniture doesn’t have to be new but it should be in very good condition and inviting to use. The bathroom fixtures should be functional with no leaks. Paint on the walls should be clean and not be peeling. Look closely, if you see multiple problems, there is a problem with the way the facility is run. If the owners aren’t concerned enough with the day to day tasks of running the building how concerned will they be about the day to day tasks of caring for your senior.

You’ve smelled and you’ve looked, everything seems fine. Now you can do some talking. You will have plenty to discuss with the manager but I want you to talk to at least one of the caregivers, maybe more. Don’t announce your intention before you get to the facility, let it be a surprise so nothing can be prepared. If the manager is uncomfortable with the idea, let them know that makes your uncomfortable. After all, what would they have to hide? Once you do get a chance to talk to a caregiver how easy is it to relate to them? Are they warm and friendly? Would you want them taking care of you? Is there English good enough to understand what your senior may want or need? How long have they worked there? If its been a short time, make note. Facilities with high turnover are a problem. Employees leave quickly because they are not happy working there. Either they aren’t paid a market rate or the manager is difficult to work with. It really doesn’t matter the reason because an unhappy caregiver is not going to do a good job with your senior.

Finally, ask for references when the tour is over. Yes the names you will get will be cherry picked but if there are real problems at the facility even the cherry picked references might leak out some important information to you. Its worth doing.

We could go on and on with questions and other things to look for but if you enter with the mindset of imaging that it was you that would be living there, you are well on your way to making a good decision. If you discover issues that make your uncomfortable, they are probably issues with your senior. Keep your eyes open and ask questions and you will do fine.

Has someone in your life been diagnosed with dementia? We can help in the difficult search for a perfect living space. Caring Senior Placement is a free referral service build around helping families find appropriate senior housing. Learn more at www.caringseniorplacement.com.

Conventional wisdom has held the belief that healthy older brains are substantially smaller than younger brains may stem from studies that did not screen out people whose undetected, slowly developing brain disease was killing off cells in key areas, according to new research. As a result, previous findings may have overestimated shrinkage and underestimated normal size for the older brain.

TA recent study tested participants in Holland’s long-term Maastricht Aging Study who were free of neurological problems such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease or stroke. The health participants were given several tests, measuring brain and psychological function, including a screening test for dementia, at baseline and every three years afterward for nine years.

According to the report in the September, 2009 Neuropsychology, published by the American Psychological Association, participants were also given MRI scans at Year 3 to measure seven different parts of the brain, including the memory-laden hippocampus, the areas around it, and the frontal and cingulated areas of the cognitively critical cortex.

After examining behavioral data collected from 1994 to 2005 (with scans taken between 1997 and 1999 depending on when people entered the study), the researchers divided participants into two groups: one group with 35 cognitively healthy people who stayed free of dementia (average starting age 69.1 years), and the other group with 30 people who showed substantial decline of cognitive function but were still dementia-free (average starting age 69.2 years).

That cognitive decline was measured by drops of at least 30 percent on two or more of six core tests of verbal learning and fluency, recall, processing speed, and complex information processing, and/or drops of 3 or more points, or scores of 24 or lower (raising suspicion for cognitive impairment), on the Mini-Mental State Examination screening tool for dementia.

In comparison to the 35 healthy people, the 30 people who experienced cognitive decline over the course of nine years showed a significant effect for age in the hippocampus and parahippocampal areas, and in the frontal and cingulate cortices. In short, among the people whose cognition got worse, older participants had smaller brain areas than younger participants.

So the apparent age-related shrinking in gray matter more likely reflected pathological changes in the brain that underlie significant cognitive decline than aging itself, the authors wrote. As long as people stay cognitively healthy, the researchers believe that the gray matter of areas supporting cognition might not shrink much at all. “If future longitudinal studies find similar results, our conception of ‘normal’ brain aging may become more optimistic,” said lead author Saartje Burgmans.

The findings should caution scientists about drawing conclusions from brain studies that don’t screen participants over time, using precise and objective definitions, the authors added.

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