Assisted Living Comes of Age

Article submitted by Walter Peters, Owner of Arcadia Estate Adult Living in Phoenix, Arizona.
For more information, he can be reached at 480-949-0006, or visit their website: www.ArcadiaEstate.com.

'Boomers' are at the point in our lives when we must come to grips with how to care for our aging parents. Most of our parents don't need to be in a nursing home. They aren't sick. But, their abilities to do things like cook, keep the house clean, bathe properly, and so forth, are diminishing. We're worried about them falling and being hurt, not being able to get up, not being able to get to the phone to call for help, not remembering to turn off the stove, and a host of other things we do without a second thought when we are younger.

There are 'big box' assisted living 'centers.' Many are impersonal, spartan places in which the ratio of staff to residents is too low for personalized attention to be given to a resident.

Then there are converted regular residences, modified for assisted living requirements. The modifications are limited. Hallways and bathroom doors cannot be widened, the number of bathrooms cannot be increased, and wheelchair access is often limited. If such a home that is licensed by the State for ten residents has only the State required two bathrooms, one of which is in the master suite, some residents must traipse through other residents' bedroom.

New assisted living homes are being planned, designed, and built especially to meet this need. They will have extra large living rooms, up to ten private bedroom/bathroom suites, kitchens capable of regularly serving ten to fifteen people, and wheelchair access throughout. They will have bonus rooms equipped for in-house hair cutting and beauty treatments, physical therapy and massage, and multiple game rooms and possibly even a home theater. Such a home, the first of its kind in Arizona, was built three years ago, and is being operated by the author of this article.