Cohousing-L Mailing List: Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, When I'm "94"?

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

(With apologies to The Beatles …)

When asked where adults 45 and older want to live out the rest of their lives, 
over 90% report that they want to remain in their current homes and community. 
The reality is that may just be another pipe dream for many. 
 
Do you know:
 
        • 70% of us 65+ will need an average of 3 years of long-term care – 
that is, personal assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, 
dressing and eating.
        • Only 30% of 65+ believe that they will need long-term care.
        • Long-term care in a nursing home, assisted living, even in your own 
home, is unaffordable for most middle-income Americans.
          In many areas, nursing home care exceeds $95,000 per year.
        • Medicare does not pay for Long-Term Care.
        • Fewer than 30% of people 65+ have $50,000 cash saved for retirement
        • There are not enough trained caregivers, and the gap is growing.
 
The Calvary is not coming. 

Particularly under the new Administration and a Congress bent on weakening if 
not dismantling what few public programs that exist to support older Americans 
— The Calvary is NOT coming.

In the absence of said Calvary:
 
        • What’s your plan for how, where and with whom you will grow older? 
        • How do you get the conversation started in your community? 
        • What are the tools and strategies both within your community and the 
wider community that can enhance your ability to remain in your home and 
community? 
        • If you are living in cohousing, has your community initiated a 
conversation about care for seniors?  
        • Do you have a plan in place?  
        • Are you trying to get the conversation started?  
        • What is the expectation of the community for seniors once they are 
unable to care for themselves?
        • If you are forming a cohousing group … have you discussed any of the 
issues you might face as your community members grow older?
 
If you and/or your community are struggling to understand the options available 
to you, I invite you to participate in a pre-conference intensive workshop:  
 
Aging Better Together by Design or Destiny 

http://www.cohousing.org/2017/intensives

Janice Blanchard, Aging Better, Together and I under the aegis of Mid Atlantic 
Cohousing, presented three workshops covering this information at the Aging 
Better Together conference held in Salt Lake City in 2016.  All sessions were 
packed.  We encourage you to register for the CohoUS conference and this 
pre-conference intensive.  However, if you are unable to attend the entire 
conference you can still register for this workshop:

http://www.cohousing.org/2017

If you don’t have a plan for your long term care … plan to come to the 
conference and attend our workshop!

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church, VA
202.546.4654

As long as you have two or fewer … your ducks are always in a row.  The Covert 
Comic