{"id":269248,"date":"2020-09-19T05:28:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T09:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=269248"},"modified":"2020-09-19T05:28:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T09:28:06","slug":"a-pandemic-upshot-seniors-are-having-second-thoughts-about-where-to-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/09\/19\/a-pandemic-upshot-seniors-are-having-second-thoughts-about-where-to-live\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pandemic Upshot: Seniors Are Having Second Thoughts About Where to Live"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some people who planned to move to senior housing are now choosing to live independently rather than communally. (Pexels photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Where do we want to live in the years ahead?<\/p>\n

Older adults are asking this question anew in light of the ongoing toll of the coronavirus pandemic \u2014 disrupted lives, social isolation, mounting deaths. Many are changing their minds.<\/p>\n

Some people who planned to move to senior housing are now choosing to live independently rather than communally. Others wonder whether transferring to a setting where they can get more assistance might be the right call.<\/p>\n

These decisions, hard enough during ordinary times, are now fraught with uncertainty as the economy falters and COVID-19 deaths climb, including tens of thousands in nursing homes and assisted living centers.<\/p>\n

Teresa Ignacio Gonzalvo and her husband, Jaime, both 68, chose to build a house rather than move into a continuing care retirement community when they relocate from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Indianapolis later this year to be closer to their daughters.<\/p>\n

Having heard about lockdowns around the country because of the coronavirus, Gonzalvo said, \u201cWe\u2019ve realized we\u2019re not ready to lose our independence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alissa Ballot, 64, is planning to leave her 750-square-foot apartment in downtown Chicago and put down roots in a multigenerational cohousing community where neighbors typically share dining and recreation areas and often help one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned during this pandemic is that personal relationships matter most to me, not place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kim Beckman, 64, and her husband, Mike, were ready to give up being homeowners in Victoria, Texas, and join a 55-plus community or rent in an independent living apartment building in northern Texas before COVID-19 hit.<\/p>\n

Now, they\u2019re considering buying an even bigger home because \u201cif you\u2019re going to be in the house all the time, you might as well be comfortable,\u201d Beckman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone I know is talking about this,\u201d said Wendl Kornfeld, 71, who lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She has temporarily tabled the prospect of moving into a continuing care retirement community being built in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband and I are going to play it by ear; we want to see how things play out\u201d with the pandemic, she said.<\/p>\n

In Kornfeld\u2019s circles, people are more committed than ever to staying in their homes or apartments as long as possible \u2014 at least at the moment. Their fear: If they move to a senior living community, they might be more likely to encounter a COVID outbreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us have heard about the huge number of deaths in senior facilities,\u201d Kornfeld said. But people who stay in their own homes may have trouble finding affordable help there when needed, she acknowledged.<\/p>\n

More than 70,000 residents and staff members in nursing homes and assisted living facilities had died of COVID-19 by mid-August, according to the latest count from KFF<\/a> (Kaiser Family Foundation). This is an undercount because less than half of states are reporting data for COVID-19 in assisted living. Nor is data reported for people living independently in senior housing. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF.)<\/p>\n

Nervousness about senior living has spread as a result, and in July, the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care reported the lowest occupancy rates<\/a> since the research organization started tracking data 14 years ago. Occupancy dropped more in assisted living (a 3.2% decline from April through June, compared with January through March) than in independent living (a 2.4% decline). The organization doesn\u2019t compile data on nursing homes.<\/p>\n

In a separate NIC survey of senior housing executives in August<\/a>, 74% said families had voiced concerns about moving in as COVID cases spiked in many parts of the country.<\/p>\n

Overcoming Possible Isolation<\/strong><\/p>\n

The potential for social isolation is especially worrisome, as facilities retain restrictions on family visits and on group dining and activities. (While states have started to allow visits outside<\/a> at nursing homes and assisted living centers, most facilities don\u2019t yet allow visits inside \u2014 a situation that will increase frustration when the weather turns cold.)<\/p>\n

Beth Burnham Mace, NIC\u2019s chief economist and director of outreach, emphasized that operators have responded aggressively by instituting new safety and sanitation protocols, moving programming online, helping residents procure groceries and other essential supplies, and communicating regularly about COVID-19, both on-site and in the community at large, much more regularly.<\/p>\n

Mary Kazlusky, 76, resides in independent living at Heron\u2019s Key, a continuing care retirement community in Gig Harbor, Washington, which is doing all this and more with a sister facility, Emerald Heights in Redmond, Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all feel safe here,\u201d she said. \u201cEven though we\u2019re strongly advised not to go into each other\u2019s apartments, at least we can see each other in the hall and down in the lobby and down on the decks outside. As far as isolation, you\u2019re isolating here with over 200 people: There\u2019s somebody always around.\u201d<\/p>\n

One staff member at Heron\u2019s Key tested positive for COVID-19 in August but has recovered. Twenty residents and staff members tested positive at Emerald Heights. Two residents and one staff member died.<\/p>\n

Colin Milner, chief executive officer of the International Council on Active Aging, stresses that some communities are doing a better job than others. His organization recently published a report on the future of senior living<\/a> in light of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

It calls on operators to institute a host of changes, including establishing safe visiting areas for families both inside and outside; providing high-speed internet services throughout communities; and ensuring adequate supplies of masks and other forms of personal protective equipment for residents and staff, among other recommendations.<\/p>\n

Some families now wish they\u2019d arranged for older relatives to receive care in a more structured environment before the pandemic started. They\u2019re finding that older relatives living independently, especially those who are frail or have mild cognitive impairments, are having difficulty managing on their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hearing from a lot of people \u2014 mostly older daughters \u2014 that we waited too long to move Mom or Dad, we had our head in the sand, can you help us find a place for them,\u201d said Allie Mazza, who owns Brandywine Concierge Senior Services in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

While many operators instituted move-in moratoriums early in the pandemic, most now allow new residents as long as they test negative for COVID-19. Quarantines of up to two weeks are also required before people can circulate in the community.<\/p>\n

Many older adults, however, simply don\u2019t have the financial means to make a move. More than half of middle-income seniors \u2014 nearly 8 million older adults \u2014 can\u2019t afford independent living or assisted living communities, according to a study<\/a> published last year. And more than 7 million seniors are poor,<\/a> according to the federal Supplemental Poverty Measure, which includes out-of-pocket medical expenses and other drains on cash reserves.<\/p>\n

Questions to Ask<\/strong><\/p>\n

For those able to consider senior housing, experts suggest you ask several questions:<\/p>\n