Exploding the Myths Surrounding Long Term Care

The twilight years. They can bring with them a variety of challenges. Memory may not be what it once was. Reactions slow down, getting around is not as easy anymore. Just like a car as it is used over many, many years and miles, we accumulate problems, and as those problems accumulate in our late eighties and nineties, we see the results of it in terms of vulnerability, and eventually the frailty, and loss of function of older people. For many elderly Americans, it is a time to admit that they may need a little extra help.

For many members of the elderly population such conditions can make it difficult or even dangerous to continue to live on their own. Because of the many misconceptions that still exist about long term care, making the decision to move to a nursing home or assisted living facility can be hard for seniors as well as their families. The professionals at The Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged fully understand this. For more then 50 years, the facility, nestled among the lush grounds known as Douglas Gardens, has been offering seniors a complete menu of care options all based on love, compassion and world class healthcare. Fred Stock COO. "The first thing that's unique about the Home is the fact that we are what I would call a multifaceted company. So not only are we a company or an organization that provides institutionally based services here in this location, we also provide a set of services that are based out in the community in many different settings. The other part about this campus that I think makes it unique is the fact that we also provide a range of assisted living and independent living services here on the site. So we have a 100 bed assisted living facility for individuals who don't need a nursing home but still need support and care in order to basically stay out of a skilled nursing facility. The intent is to really maintain people at their highest level of functioning. We also have an outpatient medical clinic here at the site. And we service our residents here in all the medical disciplines that one would get in the outside community. And while having access to state of the art medical treatment is important, it is not the only thing that can make a stay at a long term care facility healthy and fulfilling for the resident. Study after study has shown that seniors of all levels of functionality enjoy a better quality of life when exposed to an environment that looks and feels more like home. Michael Brodie, Director of Assisted Living at the home gives his observations. "In an environment like this alienation is common people getting lost in the cracks is common. This way you have something that is controllable; where people know where they are they know that they get personal care and attention. They don't ever feel lost and they feel at home, and this is supposed to be a home-like environment, and you not only have your apartment but really the large lobby downstairs, the dinning room the arts and crafts spaces the library these are all your spaces. The Synagogue, the juice bar the pool, these are your activity spaces when you live here. So it's nice to have that as home-like as possible. At the Home seniors also benefit from a broad range of proven recreational therapies that include pet and music sessions.

At over 100 years of age Margaret Stern has been living at the Miami Jewish Home since 1994. The centenarian says from the moment she arrived she felt welcome, and knew that coming here had been the right decision. "Well you know how old I am and you can't get much older then that. And no matter what age you're at, you can always take advantage of something nice you can do here, something that will make you happy, and something that will give you a smile or even a conversation with somebody, you're never alone and they are always doing wonderful things for you. I'm very content living here I don't think I could have done any better no matter where I went, and I think, I hope I'll feel that way to the day I die"

According to the Home's Medical Director "When someone comes to a place like this at any level one of the biggest challenges we have is to at one time preserve the feeling that this is their home, and on the other hand make available to them all the services they might need in the event that they become sick. Here we are particularly blessed in that we are able to have a home environment that is really apart form the medical center and the medical staff, yet just feet away, or a short tram ride away we have an out patient department that is staffed with five full time geriatricians a full time gero-psychiatrist. We have laboratories, radiology right here on campus. We have physical and speech therapy here on campus. All of these things are available should you need it. If you don't need it, well then this is your home and you would never see it."

It's a fact that Americans are remaining healthier and living longer than ever before. Yet for many, old age can still bring with it a variety of challenges, requiring long-term care. Architects and healthcare providers are working side by side to make the elderly feel as comfortable in their new residences, as they would in their own homes.