Sunrise Senior Living now offers a new informational guide to help seniors and their families identify ideas for affording senior care in today’s challenging economy. The guide, called Affording Senior Living: The Financial Options, is available at Sunrise communities nationwide and also online at www.sunriseseniorliving.com/financialoptions .
The Affording Senior Living Guide gives tips for families and helps to identify a variety of financial products that are available in the marketplace today to help families who need access to senior care, but are unsure how they will pay for it.
Affording Senior Living: The Financial Options incldues information about the following:

Traditional options such as investments, savings and income
Real estate options such as home equity loans and reverse mortgages
Insurance options such as long term care insurance and life settlements
Government options such as Veterans’ Benefits and Medicare

According to The Hospice Foundation of America, the word “hospice” stems from the Latin word “hospitium” meaning guesthouse. It was originally used to describe a place of shelter for weary and sick travelers returning from religious pilgrimages.

During the 1960s, Dr. Cicely Saunders, a British physician began the modern hospice movement by establishing St. Christopher’s Hospice near London. St. Christopher’s organized a team approach to professional caregiving, and was the first program to use modern pain management techniques to compassionately care for the dying. The first hospice in the United States was established in New Haven, Conn. in 1974.

Today there are more than 4,700 hospice programs in the United States. Hospice programs cared for 965,000 people enrolled in Medicare in 2006, and nearly 1.4 million people in the United States in 2007. In the Meridian area, the number of facilities has increased in recent years. The area is currently served by Community Hospices of America, Guardian Angel Hospice Inc., Harper’s Hospice Care Inc., Hometown Hospice, Hospice Care Group, Infinity Hospice, LLC, Queen City Nursing Center and Sta-Home Health & Hospice.

Hospice is not a place but a concept of care. Eighty percent of hospice care is provided in the patient’s home, family member’s home and in nursing homes. Inpatient hospice facilities are sometimes available to assist with caregiving.

Facts about Hospice:

• Hospice is a special concept of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments.
• Hospice care neither prolongs life nor hastens death.
• Hospice staff and volunteers offer a specialized knowledge of medical care, including pain management.
• The goal of hospice care is to improve the quality of a patient’s last days by offering comfort and dignity.
• Hospice care is provided by a team-oriented group of specially trained professionals, volunteers and family members.
• Hospice addresses all symptoms of a disease, with a special emphasis on controlling a patient’s pain and discomfort.
• Hospice deals with the emotional, social and spiritual impact of the disease on the patient and the patient’s family and friends.
• Hospice offers a variety of bereavement and counseling services to families before and after a patient’s death.

Source: The Hospice Foundation

Sunrise Senior Living, one of the largest providers of senior living services
with more than 440 communities worldwide, announced today that it is bringing
an innovative independent senior living community to Colorado’s Front Range.
The Stratford at FlatIrons leverages Sunrise’s nearly three decades of serving
seniors by combining this expertise with a distinguishing approach to senior
living that will offer residents and their families the type of active,
fulfilling lifestyle they have come to expect.  While Sunrise currently
operates 10 assisted living communities in the state, this is the first
independent living community that will also offer assisted living and a full
range of healthcare services.

The Stratford, to be located at 400 Summit Blvd., in the popular FlatIrons
area, is a full-service, amenity-rich senior living community.  Through its
broad offering of services and amenities, coupled with on-site assisted
living, memory care programs, rehabilitation and in-home health care
coordination, The Stratford will be well positioned to cater to seniors with
varying needs.

With about 130 employees, The Stratford will feature a Southwestern motif
and mountain-like design.  The community is set to debut in May 2009 and
recently opened its sales gallery at 549 FlatIron Blvd., Unit B in Broomfield,
80021, (303) 466-2422.  At the sales gallery, visitors can view floor plans
and learn more about the broad range of features and amenities that can be
found at The Stratford, including:

– Concierge services to assist residents with requests such as dining and
entertainment reservations, transportation arrangements, appointment
reminders, dog walking, personal errands and much more

– Maintenance and housekeeping services

– State-of-art fitness center and personal training as well as in-home
exercise programming

– Full-service spa and salon
– A 60-seat theatre for movies and theatrical performances
– Art Studio
– Casual and formal dining venues including a bistro bar
– In-room food service
– Private dining rooms and catering for parties and events
– Extensive library
– Club and game room
– Business Center and wireless internet access areas
– In-home care coordination and support services
– Geriatric case management
– Outpatient rehabilitation clinic

In addition to on-site assisted living, memory care and in-home health
care coordination, The Stratford will also offer rehabilitation services;
comprehensive health and wellness programs, which include screenings, support
groups and wellness lectures; 24-hour voice-to-voice emergency response
systems; and 24-hour security monitoring.

“The Stratford at FlatIrons is an exciting, new community for Sunrise
whereby we are integrating our long-standing experience as a pioneer in senior
living with a full menu of exceptional amenities, personalized services and a
host of life-enriching options for residents — all of which will be
seamlessly offered under one roof.  We believe The Stratford is a community
that seniors and their families will find exciting, appealing and comfortable.
The Stratford is distinguishing itself in the marketplace based on its ability
to cater to independent seniors who take comfort in knowing that they have the
opportunity to live life on their own terms at this full-service, all-
encompassing community,” explained Jennifer Teague, executive director for The
Stratford.

Did you know that Sunrise Senior Living is the largest global provider of senior living alternatives? Below is an overview of Sunrise Senior Living. 

Sunrise Senior Living, based in McLean, Va., employs approximately 40,000 people. As of March 31, 2008, Sunrise operated 441 communities in the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, with a combined capacity for more than 54,000 residents. At quarter end, Sunrise also had 40 communities under construction in these countries with a combined capacity for 5,300 additional residents. Sunrise offers a full range of personalized senior living services, including independent living, assisted living, care for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of memory loss, as well as nursing, rehabilitative and hospice care. Sunrise’s senior living services are delivered by staff trained to encourage the independence, preserve the dignity, enable freedom of choice and protect the privacy of residents.

Source and to learn more about Sunrise, please visit http://www.sunriseseniorliving.com.

A new “Green” trend is hitting the Senior Living Community market. I found a recent news report about a new Senior Living Community that is taking the market in a new direction. Will others follow? Below is a brief overview of the report.

The Glasstown Residence at

structure’s environmentally friendly technology and affordable rent — between $420 and $530.Read the full report at www.thedailyjournal.com

Medicaid is known as the government health-care program for the poor, but it pays for more than two-thirds of long-term nursing-home stays. That means many middle-income Americans with savings will need the program. Ultimately, medicaid will cover nursing-home care for nearly everyone who needs it but can’t afford to pay on their own.

All Medicaid beneficiaries fit into one of several qualifying categories  of the program - 65 years of age or older, blind or disabled, for example. You must also submit financials that take into account both your income , assets as well as those of your spouse if you are married. The final category is  the people eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income from the Social Security Administration.

Many senior living community representatives find that the most asked question by seniors and their families in search of a senior living community or nursing home is, “How is the food?”. So what do you think the representative would say? Terrible? I highly doubt that, I’m sure they would ensure that it is wonderful and that you will love it. Do you think that is true?

Here are some tips on trying to find out the truth out about their food. I recommend asking the current residents how they like the food. You can even ask to have a meal to see how you like it. Trying the food is the best way for you to tell if it meets your standards. Remember, they are cooking for a big group of people and not every meal is going to be perfect. I am sure that there will be a few complaints, but overall you should be looking for a flexible menu and fresh ingredients.

Long-term care is defined as a variety of services that include medical and non-medical care to people who have a chronic illness or disability. Long-term care helps meet health care or personal needs. Most of the time long-term care is to assist people with support services such as activities of daily living like bathing, dressing and using the bathroom. Long-term care can be provided in the home, in a community, in a assisted living community or in a nursing home.

By 2020, 12 million older Americans will need long-term care. Most will be cared for at home. Family and friends make up 70 percent ofthe solecargiversfor those individuals. A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that people who reach age 65 will likely have a 40 percent chance of entering a nursing home. About 10 percent of the people who enter a nursing home will stay there five years or more.

Source. www.medicare.gov

Here are a few tips to finding Long-term care options and pricing. I find that these basic steps help families and their loved ones prepare for their future.

1. Assess Your Needs. There are many different kinds of long-term care. Long-term care can take place at home, in senior centers, at community centers, in assisted living or special retirement communities, as well as in nursing homes. Long-term care service is not only nursing home care.

2.Research Financing and Care Choice.Talk with your doctor and ask him or her what long-term care choices and services are available to help meet your needs, now and in the future.Talk with your financial advisor about the costs of your current and future long-term care needs and ask him or her what long-term care financing options are available to help you pay for your long-term care needs.

3.Find What Is Right For You. Ask family, friends and otehr people you know who use different kinds of long-term care services if they are happy with the services .Call your State or local Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Ombudsmen visit nursing homes and other long-term care facilities regularly to visit residents and take care of complaints.Call your State Health Department. Ask if you can get information on the quality of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities and services in your area.

4.Visit Your Options. Before you make a final decision about long-term care, call and ask for information about the long-term care services or the long-term care programs they offer. Visit the places you are interested in. These places can be assisted living communities, services in senior centers, nursing homes, and other programs. Make an appointment to visit.