As older adults and their families opt out of nursing homes, a range of home and community-based services (HCBS) have risen up to provide care. HCBS span platforms and approaches, from home health care to assisted living to community-based hospice to adult day services. These models are, for most, preferable to nursing homes and allow older adults to “age in place”—live longer in their own homes and communities. Home- and Community-Based Services for Older Adults examines the existing and emerging models of HCBS, including the history, theory, research, policy, and practices across care settings. Emphasizing the multidisciplinary and interprofessional practice approaches used to deliver care, this book is an essential learning tool for students interested in medicine, nursing, social work, allied health professions, case management, health care administration, and gerontology. As the population of older adults grows, the authors ask, how can we best meet the needs of older adults and their families in the most effective, cost-conscious way while honoring their care choices?

Find out how housing options for the elderly are changing—and not always for the better To maintain or improve their quality of life, many seniors in the United States will move to new locations and into new types of housing. Housing for the Elderly addresses the key aspects of the transitions they’ll face, examines how housing programs can help, and looks at the role social workers can play to ensure they remain healthy, happy, and productive as they age. Housing for the Elderly provides the tools to build a comprehensive understanding of how housing is changing to support the growing number of elderly persons in the United States. This unique resource examines a full range of housing options, including assisted-living communities, elder friendly communities, and homelessness; looks at the effects of the Olmstead Decision of 1999, which requires states to place persons with disabilities in community settings rather than in institutions; and summarizes current research on Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs). The book also presents a historical perspective of housing issues for the elderly, with a special focus on the discrimination of African-Americans. Topics in Housing for the Elderly include: creating elder friendly communities homelessness among the elderly in Toronto housing disparities for older Puerto Ricans in the United States grandparent caregiver housing programs how the Olmstead Decision affects the elderly, social workers, and health care providers New York State’s experience with NORCs relocation concerns of people living in NORCs the integration of services for the elderly into housing settings-particularly low-income housing moving from a nursing home to an assisted-living facility assisted-living and Medicaid and much more! Housing for the Elderly is an essential resource for social work practitioners, administrators, researchers, and academics who deal with the elderly.

Packaging supportive services with housing—a pressing issue for older adults The population of older adults is expected to explode in the coming years. Linking Housing and Services for Older Adults: Obstacles, Options, and Opportunities examines a crucial, complex, and often overlooked issue for policymakers and the public at large: older adults’ increasing needs for housing and supportive long-term care services. As baby boomers strive to help their parents make difficult decisions about their options, pressure mounts for policymakers to develop appropriate housing and services. This book brings together respected experts to discuss the answers to difficult questions about meeting the housing and support service needs of aging adults. Linking Housing and Services for Older Adults: Obstacles, Options, and Opportunities explores in-depth the tough issues pertaining to which populations are presently being served, what their needs are, and who is being left out. You’ll learn exactly what types of services are available, who is providing them, and how are they packaged. From residential care to assisted living to institutional care, this book addresses all facets of the complicated problems of providing availability to fulfill need. This important source presents insightful analysis of the total range of issues and the challenges to progress as well as offering specific recommendations to effectively offer housing and vital long-term care supportive services to older adults. Linking Housing and Services for Older Adults: Obstacles, Options, and Opportunities discusses in detail: the argument for increased development of supportive housing for older adults—and the barriers preventing it the issues related to providing a variety of housing and service options to the Medicaid population two case studies that illustrate how policies aimed at linking housing and services play out at the state and local level—and the need for strong leadership and the ability to develop key partnerships as vital aspects for success the interrelationship of factors regarding nursing home admission, the availability of subsidized housing, and Medicaid eligibility the need for care management to be holistic—including environmental care assessment, repair, and renovation management in addition to current long-term care settings creating affordable assisted living facilities for older persons receiving Medicaid services the successful components of the national Coming Home Program four case studies emphasizing different finance and regulatory approaches—providing lessons learned for developers, state agencies, and advocates of affordable assisted living This vital educational resource is also an essential reference for local, state, and national policymakers, housing officials, and long-term care providers.

As the first of the nation's 78 million baby boomers begin reaching age 65 in 2011, they will face a health care workforce that is too small and woefully unprepared to meet their specific health needs. Retooling for an Aging America calls for bold initiatives starting immediately to train all health care providers in the basics of geriatric care and to prepare family members and other informal caregivers, who currently receive little or no training in how to tend to their aging loved ones. The book also recommends that Medicare, Medicaid, and other health plans pay higher rates to boost recruitment and retention of geriatric specialists and care aides. Educators and health professional groups can use Retooling for an Aging America to institute or increase formal education and training in geriatrics. Consumer groups can use the book to advocate for improving the care for older adults. Health care professional and occupational groups can use it to improve the quality of health care jobs.

Emerging and currently available technologies offer great promise for helping older adults, even those without serious disabilities, to live healthy, comfortable, and productive lives. What technologies offer the most potential benefit? What challenges must be overcome, what problems must be solved, for this promise to be fulfilled? How can federal agencies like the National Institute on Aging best use their resources to support the translation from laboratory findings to useful, marketable products and services? Technology for Adaptive Aging is the product of a workshop that brought together distinguished experts in aging research and in technology to discuss applications of technology to communication, education and learning, employment, health, living environments, and transportation for older adults. It includes all of the workshop papers and the report of the committee that organized the workshop. The committee report synthesizes and evaluates the points made in the workshop papers and recommends priorities for federal support of translational research in technology for older adults.

Accessible and affordable housing can enable community living, maximize independence, and promote health for vulnerable populations. However, the United States faces a shortage of affordable and accessible housing for low-income older adults and individuals living with disabilities. This shortage is expected to grow over the coming years given the population shifts leading to greater numbers of older adults and of individuals living with disabilities. Housing is a social determinant of health and has direct effects on health outcomes, but this relationship has not been thoroughly investigated. In December 2016, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a public workshop to better understand the importance of affordable and accessible housing for older adults and people with disabilities, the barriers to providing this housing, the design principles for making housing accessible for these individuals, and the features of programs and policies that successfully provide affordable and accessible housing that supports community living for older adults and people with disabilities. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.