We are faced with a question that affects, and will affect, a senior’s choice in care. When is care at home both appropriate and cost effective, and at what point is it time to move into seniors housing? On January 19th, we hosted a webinar called “Home Health vs. Seniors Housing,” where a panel including moderator Steve Monroe of The SeniorCare Investor, Rita Altman of Sunrise Senior Living, William Dombi of The National Association of Home Care & Hospice and Debbie Reilly of Belmont Village Senior Living discussed the competing and complementary roles these two levels of care provide in the health care continuum. If you are interested in hearing the conversation, here’s the 90-minute webinar. But in addition to hearing the insights of our panelists, we also wanted to hear from the audience. So we asked four poll questions and here are the results:
- If you need assistance with two or three Activates of Daily Living (bathing, dressing, etc…), which is the more expensive alternative?
- Seniors Housing – 68%
- Staying at home with home health care – 32%
- Where would you like to see your elderly parents live when they become frail?
- Move into seniors housing – 62%
- Stay at home with home health care – 38%
- Where do you want to live when you are 85 and need some care?
- Move into seniors housing – 53%
- Stay at home with home health care – 47%
- Do you think federal and state policies and funding will be moving more towards funding home health care?
- Yes – 73%
- No – 27%
In the webinar, our moderator, Steve Monroe, estimated the average costs for assisted living versus staying at home with home health care. Taking into account rent and care, assisted living came to approximately $4,000 per month, while including rent, care, food, utilities and repair/housekeeping when living at home, your total costs averaged $3,575 per month. What that difference in cost will be in the coming years, with rising acuity, rising wages, the health of the housing market, we do not know. But looking at the audience, they see home health as a more appealing option for them in the future, rather than for their parents now. And a majority of our listeners believe that government sees a bright future in home health care too. What do you think?
