Consider Aging in Place as One of Many Choices
Stephanie Borden of News-press.com provides an insight into her own life and situation with her mother as far as regrets of not allowing aging in place to be a part of both her and her mother’s life. Admitting that she did not realize that a few small modifications could be made to her mother’s beloved house, Borden wishes that she had explored more options for her mother in regards to her living situation influencing her longevity. Aging in place takes planning, but it is feasible for people of almost all income levels. SimplyHome is on the cutting edge as far as home technology involved with aging in place. A SimplyHome system could have been the answer to Borden’s wish of keeping her mother at home for a longer period of time.
Consider Aging in Place as One of Many Choices
Written by Stephanie Borden
Now that I know better, I can help others do better. Still, I wish I had known about aging-in-place 15 years ago when my modest 75-year-old Minnesota mother fainted on her kitchen floor.
When she came to and called 911, she refused to get into the ambulance until she could put on her pantyhose. On the way to the hospital, her heart stopped twice. After she was stabilized in the emergency room 1 thousand miles away, my phone rang. It was her doctor, with this strict advice: "Your mother can never live alone again."
My sister, brother, and I flew to her with only one option in mind: Find the best assisted-living facility she could afford. Because we didn't know about aging-in-place, there was no exploration of how we could arrange for in-home health care services and make some minor home modifications that would have allowed her to stay in the cherished home and familiar neighborhood where we grew up.
Mom lived for 28 months in the assisted living facility, located 20 miles from the family home. Even though we tried to do the best thing, it still haunts me that the move resulted in the amputation of the social connections that make life special. She had to give up the cat she pampered with filet mignon every Sunday, her garden club and her prize lilacs, the hair stylist who knew all her grandchildren's names and the waitresses at the coffee shop who noticed if she failed to appear each morning for the homemade cinnamon rolls.