Help at Home

A major goal of?Agape Restoration Society?is to help residents and others get needed assistance so they can live at home, either in our wheelchair-accessible?Agape Restoration Communities?or other housing. Our state,?Pennsylvania,?offers various social services for citizens age 60 and up, as shown in the photo. Then "Home Health Care" and "Meals on Wheels" can go a long way toward keeping you at home – that is,?if?your home is suitable for this when you need it to be.

The basic problem, however, is that most people don't want to think about such things... until it's too late. Psychologists call this "the normalcy bias" – our brains work in terms of past experience, so we assume that everything will simply keep on going on "like normal" just as it has in the past. But when we stop and think about it (if we ever do take time to stop and think...), we realize deep-down that someday we're going to die, and more likely (70% probability!) first will come the slowing down, having a hard time climbing up or going down stairs, feeling exhausted after walking 50 or 100 feet, needing a walker or a wheelchair, etc. – the old heart, back, knees, etc. are getting tired and worn out. Are?YOU?going to be?proactive?and stop to think about it?now, or will you wait until it's too late to choose which accessible housing is best for you? Then you'll have to depend on relatives – who are busy with their own lives – to take time out to do it for you.

What is an?ARC?– an?Agape?Restoration?Community? Perhaps first of all we should say what an?ARC?is?not: it is not a nursing home, a personal care home, or an assisted living center. Think of an?ARC?as a Christian community, an independent living facility where you have your own living unit, can move about, come and go as you please without the physical barriers of stairways, steps at porches or decks, or narrow hallways and doorways that hinder movement by people with mobility impairments. An?ARC?also provides common spaces for worship and other group activities so you're not cooped up at home alone.

Why an?ARC? See the article?"The Changing Demographics of Nursing Home Care: Greater Minority Access… Good News, Bad News": as our population ages, more and more low-income elderly people (often minority groups) are being placed in nursing homes as an increasing number of white Americans move into?high-end independent living?or assisted living facilities that they can afford. Will?you?be able to afford thousands of dollars per month for such hotel-like accommodations? What we need is?moderately-priced "walkable" housing?for empty-nesters and other people with mobility issues!

The elderly of minority groups and the poor tend to rely more on Medicare and Medicaid which have strict limits of what they will provide?only if medically necessary: a basic double-occupancy room with two TVs, three meals a day, limited-staff nursing care, a shower once a week, and perhaps some physical therapy to keep in shape. Picture yourself in a room with two TVs and both residents want to watch and listen to (loud!) their favorite programs... one late at night and the other early in the morning!

But this doesn't mean that more and more nursing homes are being built: quite the opposite, in fact! Because of Medicare's and Medicaid's stricter limits on how much and what they will pay for, thousands of nursing homes have shut down in the past thirty years: see?"In the Nursing Home, Empty Beds and Quiet Halls"?-

"Thirty years ago, 90 percent of Medicaid dollars for long-term care flowed to institutions and only 10 percent to home- and community-based services. Now, the proportions have flipped, and nursing homes get only 43 percent of Medicaid’s long-term care expenditures.

"A report from the federal Government Accountability Office earlier this year pointed out, for example, that Medicaid covers assisted living for 330,000 people. A demonstration program called Money Follows the Person has moved more than 75,000 residents out of nursing homes and back into community settings.

"It's good news for consumers — but not so good for nursing homes. The 31 largest metropolitan markets have 13,586 fewer nursing home beds now than in late 2005, the investment center reports.

"This could prove a temporary crisis. When the baby boomers enter their 80s and need residential care, occupancy could pick up again."

But will the beds be there when the baby boomers need them? Another article,?"The Need for Long-Term Care Continues to Grow", tells of the 10,000 "Baby Boomers" retiring?every day: they were born from 1946 to 1965 and number seventy million people, about one-fourth of the entire U.S. population. Most retirees don't need accessible housing right at age 65: disability usually begins around age 75, so the tsunami of disabled "Baby Boomers" likely just began in 2021. We need to get ready!

As more and more of the "Baby Boomers" leave the workforce to retire, fewer and fewer people will be paying into Social Security and general public funds while more will be drawing from these funds. This article states –?"An estimated 70% of people currently turning 65 will require long-term care in their lifetime, and they will receive care for an average of 3 years."?This is obviously a danger, but also an opportunity... for Christians to form "intentional communities" to show compassion by providing accessible housing and care for the elderly and infirm.

And a fourth article,?"Medicaid Cuts May Force Retirees Out of Nursing Homes", relates how people who think they have plenty to retire on find out that it's used up after just a few years, maybe even less, together with hospital bills. It tells about Alice Jacobs, age 90, who once owned a factory and horses, but eventually exhausted her savings at an assisted living center and now?"relies on Medicaid to pay for her care at Dogwood Village, a nonprofit, county-owned nursing home."?Wouldn't it be wiser to get "Home Health Care" and "Meals on Wheels" while living in an?ARC?and not burning through those savings? Enroll in our?free courses?to see how?YOU?can do?diakonia-ministry. And?Join "The ARC" Chat/Video Forum?to?Build the ARC!

Yours sincerely,

"Dr. Bob"

Robert D. Hosken, M.Min., M.Th.S., D.Min.

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