If you value remaining in your home as you live out your retirement years, Aging in Place provides freedom and benefits. Read on for how this retirement option may be the perfect path for you.
Is Aging in Place for You?
Many of us wish we had a magic wand that we could wave to control when we age, and how we do it. But aging is an inevitable, ongoing process and the future can’t be seen.
Feeling out of control in these areas can cause worry and even paralyze us about the choices we do have. While some people choose to move to a retirement community in Nashville to gain access to services and amenities while building relationships with neighbors, others desire to remain in their homes, in long-familiar surroundings, continuing to enjoy gardens and multi-generational neighborhoods.
3 ways to know if Aging in Place Is for You
Wanting to remain in your home no longer means taking risks in regards to your health and security. Aging in Place programs allow you to live independently while still accessing benefits offered in a Retirement Community.
1. Choose Aging in Place if You Value Staying in Your Home
Louise lived in a beautiful home on the water. She had raised her children here and they still returned frequently to celebrate holidays and use her large rooms to host parties. Two of her grown children actually still lived in the neighborhood, visiting her daily and sharing meals. They helped her with the yard and house maintenance, often telling her how happy they were that she lived so close.
For Louise, aging well-meant continuing to live in her house. She valued the living situation created by the location of the house and close proximity to her children. She wrote letters at her kitchen table overlooking a view of the water, with grandchildren running over daily to give hugs. She still participated in the community in which she had lived with her late husband, worked, and raised her children. This is how she foresaw living out her retirement years
If you are like Louise, you have reasons for wanting to remain in your home as you age. Perhaps you are drawn to the location, or you have family nearby and the home provides a gathering spot. You may have a garden you love or a church group in which you are involved. For you, as with Louise, Aging in Place provides options for your health and well-being, without requiring you to leave your own home.
2. Choose Aging in Place if You Care about Your Changing Health and Mobility
If you wish to remain in your home but recognize that you may have increasing issues related to your health and mobility, Aging in Place may be the plan for you. As we age, we all experience physical, emotional, and mental changes. This may include weakened eyesight, decreased flexibility, loss of hearing, and physical and mental endurance. While these changes can be discouraging, they don’t need to be devastating.
When you choose Aging in Place, you gain access to assistance as you experience these changes. You receive guidance on how to continue living in your home, even as you face challenges. Aging in Place factors in these challenges and how they affect daily activities, such as taking care of your home, driving to get groceries, lifting heavy objects, and continuing healthy habits such as exercise and nutritious eating.
LiveWell, the Aging in Place plan of Blakeford, centers its program around Care Coordination. When you choose the LiveWell Plan, you receive a Care Coordinator, who is also an RN. This Care Coordinator builds a close relationship with you as you work together to fulfill your goals of living at home.
Your Care Coordinator visits you, learns about your routines, gets to know you and your family, and listens regularly to your dreams for your retirement years. Your Care Coordinator can help you find a Home Remodeler to make your home more suitable to your needs. The Care Coordinator can also help you learn the best technology for Seniors, and make a plan for transportation that makes you and your family comfortable.
Should you have a health issue, injury, or another kind of challenge, your Care Coordinator actively supports and guides you towards recovery.
3. Choose Aging in Place if You Want to Make a Plan Now.
Peace of mind comes with planning. If you know Aging in Place is how you want to spend your Golden Years, act now. For Blakeford’s LiveWell Program, if you are In your 60’s and 70’s now is the right time to choose this plan, but it may even have benefits for you in your 80’s.
The LiveWell Program can be integrated with your Long-Term Insurance and there are multiple contract options from which you can choose. Benefits are also largely portable – meaning should you choose to move closer to family, Care Coordination (and Peace of Mind) follows.
Aging In Place: Everything You Need
“What more do I need? “ Louise wrote to her Granddaughter one evening. “I have this view. And I see my family every day.”
Knowing what you value and planning for what you may need are the keys to aging well. If you value remaining in your home as you age, Aging in Place is the answer to providing for future needs. Don’t wait to look into your options. Make a plan today, and feel peace about the future, in your home.