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NAIPC News August 19, 2016
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Isolating Aging In Place
There's a Doctor in the Building: The Alliance of housing & healthcare
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Also In This Week's Issue
- An Interview with Teresa Lee, Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation
- Member Spotlight: Sanjay Das,Triangle, NC
- NAIPC in the News
- Upcoming Events
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Isolating Aging in Place |
By Marty Bell
The traffic is building in the aging business sector. It’s already bumper to bumper and the entrance ramps are packed. There are a lot of good ideas and America’s older adults probably need most of them. But I am getting concerned that amidst all the conversation, commotion and the gold rush over aging, aging in place may get lost.
The annual American Society on Aging conference, for example, is probably the largest single gathering of professionals addressing aging issues each year. They had about 3,000 attendees this year in Washington. One of the most respected gerontologists in the country said to me, this conference is really about health and caregiving. And that’s great. We need it. But at one session, panelist Teresa Lee of the Alliance for Home Health and Innovation wondered out loud, “Health is being delivered, but where are the other services people need going to come from?”
When we try to plan an event for the aging in place service community, we get bombarded by folks who are eager to present their own products or approaches that relate to aging, but not to aging in place.
AARP has adapted the Milken Institute’s annual assessment of the best cities for aging into an online Livability Index, that assesses how communities serve the aged. The World Health Organization’s Age Friendly Cities initiative brings together civic leaders to try to improve conditions for aging in a community. These are great programs, but, once again, they are not specifically aging in place.
As an organization, we need to stay specific, to set our laser focus on aging in place and not drift off into areas that may seem a part of this but are not. In a previous issue I referred to aging as an ocean and aging in place as a ship on the ocean. We all need to stay on board.
We might have had an easier time separating from the pack and pinpointing our area of concern if the word aging was not part of our identity. But the term aging in place preceded our formation and gained a following. Some groups are trying to alter that now, talking about aging in community or some other variation, but I think this just creates more confusion and less clarity.
Aging in place it is. But what exactly is it? We need to share and to spread a clear definition of what we are and what we do.
Aging in Place is the delivery of the services older adults need to be able to remain in their homes for as long as they would like. NAIPC intends to provide a systematic and easily accessible delivery of those services in local communities.
There are aging organizations devoted to finding cures for disease. There are aging organizations devoted to making communities more livable.There are aging organizations in specific fields such as geriatric care management, dementia and Alzheimers, home building, and financial planning. All of extreme value. But we are not them.
As we age, we are all going to need assistance. NAIPC is devoted to providing the needed assistance to individuals in their homes with convenience and trust. |
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There's a Doctor in the Building: The alliance of housing & healthcare |
Lately, there are signs that the gulf between housing and healthcare is being bridged in significant ways, creating a new paradigm in which the two are inextricably related. And the most significant factor in the emerging landscape is the Affordable Care Act.
In his article, There's A Doctor in the Building: The alliance of housing & healthcare, Mark Olshaker explains how the Affordable Care Act is changing the way healthcare delivery models, metrics and payment systems are evolving and how the concept of Accountable Care Organizations partnering with affordable housing providers can positively affect the determinants of residents' health. |
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An Interview with Teresa Lee, Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation |
The Affordable Care Act is helping revolutionize America’s healthcare delivery system by embracing personalized care at home – akin to the old country doctor visits from a bygone era. Home-based care may eliminate or at least delay the need for placement in nursing homes and gives aging Americans the opportunity to retain their independence and dignity.
Access to affordable home healthcare is a topic that owners of senior living communities are grappling with, NAIPC's Darryl Hicks, Associate Director Communications, interviewed Teresa Lee, Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovations, to get her thoughts on how the current delivery system is working, what improvements can be made, and what opportunities exist for greater collaboration between her industry and affordable housing professionals. Lee says, “It’s possible to set up the infrastructure that is needed to care for some patients who otherwise might need hospital care, but it’s provided in the home, Hospital At Home.”
Read full interview |
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Member Spotlight: Sanjay Das, Triangle, NC |
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After more than 20 years as an IT professional in software development Sanjay Das decided he wanted a career that he could enjoy for the rest of his life. Sanjay’s passions for nature, senior care, being healthy, solving problems, and helping people grow facilitated his desire to create a service that could provide a level of certainty and hope for seniors by helping them stay active, healthy, and in touch with loved ones.
Sanjay’s motivation and move to the aging in place industry is a testament to his beloved grandmother. “My grandmother has had a huge impact in my life, having been my best friend for many years,” says Sanjay. After witnessing, for the last decade, the kind of loving and compassionate care his mother, aunt, uncle, and a stream of dedicated caregivers have been providing his grandmother Sanjay decided his new business would be an ally for seniors and their families providing answers and options for successful aging in place.
So two and half years ago Sanjay started Always Best Care Senior Services, a non-medical in-home care and assisted living referral service. As President & Operations Supervisor Sanjay ensures that every client receives exceptional care in a stimulating environment with compassionate care coordinators. Sanjay has Dawn Rozzo, a Teepa Snow trained dementia care coach, train caregivers by completing a nationally recognized online dementia care training program. Sanjay also collaborates with Sharon Kilpatrick, an experienced Geriatric Care Manager, to run a support group for family caregivers. A heartfelt testimonial describes the exceptional quality of care patients and their families receive at Always Best Care. When WRJ and his family enlisted the help of Always Best Care it was to have someone visit his mother once a week and assist with errands and such. But when his mother fractured her pelvis Always Best Care became even more important. WRJ texted Sanjay who had a caregiver at the hospital with the Clinic Management Team (CMT) by the time she got her room. This was critical for the family and a comfort as well. Always Best Care also supplied in-room sitter services while WRJ’s mother was in rehab. Once she was released from rehab Sanjay and team helped the family locate a micro-community that provided their mother with the extra support she needed. WRJ said, “I live out of state, so we could not have done this without them. Sanjay and team really care about their patients, and were always available.” “Having this incredible opportunity to contribute to the lives of our seniors and our caregivers is what motivates me. Sharing what I learn—and this is continuously a learning experience—helps keep me moving forward,” says Sanjay.
Sanjay joined NAIPC when industry colleague and friend, Heather Lord told him that like-minded industry professionals were creating a NAIPC chapter to provide outreach and education for local seniors and their families. For Sanjay this was the exact type of community-based work that he was looking to be involved in and that he thoroughly enjoys. “I believe NAIPC can and will become an amazing educational and support resource for our aging population and their families, as well as a powerful collaborative enabler for our dedicated and passionate members.”
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NAIPC in the News: |
About a year ago erstwhile NAIPC Board Member Louis Tenenbaum, founder of the Aging in Place Institute, had an idea to create federal tax credits that would help people age in place safely and independently by subsidizing the cost of retrofitting their homes. Aging in Place Tax Credits Get a Step Closer announces The Senior Accessible Housing Act (HR 5254) which will provide a tax credit of up to $30,000 to those over 60 for aging in place home modifications. Tenenbaum believes the Act is the first federal bill to incentivize older Americans to prepare their homes for aging in place.
In Aging in place to stay in your own home, an edifying article on aging in place, Jamestown News spoke with, CAPS certified NAIPC member, Steve Monroe, owner of SME & Associates, on the benefits of home modifications for those aging in place. After urging local readers to consider home modifications and listing several benefits the article states that Aging in Place design is the fastest-growing segment of the residential remodeling industry. |
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