IT
TAKES A VILLAGE … WITH AGING SERVICES. Beacon Hill Village and other so-called Naturally Occurring
Retirement Communities (or NORCs) continue to generate curiosity, support and
positive media coverage. The practice of older adults banding together as
“villages” to assist one another is certainly commendable. Aging Services of
California most recently featured the cover story “Villages: A New Take on an
Old Idea” in its January 2012 edition of the monthly agenda journal.
So … how do
villages or NORCs relate to those independent and assisted living communities and
skilled care centers provided by aging services organizations? It is a
legitimate question, though one that is variously side-stepped by village
elders as well as aging services providers. The agenda article by Susan Poor, an advisor to the newly formed
Village-to-Village Network, effuses that “…we are only at the tip of the
iceberg in witnessing the creativity and innovation that can emerge from the
Village movement.” True, perhaps, but, again, this prolific movement begs the
questions, How do and will they affect professional aging services providers?
Most Villages outright state or infer an objective is to keep members out of institutions. Some more proudly than others: Beacon Hill Villages’ website features a CBS News story (1-14-07) that interviews member Dorothy Weinstein, 98, identified as the Villages’ “poster child.”
The reporter
asks Weinstein: “Have you ever thought about going to a retirement community?” To
which she responds: “No, no, no. I just couldn’t place me in one of those
places. What would I do all day? Here at least I’m somebody. There I would be a
nobody.” Not exactly a glowing endorsement, nor an invitation to work together
to, say, help those villagers who become
too ill or frail to live at home.
Eskaton’s new Live Well at Home program attempts to provide supportive services that balance individuals’ desire to age-in-place with the occasional or eventual need for professional aging services. “Your home. Our experience.” the literature reassures. The evolution of care for older adults may include brick-and-mortar communities and care centers, programs such as Live Well at Home, natural Villages or some new hybrid. Since no one knows for sure, it only makes sense that more options, better collaboration and mutual respect will benefit everyone.
Provocative perspective, how will "villages" relate to existing "established" retirement communities? "Villages" are attractive to seniors because the keep maximum control of services in the hands of the consumer. The quality service providers, like Eskaton, will no doubt reach-out to this emerging model and seek to make "villages" work by supplying the range of services that help seniors age-in-place. Self-help, like villages" are as American as apple pie. There is plenty of work to do together to brighten the future for growing old in America.
ReplyDeleteThis is really the most common setting today by all adults or elderly. Many people live in communities with a neighborhood setting such as the ny retirement community because they want to be socially active. You will live with everyone who can understand your needs and who you can relate to.
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