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Monday, January 18, 2016

Out with the Old



An article in the January 4, 2016 issue of the New York Times (NYT), entitled “A Twist on Caring for the Parent: Move into the Home” had a startling statistic taken from a 2015 study by the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) and the AARP Public Policy Institute:  caregivers over age 75 spend 34 hours a week assisting their elders.  

The NYT article described the response of one son who saw the writing on the wall with regard to the increasingly heavy demands of caregiving for his mother, and took the step of moving into the same continuing care retirement community that housed his mother. Allen Geiwitz, 71, and his mother, Mrs. Geiwitz, 95, each have a one-bedroom independent living apartment right down the hall from each other that enables Mr. Geiwitz to supervise his mother’s medication schedule, have dinner with her most evenings, and still have time for his own life.

They both pay $2,115 in monthly rent at Glen Meadows, a nonprofit continuing care retirement community operated by Presbyterian Senior Living, which includes meals, activities, housecleaning, laundry and some transportation. Studio apartments cost less, semidetached patio homes more.

Although not yet a craze, perhaps something to keep our eye on.