Rising Cost of Nursing Homes

This year, Genworth Financial released their 9^th annual Cost of Care Survey. The results serve as a perfect microscope to examine the cost of care state by state, and to understand emerging trends in the cost of care. One of the most striking figures is the cost of a nursing home and their expected increase in price.

In the study, the facilities are broken down into three categories: assisted living facility, nursing home(semi-private room) and nursing home (private room). For this article, we are just focusing on nursing home stays in a semi-private room. Nationwide, the average nursing home costs $200 a day. This figure has increased 3.63% in 2011, and over the next five years it is expected to grow 4.5%.

 Across the United States, it looks like this trend stays true for each state, with some regions being more expensive than others:

•  The North East has some of the most expensive care. In Massachusetts a nursing home stay costs $322 a day, and $117,530 a year. 
•  The cost of care in the West Coast is cheaper than the North East, but is still above the national average. In California a nursing home stay costs $224 a day, and $81,760 a year. 
• Nursing homes in the South are slightly above the national average. 
• In Florida, a nursing home stay costs $215 a day, and $78,475 a year
• The Midwest also is slightly below the national average, with a nursing home in Indiana costing $187 a day, and $68,255 a year.
• The most expensive nursing homes can be found in Alaska, with a nursing home costing $273,750 a year.
• The cheapest nursing homes can be found in Texas with nursing homes costing $47,450 a year.

What does this mean for caregivers? Already, more and more family members are fulfilling the role of caregiver due to the cost of healthcare. With the costs of facility focused care expected to increase at an average of $15,300 a year, more and more family members will become caregivers because facility based care is just too unaffordable.

You can compare costs in your state and others at Genworth’s website, here

Balancing Caregiving and Employment

At LTS, we understand how caregiving responsibilities can impact careers. The nature of caregiving responsibilities can change from day to day, and, often times, caregivers find themselves doing a variety of tasks for their loved ones. Sometimes, employers aren’t aware of the different challenges caregivers face.

Here are some of the things that caregivers regularly find themselves helping with:

• Managing medications
• Communicating with their loved one’s physicians
• Scheduling doctors’ appointments
• Transporting their ailing or aging loved one to these appointments
• Grocery shopping for their ailing or aging loved one
• Cooking meals
• Managing finances
• Providing social interaction
• Providing emotional support

These are just some of the tasks that caregivers are involved in. Furthermore, their caregiving responsibilities are dependent upon the health of their ailing or aging loved ones, and the responsibilities increase if their loved one’s health begins to fail. With that in mind, let’s discuss some possible ways caregivers can help to balance some of the responsibilities involved with caregiving and their career.  
 
Communication is perhaps one of the most important things that a working caregiver can do to achieve balance. The communication works in two ways. First, working caregivers should keep their employers informed. This way, the employer will know what is going on and will not be blindsided or upset if the working caregiver has to step out for a family emergency. One important thing to note is that employers need to be open to this information, and employers need to be willing to help their employees through this difficult time. Secondly, working caregivers need to communicate their needs. Working caregivers can express what they need from the employer, whether it be more flexible scheduling, some time off, or a lighter workload. In addition to communicating with employers, working caregivers can find solace and, often, a helping hand if they keep their friends and family informed.   

The second most important tool in working to achieve caregiver work life balance is having time off. Any working caregiver will immediately say this is next to impossible, but it is truly a necessity for balance. A week-long vacation may be hard to schedule, but working caregivers must block out at least 15 minutes a day to themselves. This 15 minutes will allow the working caregivers time to get everything off of their mind, and, also, to avoid burnout. 

Lastly, working caregivers should ask for help. This is another form of communication, but it is usually more difficult for some caregivers to do than simply talking about what they’re going through. However, working caregivers need to ask for help when feeling overwhelmed. This help can come in a variety of ways and doesn’t necessarily have to be related to their caregiving responsibilities. Perhaps it is making a meal for them, running some errands around town, or picking up their children from school. All of these things help to reduce some of the burden put on working caregivers, and it will keep the caregivers from become burnt out.

Using these three tools can help working caregivers achieve balance with their careers and caregiving responsibilities.

Caring for the Elderly: Fall Risk: Part 1

Here in New England, fall is in full swing. We have beautiful fall foliage, chilly mornings and nights, and the days are getting shorter and shorter. While all of these are welcome parts of fall, the falling leaves, the changes in temperature, and the dwindling daylight can pose some safety hazards for the elderly.

Slippery Leaves 
The mild fall weather is a great opportunity to be outside, and many elderly take advantage of this by going on walks. However, the leaves on the ground can pose a serious fall risk. These dry leaves can absorb an incredibly large amount of water, and this makes them extremely slippery.

Please advise any of your elderly loved ones to practice caution while walking on a leaf covered sidewalk:

• Walk slowly over leaf covered areas 
• Always wear sneakers while walking to increase traction 
• If you are walking with an elderly loved one, support them by the arm while walking across any leaf covered areas 

Frost
The cold mornings and evenings create a second hazard: frost. The warm afternoon temperatures can quickly drop, and any condensation or moisture that is on the ground will turn into frost. This can be somewhat unexpected in months like September and October, but that is exactly why it is so dangerous. The elderly can avoid falls by taking several precautions:

• Walk slowly on the sidewalk 
• Avoid shaded areas as these are more likely to have frost 
• Try walking later in the day, as most of the frost is melted by noon 

Shorter days

Lastly, the shorter days can be a hazard to the elderly who may have difficulty seeing at night. Remember to remind your elderly loved ones about the time change. In addition to that, you can encourage them to alter their daily schedule by an hour or two, and advise them to plan all of their errands and appointments for the afternoon. That way, they can avoid being on the road after dark.

For the elderly, falls are incredibly dangerous. The elderly are at a much higher risk for suffering a broken bone or serious injury as the result of a fall. Furthermore, hospital stays can lead to an increased risk of pneumonia, cognitive decline, and other diseases. This season, please be sure to keep your elderly loved one safe from harm.