With another Baby Boomer turning 64 every 8.5 seconds, how we view old age is undergoing tremendous changes, noted keynote speaker Maddy Dychtwald at last week’s 2010 Assisted Living Federation of America’s National Conference.
We have experienced dramatic increases in life expectancy:
1000s • Life expectancy was 25 years of age 1200s • Life expectancy was 30 years of age 1400s • Life expectancy was 35 years of age 1600s • Life expectancy was 36 years of age 1800s • Life expectancy was 38 years of age 2000s • Life expectancy was 78 years of age
By 2050, life expectancy is projected to increase to 90 to 95 years of age.
When Otto von Bismarck was creating the first pension program in Europe in the 1800s, he defined old as 65 years of age. Average age at the time was 47.
When the Social Security program was enacted in the United States in 1935, the average age was 62.5 and retirement age was defined as 65
Today, when you think of what it is like to be 65 years of age, do pictures of the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney pop into your mind?
John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth back in 1962, returned to space when he was 77 years of age.
At the age of 88, Betty White, who starred in the hit comedy series the Golden Girls back in the mid-1980s through early 1990s, has once again become a hot commodity. So far in 2010 she starred in a Super Bowl commercial, hosted Saturday Night Live, and is one of the main characters in Hot in Cleveland, TV Land’s first scripted series, which is scheduled to debut later this month.
Dychtwald predicted that as life expectancy increases so will work expectancy. She also predicted that the Baby Boomers will re-invent retirement.
The Boomers tend to be highly educated and love technology. They are rule breakers and control freaks.
Their biggest fear is that they don’t want to be a burden to their children.
Leaving a legacy and having significance will be high on their list of priorities. They will be looking to engage and re-invent themselves.
They will not view retirement as the time to withdraw or go away.
For a much more light hearted view of Baby Boomers retiring, we invite you to watch the video below. Be sure to let us know your thoughts.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
The idea came from a brain storming session about ways that the Assisted Living Federation of America could celebrate its 20th Anniversary and their continuous focus on-
Choice • Independence • Dignity • Quality of Life
The idea involved a nationwide talent search, writing an original song, and flying individuals who work in assisted living from all over the country to Washington, D.C., for a recording session.
Susan Vasquez, the Director of Marketing for our Heritage Woods of DeKalb affordable assisted living community in DeKalb, Illinois, was honored to be one of the 12 who were selected to participate.
“It was enjoyable to put your mouth where your money comes from and sing a very meaningful song,” says Susan, who sang in her high school choir.
For the talent search, Susan says, she submitted a recording of “The Rose,” which is the “song I sang to my husband when we got married.” Her stepson, who is in a band, “came over and recorded it for me.”
The original song entitled “Every Day” premiered earlier this week, kicking off the Assisted Living Federation of America’s 2010 National Conference (alfa.org).
We invite you to click here to listen.
Please take a moment to watch and listen to the video below.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing for BMA Management, Ltd.
One of the keys ways to maintain your independence and avoid a move to a nursing home is to keep moving.
“People in motion stay in motion,” Dr. David Fisher, a Board Certified Gerontologist, notes in his newly released book entitled “How to Keep Mom (and Yourself) Out of a Nursing Home.” One of the seven keys to keeping your independence that he cites in the book is to keep moving.
“When we lose the ability to move, we inch that much closer to nursing home placement as we become more likely to fall, become socially isolated, develop functional incontinence, lose access to medical care and become unable to maintain our homes,” Dr. Fisher writes.
He talks about regular exercise perhaps being the most important factor in preserving one’s mobility and the importance of proper nutrition for maintaining muscle and bone strength. He says that “thirty minutes of aerobic exercise four days a week is an excellent goal to set.”
Be sure to exercise your quadriceps, the muscles that sit on the front of your thighs and connect your hips with your kneecap, because these are the muscles that you primarily use to stand up and sit down. They also help with walking and balance.
Dan Buettner, a National Geographic writer who has done groundbreaking work on longevity, echoes Dr. Fisher comments, in his book “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Living the Longest.”
Buettner shares nine tips for living longer and healthier lives. The first up on the list involves being active and moving naturally.
He talks about walking being one activity that successful centenarians do almost daily; about making your lifestyle more active rather than exercising for the sake of exercising; and about having fun and getting out and about with other people.
He recommends getting into the habit of doing at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week and discussing with your doctor a combination of aerobic, balancing and muscle strengthening activities.
The real enemy, as Dr. Fisher notes, is not aging but is the loss of independence.
Our mission is to help you maintain your independence and avoid a nursing home, if at all possible. Hope this helps.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at BMA Management
Assisted Living Communities are designed to bridge the gap between living alone at home and living in a nursing home. Residents benefit from receiving the personal assistance and help with medications they need and from opportunities for socialization and companionship.
Costs can vary widely based on a number of factors.
Location
The MetLife Mature Market Institute notes that nationally in 2009 the average base monthly cost for a one-bedroom assisted living apartment was $3,031, or $36,372 a year. The average fee ranged from a low of $2.041 a month in North Dakota to a high of $5,219 in the Wilmington, Delaware area.
In Illinois, the average monthly fee ranged from $2,308 in Peoria to $2,802 in Chicago, $4,228 in the Highland Park area and $2,165 in the rest of the state.
Type & Size of Apartment
Private rooms, semi-private rooms and companion suites usually are less expensive than studio apartments. And studio apartments usually are more affordable than one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.
Inclusive, Levels of Care or Ala Carte
Probably what is most important when you are looking at the cost of assisted living is to be sure that you fully understand what is and is not included in the monthly fee.
Some communities charge an all inclusive or a virtually all inclusive monthly fee. No matter how much assistance is required, the amount a resident pays each month remains the same. For example, at all of the affordable assisted living communities that we manage in Illinois the monthly fee is based only on the size of the apartment and the number of occupants; the monthly fee does not increase just because a resident happens to need more assistance.
Some communities use an Ala Carte system. The lowest fee quoted on the price list only covers room, board and a base package of services such as housekeeping, having staff on-duty 24 hours a day, and the opportunity to participate in community activities. Each and every time staff provides help or assistance, an additional charge applies.
To help provide residents with more certainty about the amount it will cost each month, some assisted living communities use what is commonly referred to as Levels of Care. Residents are evaluated to determine the nature and frequency of services that will be required. The higher the level of service and the more often the service is provided, the higher the level of care. The higher the level of care the more expensive the monthly cost will be.
Both the Ala Carte and the Levels of Care systems can add hundreds and sometimes a couple of thousand dollars or more each month to the cost of care. So be sure that you have all the facts. If it is a community that charges on an ala carte basis, be sure to ask how the community verifies that the resident has received all of the services that will be on the bill. If the community uses Levels of Care, be sure you are comfortable with the community’s policies and procedures for changing a resident’s Level of Care.
Generally, the cost of assisted living compares quite favorably to the cost of nursing home care, which in 2009 averaged $72,270 a year ($6,022.50 a month) for a semi-private room and $79,935 a year ($6,661.25 a month) for a private room, according to the Met Life Institute study.
Also, keep in mind that most of the assisted living communities that are operated by BMA Management are affordable assisted living communities that serve older adults of all incomes. Our affordable assisted living communities in Illinois, for instance, operate under a special program called Supportive Living that is especially designed to benefit those who cannot afford private pay assisted living.
At our affordable assisted living communities, residents pay the monthly fee for as long as they have the financial resources to pay privately. For those who do not have the financial resources to afford the monthly fee, either at the time of move-in or at some later date, a financial assistance program is available.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at BMA Management
Leonard Hawk told me that he did not waste any time making the decision that he and his wife, Marilyn, should move to the Lighthouse at Silvis when the community opened for occupancy several years ago.
The native of Moline, Illinois, explained that he was a graduate of Moline High School and that he had attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, on the GI Bill after serving in the Infantry in World War II. While on leave from the Army in 1943, he married Marilyn, his high school sweetheart. She also was from Moline. They celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in 2008.
Leonard talked about being a singer in high school, about continuing to study music at Augustana and about trying out in Chicago for a part in Brigadoon before going to work selling ads in the Yellow Pages. When the company wanted him to transfer to a territory near St. Louis, he declined. Instead, he started the A1 Rental Company from scratch and became the first President of the American Rental Association. Founded in 1955 and based in Moline, the American Rental Association has grown into an international trade association.
Leonard explained that his decision to move to the Lighthouse was based on years of experience with Alzheimer’s disease, first with his mother-in-law for 14 years and then with Marilyn for seven years.
Marilyn had been in and out of the best nursing homes in the area, Leonard said. What the Lighthouse had to offer and the atmosphere was so different from a nursing home.
Being in good health, Leonard moved into one of the senior living apartments at the Lighthouse and Marilyn moved into The Harbor, a specialized neighborhood of apartments for older adults with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia.
The Lighthouse was brand new, said Leonard. The cost for Marilyn was a $1,000 a month less than in a nursing home, and she had a private room rather than having to share a room with another resident. She had staff who treated her like family.
Leonard, who considers himself a pretty good cook, said that he especially appreciates the nice kitchen that is in his apartment. He had thought that Marilyn might like to enjoy a meal that he prepared in his apartment but found that she much preferred staying in The Harbor.
The Harbor and The Pointe, the specialized neighborhoods for memory care, are two of the biggest assets of the Lighthouse, Leonard noted. This is the place that anybody with Alzheimer’s should be.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
