Elder Housing and Care Project

Quality of Life Housing Solution

 

June 15, 2006

 

 

Siksika and Blood Nation Tribes, Alberta Canada Elder Housing and HealthCare

 

 

Dr. John G. Cull Memorial Project

 

 

 

Collaboration Between

Private Funding Community – Joint Venture Partnership

 

And

 

Elder LifeCare Foundation

Quality of Life Solutions

 

Reno, Nevada

775 624-6910

 

info@elderlifecare.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background and Philosophy - Housing and Quality of Life. …….  Page    3

 

Elder Housing Strategy……………………………………………..   Page    6

 

Target Population Sample…..……………………………………….  Page   9

 

Home Design………..………………………………………………… Page 10

 

Builder and Estimates………………………………………………… Page 19

 

Community Plan View and Building Site Considerations…………. Page 20

 

HealthCare Grant.…………………………………………………….  Page 22

 

HealthCare Cost Estimates………………………………………….. Page 24

 

VCU Medical Center Endorsement ……..………………………….  Page 25

 

Organizational Considerations…….………………………………… Page 26

 

Appendix (Resources).……………………………………………….  Page 27

 

 

 

This Project Description addresses the following issues:

 

Ø      Reason for Elder LifeCare Foundation Approach

Ø      Elder Housing Strategy

Ø      Method of Identifying Grantees

Ø      Housing Design and Construction

Ø      Available Contractors

Ø      Site Criteria

Ø      HealthCare Grant, Costs and Validation

Ø      Organizational Structure

Ø      Resources with the Capacity to Perform

 

Background and Philosophy: Housing and Quality of Life

 

 

The Elder LifeCare Foundation

 

The Elder LifeCare Foundation is the vision of William R. Lenhard, II, Ph.D. He became aware early in adult life the plight of the elderly in the United States. That insight was followed shortly by the insight that the elderly around the world lived in highly undesirable circumstances. As a result of this insight he enlisted the collaboration of a friend and colleague, John G. Cull, Ph.D., a pioneer and founder of the Rehabilitation Counseling programs at the Medical College of Virginia. At first this awareness and insight led to a decision to “change the system.” Within a year of this commitment it became patently clear the system was broken and beyond repair. The solution lay not in systemic repair, but in a total systemic revision or a paradigm shift. They chose a paradigm shift that led to the foundation and development of the Elder LifeCare Foundation, a 501(c) 3 organization.

 

In this paradigm shift they have made elemental changes throughout the field of elder housing that quite well may have severely limiting or even fatal effects on the elder housing field. These elemental changes transcend financial issues and the provision of treatment issues in:

 

Long Term Acute Care

Skilled Nursing Care

Extended Living

Hospice Care, and

Assisted Living. 

 

 

Aging in Pain in America

 

Since the 1930’s, government programs have been developed to control the living circumstances of elderly citizens. The original intent was to improve the quality of life in later years. Social programs for aging people, built largely on financial strategies, are beginning to receive a thorough review. For most aging Americans, it is fair to state that these programs have not achieved their goal and for most of the aging Americans they failed in the promises they made.

 

Looking back, we now know that government policies intended to relieve social problems actually resulted in a loss of choice and control for working people. They were harmed in many ways by this, but mostly in the area of their livelihood, their mobility, their choices of affiliation in neighborhoods, and their sense of security in times of great social and financial change. Government policies simultaneously confiscated income while forcing families to delegate to others the care of their children and, increasingly, their dependent elders. Given the pre-determined and fixed financial outcomes of these programs, our elders have lost the ability to control the circumstances of their own existence. In many ways, they have become the custodians of their own misery, one that leads to an empty vagrancy as well as social isolation, stress, anxiety and depression. In fact, these policies and programs accelerate the process of dying.

 

 

Financial Impacts on Loss of Control

 

A major contributor to unhappiness in later years is the financial consequence associated with housing. Over a lifetime, many working people are able to build and control value in only one major asset, their home. After retirement, with each passing year, the house becomes a source of worry. Continued costs and the physical challenges of upkeep continue to escalate. Sudden and inevitable financial burdens or emergencies only serve to lessen the person’s sense of power and control. As time goes by, the house becomes increasingly unaffordable but the prospect of moving has new financial challenges that often remove all prospects of hope. More often than not, elders are recruited to planned housing alternatives designed specifically to help them with increasingly difficult support needs. Institutional housing decisions bear significant costs that often can equal or exceed the profits realized from the sale of the home. Compounding their financial difficulties, government policies are designed to continue taxing elders as if they were still involved in the earning years of their development. Even their social security benefits are taxable.

 

The financial burdens of personal support expenses, taxes, and the loss of capital from either maintaining the first home or moving leave our elders in a dependent position with a diminished sense of personal control. Worse yet, as many elders report, institutional living is not like home. Downsizing to a planned elder community brings contrived socialization, sterile and empty aesthetics, loss of many possessions, and new meaning to the word isolation.

 

The decline in quality of life can be attributed to both overly zealous social engineering as well as limited financial choices. Through its unique grant funding approach, Elder LifeCare Foundation is able to offer solutions that will dramatically affect the ability of elders to gain control over their lives and enjoy the benefits of a quality life. This is achieved by rejecting many of the financial and social engineering mechanisms put in place over the past 75 years in the United States. As always during the history of this country the solutions to the “Aging Problems” in America lay in the private sector not the governmental sector.

Pathway to a New Life

 

The broad concept of an elder housing and care program, originally conceived at Johns Hopkins University, was used to develop the philosophical and conceptual base of the Elder LifeCare Foundation. The basic benefit gained by typical elderly citizens is it enables them to overcome financial challenges. Participants in the programs of the foundation regain a sense of choice and control in their lives. Their array of life choices will be enhanced in many ways by this, but mostly in the areas of their livelihood, their mobility, their choices of affiliation in neighborhoods, and their sense of security in times of great social and financial change. In addition, elders can access a wide array of support services necessary through private sector advocacy initiatives completely outside government regulatory environments. And all these services are available to the elderly individual without cost for the remainder of his life.

 

For the first time ever, Elder LifeCare Foundation is able to use the power and resources of the private sector to overcome the negative effects of government-funded, institutional alternatives commonly known as long term care residential facilities. Institutional living environments rob people of choice, are burdened by financial agenda, and have enormous political and bureaucratic costs.

 

The foundation’s unique approach is designed specifically to provide outcomes that restore control, bring the comforts of social compatibility, relieve financial pressure, and encourage independence. We see our program as a highly desirable, healthy alternative to the current consequences of living in a tightly controlled, overly restricted, planned society.

 

 

Financial Freedom: Your own house and support services

 

Through a proprietary funding approach exclusively licensed to the foundation, Elder LifeCare is able to provide lifetime housing as an insurable interest benefit. Eligible elders will be offered a lifetime grant that will provide housing, healthcare, social services, and other support services that will enable them to live in harmony with like-minded friends, remain close to relatives, and enjoy the freedom and power of remaining in control of their lives. The Foundation’s grant will enable each elder to have access to a quality home in an exclusive elder neighborhood designed and built by an experienced team that includes architects, contractors and professionals in the area of aging studies.

 

Residents of the eldercare neighborhoods make their own decisions and as such they maintain power and control. Since there are no closing costs and no mortgages to face, cash from the sale of a present home remains the property of the resident allowing for more choice and financial opportunities. Life Tenancy Rights are absolute, without interference, and are subject to standards set by the residents themselves. Residents enjoy all the benefits of home ownership without the burden or costs of maintenance. Interior maintenance and amenities are included. In addition, residents will have full access to a professional building and will hire a dedicated physician fully paid under the grant to provide health and restorative services in a convenient manner.

 

Residents are encouraged to be “captains of their own ships”. Financial independence is strengthened by the profitable sale of existing homes and elimination of costs of home maintenance. New cars, a trip, dining out, a boat, or even owning another home become affordable possibilities entirely under their control.

 

 

The Neighborhood

 

A park like setting, tree lined walkways, well-lighted paved streets, and inviting aesthetics will characterize the eldercare neighborhood. The design will harmonize lifestyle with support needs while accommodating visits by family and friends. It is a house in a neighborhood that, in a deliberate and planful manner, acquires character of a community of people with shared social, religious, or cultural backgrounds. While importing the values of its residents, it will carry the message of dignity, freedom, and of a life always dreamed.

 

The Foundation discourages any outside efforts to prescribe social values or formulas for community composition. Instead, great pains will be taken to achieve preservation of shared values and preferences of community residents.

 

 

Elder Housing Strategy

 

The primary goal of the Elder LifeCare Foundation is the development, design and construction of new homes to maximize housing choices for elders in the United States by promoting a wider range of housing options that are appropriately accessible, well designed, affordable, and marketable.

 

Elders consistently have told the Elder LifeCare Foundation they wish to live independently in the community as long as they are able. Living in a home adapted to one's needs and abilities, affordable to maintain and with ready access to needed support services is an essential condition for independence. The Elder LifeCare Foundation initiative came about in response to the growing expectations of elders for a wider range of housing choices. The underlying philosophy - maximizing choices - points the way to a future in which changing lifestyles will necessarily result in a wide range of new options.

 

The production of the plan was a complex undertaking, requiring much expert advice and many meetings of a multivariate task force, facilitated by the Johns Hopkins School of Senior Housing and Care and the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at VCU Medical Center and scores of consultants.

 

 

Elder Housing Needs May Be Different

 

In Environment and Aging, Powell Lawton said "although the most important generalization in gerontology may be that older people are, on the whole, pretty much like the rest of us, there is an important message: where older people do differ from the capabilities of those of younger people, unique needs requiring unique satisfiers may result. Hence, the suggestion that what is good for people in general will be good for the elderly is only partly true.”

 

Lawton's statement reinforces the importance of maximizing housing choices for elders. It gives us a framework within which to identify the unique needs of the elderly, suggesting that we look for age-related differences in capabilities that affect housing needs.

 

Functional capability affects how we accomplish our daily activities in our environment. This capability may be only loosely related to aging: a younger person may have more or less functional capability than an older person. Planning for future changes in functional capacity is an important part of housing design.

 

The rate of change of all five senses varies widely among people in the same age group; one person at a certain age may have much better use of specific senses than another who is younger in chronological terms. Generally speaking, however, older people as a group tend to experience sensory impairments or reductions. Also possible are mobility limitations ranging from weakness because of frailty or illness, through stiff joints and bad backs, tremors, and loss of coordination, to situations requiring the use of a walking aid or wheelchair.

 

Principles of universal design can compensate for many of these losses. Wall and floor surfaces that reduce reflected sound help those people with impaired hearing carry on a conversation. Strong and well-diffused lighting can improve depth perception and minimize shadows, helping a person see that next step more clearly. Furniture arrangements should let people sit closely enough to see and hear each other comfortably.

 

The psychosocial aspects of aging have an impact on our housing needs as well. As occupational and family roles change, different activity patterns result. More time may be spent in the home, making its design more critical to the resident. Changes in roles also affect the need for support from social support services. Living environments should allow for the many qualities and lifestyles that tend to distinguish elders from the population at large.

 

Given that differences resulting from the aging process do exist, it is fair to examine how well they are taken into account in housing design standards. Do special needs that tend to be associated with aging require more, better, or different treatment? Existing standards for housing may mention the special needs of elderly people in passing, but they often fail to provide consistent provisions to meet these needs. Designs for Elder LifeCare Foundation’s elder housing initiatives are based on the standards developed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, using a framework of universal design to accommodate the functional limitations of a broad range of elders. At the core of the plan is the concept of barrier-free design, but design which still allows for customization to suit individual needs and preferences.

 

Barrier-free Design 

 

Design is said to be barrier-free when an environment contains no architectural, communication, design, or psychological features that might prevent anyone, able-bodied or impaired, from using the environment to the full extent of his or her abilities. It is useful to examine the implications of this definition from two points of view: existing environments, and those on the drawing board.

 

Most of us have seen the ramps, lower drinking fountains, grab bars, wider parking spaces, and amplifying telephones that are among the more obvious attempts to make the environment more accessible to people with functional impairments. Accessibility modifications to an existing home can range from buying a few simple aids and devices for daily living to a full retrofit job with ramps and lifts at changes of level and a remodeled kitchen and bathroom. The driving considerations are the nature and degree of functional capability of the individual resident, not to mention financial resources.

 

When a building is in the planning stage, however, the opportunity exists to create good, accessible design that minimizes or eliminates obvious barriers prior to construction. There can be no excuse for designing a sunken living room, a tiny bathroom or narrow doorways. Barrier-free design is founded on the principle of promoting continuing utilization, and takes into account the possibility of future changes in functional capacity. The Elder LifeCare Foundation design approach reflects this by describing design criteria that will suit residents with a range of functional ability, so that all individuals, regardless of strength or mobility, will find the environment safe and negotiable at all times. Simply put, design that takes into account the full range of physical needs will respond to the needs of the greatest number of residents.

Conclusion

 

People of all ages want to know that their basic life-supporting requirements are taken care of; that their housing and immediate physical environment are affordable, accessible and comfortable; that they are safe and secure from intrusion, attack, or extremes of weather; and that they can work or engage in a variety of activities and make and maintain social contacts. Privacy, control, security, freedom of choice, independence, and self-sufficiency are important to all of us.

 

Many factors play a role in housing design for elders such as physical and sensory changes, shifting social patterns and needs, and altered economic circumstances. Maximizing housing choices that incorporate good design to respond to these factors can improve the quality of life for elders.

 

 

Target Population Sample

 

Elder LifeCare Foundation is interested in serving the quality of life needs of all persons over the age of 70. Elder people thrive best living in circumstances where they are close to people of like mind, similar values, and common experiences. Many religious groups, clubs, occupational groups, academic, and cultural associations have expressed interest in having their elder members apply for grants from the Foundation. 

 

The first collaborative agenda that the Elder LifeCare Foundation is developing is between the Private Funding Community, The Siksika and Blood Tribes of Alberta Canada, and the Foundation. This collaborative agenda will be designed to produce integrated Siksika and Blood Tribe neighborhoods inhabited with elderly Tribal members from Alberta. This neighborhood will be an informal, closely-knit group of like-minded persons; while allowing the retirees to serve, volunteer, recreate, create, or rest in a manner of their own choosing.

 

Presently, the status of this first collaborative agenda has moved from successful discussions with representatives of the tribes, Darlene Yellow Old Woman and Chris Shade, whose understanding is that the tribe’s commitment is only to arrange for introductions between the prospective residents and the Foundation. The Foundation’s role is to inform elder tribal members about its grant programs. The choice of whether or not to participate is left entirely to the discretion of each tribal member. It also is understood, that the community itself is empowered to make all decisions regarding the involvement of the Blood Indian Nation and Siksika Chief and Council.

 

The Foundation appreciates the need for community standards and, potentially, covenants and tenets of the association. However, neither the Foundation nor the Tribal Nations will have any power or authority over the residents for imposing rules of association or setting community agenda. The Foundation’s purpose is to enable self-determination for elder residents of its housing communities, not to set the rules of interpersonal engagement, conduct, or association.

 

From elder persons who decide to participate in the Foundation’s grant programs, permission will be sought that the Foundation be allowed to become the applicant-owner-beneficiary of a life insurance policy designed to protect the Foundation’s financial risk and to ensure that funds are available to serve the needs of future generations of elders.

 

 

Home Design

 

In the spirit of the quaint colonial villages of the South, home designs represent a comfortable collection of private homes nestled in a charming countryside gated community setting inside the Tribal properties. Each of these unique and luxurious homes is designed to transport its residents to another world – a place where scenery, sense of adventure, and timeless beauty all play together.

From a brook that winds its way just outside your windows to a rich tapestry of towering trees and wildflowers just beyond your door, elder dream homes become a reality. ADA compliant design, distinctive floor plans, and countless options, creating that elder dream home in the Alberta never has been easier.

Interior Design Elements

 

· Fireplace Surround - Great Room - The fireplace surround begins with the beautiful exterior stone flowing from the hearth up to the rich, wood mantle. The overall look gives the feeling of a cozy retreat.

 

· Master Bedroom – Abundant space, ample storage and private bath

 

· Kitchen – Solid surface countertops - Thick, curved moldings edge the countertops in the kitchen and master bath.

 

· Architectural Millwork & Interior Trim - The doors and windows will appear as having been set into true plastered walls. Here, a thin edge reveals a frame that surrounds and holds the door in place. The plaster wall turns gently into this frame as a bullnose edge completes this detail.

 

· A simple base with clean lines will finish off the walls in this home. This baseboard will be painted to contrast slightly with the wall color.

 

· Beautiful crown moldings in specified room locations - this molding will have a simple, cove design which is painted with light hues to accent the room

 

· Window sills in this home will have a Craftsmen style look and a painted finish to follow along with the overall style of the home.

 

· Cabinets - Throughout the home, built-in, semi-customized cabinetry will feature colonial styling in beautiful hard woods. The utility/laundry room will have built-in cabinetry in a white Decoform finish for functionality.

 

· Door Hardware - As a beautiful way to finish off the doors in this home, they will have old world colonial style levers with brass finish.

 

· Interior Walls - Walls will be finished in a two-tone paint with beautifully stained doors.

 

· Choice of Flooring – Choice of either wood or wall to wall carpeting or a combination.

 

· Plumbing – The homes feature a beautiful Kohler plumbing package that is functional and stylish. The finishes in this package are upgraded to complement the style of the home.

 

· Appliances - This home offers an appliance package with finishes that are considered to be upper-end in the industry.

.

· Air-Conditioning - Summertime will be comfortable as air-conditioning comes standard.

 

· Interior Designer – Ten hours of interior designer assistance is available in making selections.

Exterior Design Elements

 

· Mail Boxes - designed per the Elder LifeCare Foundation Elder Housing Association specifications

 

· Address Numbers - black wrought iron to match the style of the home

 

· Walkways & Driveways - will be formed with standard size pavers for safety and attractiveness

 

· Landscaping - In order for homes to maintain a consistent landscape theme, Artistic Gardens will provide custom-designed landscaping for the yard.

 

· Roofing – Low maintenance, long life, and high quality designed to conform to and compliment the house styling.

 

· Rain Gutters - Drainage of rain water is led away from doorways with custom copper gutters. The copper will age over time.

 

· Windows - These are metal clad, wood, colonial style windows with crossed frames and windowpanes. Finish color varies from house to house.

 

· Front Door - There are three door selections to choose from in a colonial style that will be stained to complement the house.

 

· Exterior Walls - The visual look is orchestrated to achieve a traditional appearance.

 

 

Community Development Considerations

 

10+ acre development close to Richmond, Virginia

30 Houses @ 2000 square feet.

Construction Cost Wholesale for Eastern Region - $112.86 Sq. Ft.*

3000 Sq. Ft. Professional Services Building

Age range of new occupants: 70 –84

30 couples or 60 occupants total

ADA Compliant

Amenities

Gated Community

Paved Streets

Lighted walkways

A park

Bench seating throughout neighborhood

Abundant landscaping

Pool

 

 

*Figures supplied by National Builders Associations. This cost does not include the value of the house in a completed neighborhood with Community/ Professional Services building, swimming pool, etc. The “book” value of a home in such a neighborhood is approximately $450,000.

 

 

 

Sample House Plan #001

 

Functional split floor plan layout. This home offers many of the features consistent with a Central Virginia style design, including an expansive master suite with his and her walk-in closets, jet-tub, and walk-in shower. Large sunroom and breakfast area for those lazy weekend mornings. Large great room with built-in cabinets and gas log fireplace. Plenty of storage space. Large utility room. Home office space with optional half-bath.

 

 

Rear Elevation

Square Foot (2019 Heated Sq. Ft.)

 

In a completed neighborhood including the Community Professional Services Building, swimming pool, the price of land, common area landscaping, individual home landscaping, the deck, porch, septic tank/sewage system, water, any other utility hook-ups, and driveway the “book” value of this home is between $684,000 and $912,000.

Sample House Plan #002

 

This elegant country porch style home is both classic and contemporary. From the inviting front porch to the screened porch and deck, this home provides dramatic spaces, luxurious appointments, and true flexibility. Its innovative design provides an abundance of living area, flexible multi-purpose rooms, and exciting features, all in an affordable 1992 square feet.

 

Rear Elevation

 

Square Foot (1992 Heated Sq. Ft.)

 

In a completed neighborhood including the Community Professional Services Building, swimming pool, the price of land, common area landscaping, individual home landscaping, the deck, porch, septic tank/sewage system, water, any other utility hook-ups, and driveway the “book” value of this home is between $684,000 and $912,000.

Sample House Plan #003

 

This plan offers a great layout with a variety of innovative features that serve to make this house a great value. An expansive master bedroom with raised ceiling and plenty of storage space in the two walk-in closets. Master bath features oversized jet tub and separate shower. Large, open great room with trayed ceiling and gas log fireplace. Covered front and rear porches for those evening sunsets with your family. Plenty of storage space. This house even includes a large space that can be used as an office / dining / computer room.

 

Rear Elevation

Square Foot (2019 Heated Sq. Ft.)

 

In a completed neighborhood including the Community Professional Services Building, swimming pool, the price of land, common area landscaping, individual home landscaping, the deck, porch, septic tank/sewage system, water, any other utility hook-ups, and driveway the “book” value of this home is between $684,000 and $912,000.

 

 

 

Builder and Estimates

 

Preferred Builder: Kjellstrom and Lee, 1607 Ownby Lane, Richmond, VA 23220-1318.  (804) 288-0082.

 

Over the years Kjellstrom and Lee, Inc. has put in place over $1.30 billion in construction work. While most of this work has been in the commercial (office), health care, assisted living/continuing care, retail, and industrial markets, we have also completed hotels and educational and special use facilities. Founded by N. David Kjellstrom and Harry G. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, Kjellstrom and Lee, Inc. has maintained a continuous presence since 1961, providing preconstruction and construction services for clients throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Since its establishment, the company has put in place over $1.3 billion in construction.  From their first construction project in Richmond, Kjellstrom and Lee has become known throughout the state as a contractor who can consistently be counted on to deliver a quality project while striving to meet each client's unique requirements. This approach has forged ongoing relationships with clients such SunTrust Bank, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, St. Mary's Hospital, and Westminster Canterbury, to name only a few. Even more unique to Kjellstrom and Lee is the fact that the principals are the senior management of the company, actively involved on a daily basis. This underscores the foundation of K&L - our commitment to our employees and clients. Each of these individuals maintains a daily hands-on role in K&L's work to make sure we maintain and improve our commitment to our clients.

 

Estimate of Work

 

Housing Development Benefit – 30 Houses

 

Total Development Value
Adjusted Value
Land	$1,000,000
Housing	$9,000,000
Professional Building	$564,825
Amenities	$329,400
Total Development	$10,894,225

 

Community Plan View and Building Site Considerations

 

Example 10 Acre Plan View

 

 

Color Code

Streets ---------

Gated Wall ---

 

Average Available Site Costs. Henrico County. Sample Property #1

13.58 Acres - $975,000

Per Acre Cost - $71,000

Utilities present: Electric service at street, Telephone service available, Henrico, VA 23231  MLS ID#: 2607865

 

Sample Property #2 (Waterfront)

26.7 Acres - $1,000,000

Per Acre Cost - $37,000

Utilities present: Electric service at street, Telephone service available

Henrico, VA 23231  MLS ID#: 2604675

Property Acquisition Advisor

Architect/Broker - Glenn P. Thomason

Realty Design Group, LLC

1456 Hermitage Road

Manakin-Sabot, Virginia 23103

804-784-4840

HealthCare Grant

 

 

HealthCare Issues

 

Besides housing, the Elder LifeCare Foundation is dedicated to filling the gap between existing healthcare benefits provided by Medicare and the circumstances where sources of payment are unavailable due to co-payments, deductibles, or the nature of the service required (such as assistive technology) to support a meaningful quality of life. Managed care and utilization review personnel sometimes make decisions that are not always in the best interests of elders. Such organizations are profit driven and often incapable of making an effective response to human pain and suffering.

 

As people age, their physical and mental functioning support needs become more important. Too frequently, health care has been placed in the hands of personnel with insufficient experience, training, substandard pay, communication difficulties, lack of compassion, lack of job commitment, absenteeism, histories of abuse and neglect, and poor judgment. In the tripartite long-term care model, everyone loses. Residents and workers are equally angry, depressed and lonely.  The social engineers and the long-term care industry have evolved a model where one at-risk group is placed in charge of another at-risk group. The results have been disastrous.

 

Finally, physicians who serve the elderly find their practice compromised by a system more focused on paper rules than healthcare delivery. Many private physician practices reach a caseload of 2500 patients or more. In such a warehouse system of service delivery, the patient becomes lost, the physician is over-stressed, and quality healthcare is compromised as a result. 

 

 

Foundation Response

 

Elder LifeCare Foundation believes that all elder people deserve respect and courtesy as reflected by the best available healthcare services. The Foundation offers a solution that allows the control over healthcare decisions to be made by the resident, not the system. The Foundation’s HealthCare Grant provides for the following benefits:

 

Ø      Selected by residents in the community, a fully qualified physician is hired by the community to provide full time primary medical care to sixty residents. The physician’s role will extend to project manager with authority to hire and oversee home-caregivers and other healthcare workers as needed to provide for the needs of current residents. The mix of impairments and service needs will change from time to time, and from community to community, and the physician is able to alter the skill mix of personnel accordingly.

 

Ø      On the authority and request of a resident, spouse, close relative or the community physician, caregiver services, whether part-time or full-time, will be paid by the Foundation on a supplemental basis up to a fixed amount.

 

Ø      Whenever a resident is unable to secure necessary healthcare services recommended by the resident’s private physician or community physician, the Foundation will contribute to the cost of those services. Providers may also be paid by the Foundation in circumstances where the timely delivery of services is delayed by schedules, billing snafus, or other conflicts that would seriously impair the health or quality of life for the resident.

 

This level of support by the Foundation will be achieved by two methods at the election and with the permission of the residents. The Foundation will be allowed private healthcare insurance coverage to supplement Medicare and the Foundation will set aside a monthly reimbursement account for each resident that will accumulate in value if unused.

 

 

HealthCare Cost Estimates

 

 

Schedule of Likely Services (Covered by Grant)