Skip to main content

The Future of Senior Living

Image
By
I recently was given an article from AARP called Reinventing Home: Happy Together by Sally Abrahms. It is a very interesting perspective on a new way of facing the true challenges of aging: facing loneliness and coping with increasing need for support. I feel like I have tried for my entire career to help seniors (especially the vulnerable ones--those that live alone, are recently widowed, or those that have trouble connecting with others). This "social" solution is the answer to this very core problem.

The article explores several different solutions to the problem--"niche" communities (ie university based retirement communities for those who value lifelong learning and the benefits which come from being attached to a college campus), cohousing (intergenerational communities who share common space and share meals and activities but have their own living quarters), "Green Houses" which are modern, small nursing homes with more of a small, cozy home feel), and the Village model where people remain in their homes (age in place) but with community support and social connections provided by a central agency (we are attempting to initiate this program in my home community of Del Mar).

Thus, there are many options available allowing each person to choose a model that works for them. The unifying principle is that people want and now are realizing that they need more supportive environments to spend their senior years. The world is rejecting the old way--be home and independent or be banished to a nursing home. Nursing homes fail on many levels and people want more. That more has arrived and not a moment too soon. We as a society now realize that social support and ongoing education, activity, and socialization are every bit as important as food and water for the ongoing development and actualization of our minds, bodies and spirits.

Thank God, we as a society are coming to our senses. As this attitude and paradigm shift take hold, seniors will finally be able to be loved and supported all the way until the end of life and as a result, a world of suffering can be avoided and a higher plane of life can be realized.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IT'S HAPPENING

By
Wow, the information available on CCSVI on the internet is truly amazing! I have to admit: I did not research this topic as well as I could have. I did not read the study from Poland before my procedure. I did not realize all the excitement combined with incredible knowledge that is coming out of Georgetown. I am just reading them now and I can hardly contain myself. There is so much data available on CCSVI from around the world. I acted more on a deep gut feeling that CCSVI was real and was my path to healing. I was a little desperate as I felt myself sliding over the last year and didn't feel right with the auto-immune drugs. CCSVI just made sense to me; really good sense. Now reading the data, I am so excited for huge numbers of people to get healed/opened/freed! After doing a little research, it seems that nearly all people with definite MS have CCSVI. It also seems that people with MS who have the procedure have less flairs over time and a better quality of life. Some get a lo...
6 comments
Read more

The Future of Primary Care (and the Future is Now)

By
What do people need from their primary care doctor/practice? These are our goals at Pando: To deliver all of these  with a kind heart .         (1) Rapid access               a. In person when necessary               b. Via phone or email on an ongoing basis         (2) Diagnosis, Treatment and Monitoring of acute and chronic problems with the current  BEST  practices         (3) Close Follow-up after acute illnesses, ER visits; referral to superior specialty care when needed         (4) Preventive Care               a. Prophylactic Medicines, Screening Tests (Mammograms, Colonoscopy)               b. Lifestyle Advice, Behavior Change Advice and Guidance with follow-up support         (5) Meeting of non-medical needs ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Placebo

By
Someone recently asked me in response to my blog as well as to the success of the Liberation Procedure, "Is it just placebo effect"? This is truly a loaded question. After my initial defensive reaction, I gave it deeper thought. Placebo is truly a giant word and concept. It has negative connotations("he is just better because of the placebo effect") but it has immense power and strength. In research studies, experimenters often compare a new treatment with a placebo. In order for the treatment to be accepted, a new therapy has to be better than placebo. In most studies placebo does remarkably well ie 30-40% benefit. So 30-40 per cent of people get better with a sugar pill or an inert substance. This speaks strongly about several points. First, approximately one third of people get better with no intervention with placebo or time or just believing that they will get better. This has enormous power. Harnessing the power of this safe intervention can be amazingly hea...
5 comments
Read more