Senior Recess explains housing options

May 27--TRAVERSE CITY -- Clients usually are in crisis mode when they call Connie Hintsala, owner of the Kingsley-based Alliance for Senior Housing LLC.

That's because most seniors want to stay in their own homes as long as possible. So they don't plan to move into an assisted living facility. But then something happens that forces a move -- quickly. That's when Hintsala gets a call from someone who has just a week or two to move from their home of many years into a nursing home or other residential situation.

"Plan ahead," she advised the capacity crowd at Tuesday's Senior Housing Resource Recess at the Park Place Hotel. "Think about where you want to go."

A variety of assisted living options do business in the area, ranging from independent living apartments to full-care nursing homes.

Hintsala started the Alliance for Senior Housing almost two decades ago to advise seniors and their families on how to transition into assisted living. Alliance services are free to clients. It is compensated through facilities that register with the Alliance. More information is available at www.AllianceForSeniorHousing.com.

Hintsala also suggested that remaining at home, particularly if alone, may not be the best choice for seniors.

Members of the audience took part in a series of demonstrations intended to show that living alone can be hard for seniors as they begin to bear the burden of poor eyesight, difficulty getting up from a seated position, losing use -- temporarily -- of an arm or a leg, or experiencing tremors like those caused by Parkinson's disease.

But perhaps the most common condition suffered by seniors who live alone is social isolation, said Hintsala.

"That is the No. 1 problem among seniors these days," she said.

Isolation can lead to feelings of loneliness and eventually to all sorts of self-care issues.

Hintsala explained the differences among senior apartments, retirement centers, senior residential clubs, assisted living facilities, adult foster care facilities and nursing homes. She outlined the services each type of housing typically offers and how much each costs. A skilled nursing facility may charge up to $9,000 a month. Medicaid typically requires all but $60 of the person's monthly income go to the facility, and the Medicaid program pays any shortfall, she said.

She also outlined the various methods of payment for senior housing: private pay, Medicare, Medicaid, Medicaid Waiver (MiChoice), Aid & Attendance Pension for wartime veterans and spouses, and long-term care insurance.

She said the three most frequently asked questions about senior housing options are: How much? What time do they make me get up in the morning? What do I do if I don't like the food?

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