Tag Archives for AARP Foundation

Study Calls for Action on Creating Senior Housing for Middle-Income Seniors

Published in the Woonsocket Call on August 18, 2019

A recently released report sends a stark warning to federal and state policy makers and to the private senior housing sector. The report forewarns that in the coming years, a large number of middle-income seniors, who need assisted living with supportive services, will be priced out of this level of care.

Seniors housing in the United States is paid out of pocket by seniors with sufficient assets. A relatively small percentage of Americans have long-term care insurance policies to defray the costs. For seniors with the lowest incomes, Medicaid covers housing only in the skilled nursing setting, but increasingly also covers long-term services and supports in home and community-based settings. Programs such as low-income housing tax credits have helped finance housing for economically-disadvantaged seniors.

The researchers call on the government and the senior housing sector to step up and to assist the projected 14.4 million middle-income people over age 75, many with multiple chronic conditions, who won’t be able to afford pricey senior housing.

According to this first-of-its-kind study that appears in the April 24 2019 edition of Health Affairs, 54 percent of middle-income older Americans will not be able to meet yearly costs of $60,000 for assisted living rent and other out-of-pocket medical costs a decade from now, even if they generated equity by selling their home and committing all of their annual financial resources. The figure skyrockets, to 81 percent, if middle-income seniors in 2019 were to keep the assets they built in their home but commit the reset of their annual financial resources to cover costs associated with seniors housing and care.

Accompanying the senior housing study are two perspective pieces in Health Affairs on how society can adapt to aging and supporting aging in communities.

The study, “The Forgotten Middle: Many Middle-Income Seniors Will Have Insufficient Resources For Housing And Health Care, was conducted by researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago, with funding provided by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC), with additional support from AARP, the AARP Foundation, the John A. Hartford Foundation, and The SCAN Foundation.

Learning About the Needs of the Emerging ‘Middle Market’

“We still have a lot to learn about what the emerging ‘middle market’ wants from housing and personal care, but we know they don’t want to be forced to spend down into poverty, and we know that America cannot currently meet their needs,” said Bob Kramer, NIC’s founder and strategic adviser in a April 24, 2019, statement. “The future requires developing affordable housing and care options for middle-income seniors. This is a wake-up call to policymakers, real estate operators and investors,” he adds.

The report notes that significant financial challenges are expected to coincide with many middle-income seniors seeking seniors housing and care properties due to deteriorating health and other factors, such as whether a family member can serve as a caregiver. The study projects that by 2029, 60 percent of U.S. middle-income seniors over age 75 will have mobility limitations (8.7 million people), 67 percent will have three or more chronic conditions (9.6 million people), and 8 percent will have cognitive impairment (1.2 million people). For middle-income seniors age 85 and older, the prevalence of cognitive impairment nearly doubles.

The researchers say that this ‘middle market’ for seniors housing and care in 2029 will be more racially diverse, have higher educational attainment and income, and smaller families to recruit as unpaid caregivers than today’s seniors. Over the next 10 years, growth in the number of women will outpace men, with women comprising 58 percent of seniors 75 years old or older in 2029, compared to 56 percent in 2014, they say.

Bringing the Public and Private Sector Together

“In only a decade, the number of middle-income seniors will double, and most will not have the savings needed to meet their housing and personal care needs,” said Caroline Pearson, senior vice president at NORC at the University of Chicago and one of the study’s lead authors.

“Policymakers and the seniors housing community have a tremendous opportunity to develop solutions that benefit millions of middle-income people for years to come,” says Pearson.

Researchers say there is an opportunity for policymakers and the seniors housing and care sector to create an entirely new housing and care market for an emerging cohort of middle-income seniors not eligible for Medicaid and not able to pay for housing out of pocket in 2029.

The study’s analysis suggests that creating a new ‘middle market’ for seniors housing and care services will require innovations from the public and private sectors. Researchers say the private sectors can offer more basic housing products, better leverage technology, subsidize ‘middle-market’ residents with higher-paying residents, more robustly engage unpaid caregivers, and develop innovative real estate financing models, among other options.

As to the public sector, the researchers call on government to create incentives to build a robust new market for middle-income seniors by offering tax incentives targeted to the ‘middle market,’ expanding subsidy and voucher programs, expanding Medicare coverage of nonmedical services and supports, creating a Medicare benefit to cover long-term care, and broadening Medicaid’s coverage of home and community-based services.

“This research sets the stage for needed discussions about how the nation will care for seniors who don’t qualify for Medicaid but won’t be able to afford seniors housing,” said Brian Jurutka, NIC’s president and chief executive officer. “This discussion needs to include investors, care providers, policymakers, and developers working together to create a viable middle market for seniors housing and care,” he says.

Adds, Lisa Marsh Ryerson, President of AARP’s Foundation, “All seniors want to live in affordable, safe and supportive housing, and more than 19 million older adults are unable to do so. We must act now to implement innovative solutions – including robust aging-in-community efforts – to accommodate what is sure to be an increasing demand for housing that meets the needs of older adults.”

Is Rhode Island prepared to meet the senior housing needs of the state’s middle-income seniors in 2029? If not, the state’s federal delegation, lawmakers, state policy makers and the senior housing industry must begin to chip away at this looming policy issue.

To view the study, go to http://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05233.

Caregivers Flying Blind in Providing Complex Medical and Nursing Care

Published in the Woonsocket Call on April 21, 2019

Half of the nation’s 40 million family caregivers are performing intense and complicated medical and nursing tasks, managing multiple health conditions for their family members and friends, says a newly published AARP report.

AARP’s special report, “Home Alone Revisited: Family Caregivers Providing Complex Care,” released April 17, 2019, takes a close look at specific medical and nursing tasks (including giving injections, preparing special diets, managing tube feedings and even handling medical equipment) that family caregivers are currently doing. It’s a follow-up report to AARP’s 2012 Home Alone Study that took the first in-depth look at how caregivers managed providing complex medical and nursing care that was formerly offered by trained professionals.

Changes in the Health Care System Can Support Family Caregivers

“This report shows the extent of complex tasks that millions of family caregivers are providing every day. They are largely alone in learning how to perform these tasks,” said Susan Reinhard, RN, Ph.D., Senior vice president and Director, AARP Policy Institute, in a statement announcing the release of the a 56-page report. “About half of family caregivers are worried about making a mistake. We need to do a lot more across the health care system—with providers and hospitals—to help support these family caregivers,” says Reinhard.

Adds Rani E. Snyder, program director at The John A. Hartford Foundation, “Family caregivers are the linchpin in our health care system, particularly for older adults,” “This study shines new light on the diversity of family caregivers performing complex tasks—from men to millennials to multicultural populations—and is a rallying cry for an all hands-on-deck approach to creating age-friendly health systems that better support and prepare these often forgotten members of the health care team.”

The new statistics in this report shed more light on the demands of family caregiving,” said AARP Rhode Island State Director Kathleen Connell, a former nurse. “These described caregiving responsibilities sound like a task list for a team of home nurses, aides, dieticians, physical therapists and personal drivers who work without weekends off, much less vacations. Is there any question that people worry about making a mistake that compounds existing issues?,” she says.

“The takeaway is quite clear,” Connell added. “Caregiving is stressful and we need to expand efforts to provide assistance. And it’s a very big ‘we’ that I am speaking of. Families need to help out and share more responsibilities as well as offer respite for primary caregivers. Neighbors and extended family also can lend a hand. And we need government to continue to provide assistance through legislation that supports family caregivers. Caregiving responsibilities can be both daunting and exhausting. It’s the new reality. The good news is that as we raise awareness we can work together to improve the lives of caregivers, “ says Connell.

A Sampling of the AARP Report’s Findings

AARP’s Home Alone Revised Report report found that almost half of the caregiver respondents (48 percent) prepare special diets multiple times per day. Preparing these meals often involved taking precise measurements, following specific dietary guidelines, constant monitoring, and the use of special equipment for preparation and feeding.

Thirty percent of the respondents say preparing special diets are hard to manage, this being more challenging to men. Younger caregivers found it more difficult to manage this task than older caregivers.

The caregivers also reported that 54 percent of the survey’s respondents say they manage incontinence multiple times a day. Most say managing incontinence is more difficult than managing medications, helping with assistive devices and performing wound care. Seventy-six percent say they learned how to manage incontinence on their own. More than one in four would appreciate having assistance from another person to help.

According to AARP’s report, 70 percent of these caregivers are dealing with the emotional stress of managing pain relief in the middle of a national opioid crisis. More than four in 10 expressed concerns about giving the optimal dose. About four in 10 faced difficulties in controlling the pain of the care recipient.

Finally, 51 percent of the survey respondents assisted with canes, walkers, and other mobility devices while over a third (37 percent) dealt with wound care.

The researchers conclude that “uncomplicated world of ‘informal’ caregiving” no longer applies” to the nation’s caregivers. “In the current health care environment, it is presumed that every home is a potential hospital and every service that the person needs can be provided by an unpaid family member, with only occasional visits by a primary care provider, nurse or therapist,” say the researchers,” they say.

AARP’s Home Alone Revised Report is a must read for Congress and state lawmakers who can easily address the challenges caregivers face when providing medically complex care by crafting policies and programs that will provide support and resources to the nation’s growing number of caregivers.

This caregiving issue might be a good one for the U.S. Senate Special Committee Aging to study.

A Final Note…

AARP gathered the study’s data through a nationally representative, population-based, online survey of 2,089 family caregivers. This study employed an oversampling of multicultural groups, taking a closer look at difficult tasks, and putting greater attention on available resources and outcomes. The study’s sampling strategy ensured multicultural representation and investigated generational differences. Additionally, the researchers also explored certain topics in greater depth, including special diets, incontinence, pain, and the impact of social isolation on the caregiver.

The AARP Home Alone Study is a special report from the Founders of the Home Alone Alliance℠ (AARP, United Hospital Fund, Family Caregiver Alliance and UC Davis-Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing). With funding from The John A. Hartford Foundation to the AARP Foundation, the study took an in-depth look at the specific medical/nursing tasks that family caregivers are doing.

To read the full report, go to: https://www.AARP.org/ppi/info-2018/home-alone-family-caregivers-providing-complex-chronic-care.html.

Note: Updated April 22, 2018…