Much of our recent blog posts have centered around the rising cost of residing in assisted living communities and what those particular centers can do to help keep costs down while providing the same services to the elderly. Although cost-cutting measures are an important step in providing quality care at a reasonable rate, some believe that it may not be enough.
In a recent interview, PBS spoke with Dr. Bruce Chernof, president and CEO of the SCAN Foundation, which helps promote positive eldercare, about the looming challenges in long-term care for Americans who are approaching retirement age. According to Chernof, the average annual cost of a nursing home is $81,000, while assisted living communities cost roughly $21,000-$22,000 per year.
While Chernof stressed that families need to plan ahead and prepare for the costs and tough decisions of eldercare, he added that the federal government must make significant changes to how it intends to fund long-term care programs.
“Solving these needs on the backs of the medical or Social Security system alone will never get us there,” Chernof said. “So if we’re serious about thinking about reimagining the entitlements that we currently have so they’re sustainable, we need to create an avenue to plan for these needs.”
For now though, the best way for Americans to find eldercare solutions is to seek out assisted living communities that provide low-cost, efficient long-term care by utilizing services like Independa. With our Caregiver Web App, care managers can use telemonitoring to provide attention and support, but with less strain on personnel and a greater sense of independence for the care recipient.
Through our app, eldercare staff can make sure that care recipients take their prescriptions, attend social events and eat their meals with alerts or through messages on a dedicated Samsung mobile device or LG TV. Communities interested in seeing how Independa can support independent senior living should visit our contact us page to reach us via email.
