Keeping Local While Aging in Place

A great book I recently finished reading was "Being Mortal" by Dr. Atul Gawande.  In his book, he looks at American society and how we deal with end of life issues.  His focus in not just on the finality of life but on how our society helps or should help all families prepare for this chapter of each individuals journey.

One aspect discussed in depth is where our elders live towards their end of lives. While many American's age in place, many do not have family or a support system nearby and need to depend on a residential community.   This is a sharp contrast to his native homeland (I believe in India) where families are tied to their communities and elders are highly honored as a part of the community through their last days of mortality.  He discusses the contrast of keeping an elder at home and compares alternative options that have evolved in the latter part of the last century through today with first nursing homes, then the development of assisted living facilities to memory care.  Many of these venues allow for professional care of our elders as facilitated by a residential communities.  If possible it is great to find a facility in the same local community where the senior has lived but often he or she is moved to be close to family members.

A growing trend now is the development of local villages. Villages are communities organized geographically to provide services that would allow seniors to continue to age in place in their local communities with the support of an organized administrative staff and volunteers.  Often a per person fee is paid to support needed programs.  This is ideal as it allows the person to continue to live a familiar environment and remain as part of their "community".

I have recently gone through the end of life phase with both of my parents and was fortunate to be able to help them as needed. It was extremely important for both of them to age in place and stay at home until absolutely impossible due to failed health.  Home was their comfort zone and having their personal surrounding was of utmost importance.   I am a strong advocate of aging in place if it is a viable option.

In today's Boston Globe there was an informative article discussing aging in place in Massachusetts communities and there is a list of Massachusetts Villages with their emails and contact information. I was pleased to learn there are several local villages nearby and other parts of the state.  This allows seniors to remain as locals in their neighborhoods.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/real-estate/2017/02/10/neighbor-helping-neighbor-community-programs-help-people-age-place/PUXOAmGQ9phwbs5q3Hu0hO/story.html


The area of senior aging is near and dear to me.  As mentioned previously both of my parents faced end of life issues before passing and I had to deal with both the personal side of things as well as the business end of settling their estates.  In addition, during this same time period I helped my in-laws downsize and move first to an assisted living and then memory care facility in the Needham area.  My in-laws moved less than a mile from the local neighborhood where they raised their family.  Being local was extremely important to their decision to move where they chose.


 I wanted to be able to put this experience to positive use to help others going through this process and it was suggested for me to get my SRES (Senior Real Estate Specialist) designation.  In December I took a 2 day class to learn more about the services available to help seniors and their families with the  transition of moving from a private residential home to the next stage of care.  After passing an exam I earned my SRES designation and am a realtor at Coldwell Banker Needham. I am constantly networking and inquiring about the many services available to my clients and welcome the opportunity to help anyone who may have a family member who is approaching this stage.

Wendy recently joined Coldwell Banker Needham.  She has been a realtor for over 8 years and knowing the area quite well can share a hands on local perspective.  She has also recently earned the SRES  designation and looks forward to helping other baby boomers as they approach their next transitions.  Feel free to contact her directly or click here http://www.wendybcb.com if you would like to learn more.  

Footnote: click here for some  Tips for aging in place