Senior housing options

As I mentioned in my last post, I am helping my elderly mother get into a better senior living situation. She lives one her own (with regular visits from friends and relatives) but she really needs something more suited to care for senior citizens.

We decided to break the options into groups: such as assisted living, senior housing, retirement homes/communities. Then we set down to find the pros and cons for each. (As a side note, these are starting to get listed on SeniorsNH.com - which has housing info for senior citizens and those who care for them in New Hampshire.

She does not need a nursing home, and from what I have seen of them I hope she never does. It is like warehousing from seniors and is very depressing. There is typically an over-worked, under trained staff of non-English speaking people responsible for large numbers of seniors in advanced stages of deteriorating health. These senior citizens who should be loved and cared for are instead treated like cattle much of the time. I'm sure there are nicer places, but the places I have visited are not places I would ever let a senior citizen that I cared for wind up in.

The next step down is assisted living facilities. Since I think this is going to be the answer for my mother I'll skip it and come back.

The next step is senior housing - basically apartments only for senior citizens, typically with some kind of social structure. There are some nice places here in Southern NH with some nice people we met. My mother liked them, and she feels that she would do well in an environment that is, as she puts it: of the Seniors, by the Seniors, and for the Seniors. My concern though is that this means she is really relying on the elderly man next door, or the lady down the hall for help. Since these people are all senior citizens too, it is not the best support group. I also don't think it is really fair. We're still considering the senior housing option though.

Next time more on senior communities and assisted living.

-J