Finding a place to call home

Luis Pena

As the country’s population ages, more housing options are becoming

available for seniors, each offering different levels of care and

service.

This is especially true of areas with large senior populations,

such as Newport-Mesa.

Senior apartment complexes allow independent seniors to maintain

their lifestyle in an environment filled with their peers.

Adult day cares offer structured activities and services and also

provide regular care and supervision outside of the home for part of

a day.

Assisted-living communities are residential communities that

provide help with medications, bathing, grooming, but they are not a

skilled nursing facility.

Continuing care retirement communities are full-service and offer

long-term contract. They provide assisted-living and skilled nursing

care.

Residential care facilities tend to be single-family homes that

offer complete personal care, including meals, housekeeping,

medications and transportation.

Alzheimer’s facilities offer a secure environment for those

afflicted with Alzheimer’s. The facilities provide assistance with

such daily activities as dressing, grooming, bathing and medications.

Where a senior should live depends, of course, on what that person

needs.

Avalon at Newport West is an assisted-living and independent

facility that is set up to offer assistance to those that require it

and independent living to the elderly, said Annette Harper, the

community outreach director for Avalon.

The facility also has a secure unit called Recollections for

people suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“What happens is that they would come into the community, we would

do an assessment on them based on what their additional needs may or

may not be,” Harper said. “A personal-care program is put together

for each individual that comes into the community.”

Avalon is not a skilled nursing facility but is next to Hoag

Hospital and next to a skilled nursing facility.

Workers can take care of household needs such as housekeeping,

laundry, and they also provide three meals a day in the dining room.

They also have a thorough activity calendar for the residents, such

as movie nights and happy hours. They encourage socialization among

the residents through such activities.

Their Alzheimer’s unit provides 24-hour secure care. Residents are

monitored.

“Residents that are living at home that think, ‘Oh, I’m not quite

ready to make a move to an assisted-living facility,’ really thrive

once they get into our buildings because of how active out activity

program is,” Harper said.

The cost of their facility can vary from $1,650 to $4,000 per

month depending on the level of care that an individual would

require, Harper said.

Another form of housing is provided by Newport Beach Plaza, a

luxury retirement community that caters to the independent lifestyle

for active people, said Connie Marvick, general manager.

“The active senior is one who works part-time, travels, who is

very involved, maybe still volunteering, and who is a very active,

curious individual,” Marvick said.

Newport Beach Plaza plans trips to such places as Mexico, Hawaii

and Branson, Mo. They also take day trips to closer destinations such

as the racetrack and the Getty Museum.

Newport Beach Plaza has long-term staff, which doesn’t have a high

turnover rate and keeps their facility running smoothly, Marvick

said. People living at the facility are from 68 to 97 years old.

Would-be residents must be 62 years or older.

The environment is like a residential hotel with a concierge desk,

message therapist, gym and computer room, all of which keep the

residents very active, Marvick said.

She said that the cost to stay at Newport Beach Plaza is between

$2,200 and $4,200 per month depending on services and type of room.

Newport Beach Nursing and Rehabilitation offers far more intensive

care than Newport Beach Plaza. It works with people who can no longer

take care of themselves. The facilities also provide room and board,

personal care and supervision 24 hours a day.

The facilities have an on-site nursing staff, which is provided by

registered nurses and licensed practical nurses and nurse’s aides.

Carol Gerken, director of clinical services, said that the

facility is for seniors and some younger people who have lost the

ability to do daily activities. The facility’s population is mostly

geriatric.

She said that the price range of their facility varies depending

on the level of care.

Aviva Goelman, executive director of the Costa Mesa Senior Center,

said that one alternative to the various facilities is to keep a

parent at home and hire a caregiver who lives in the home.

For the same amount of money that it would have cost to place her

mother in an assisted living facility, her family was able to keep

her mother at home, Goelman said.

Anyone considering placing a parent in a facility should check the

facility out with agencies such as the Better Business Bureau to see

if complaints have been filed against it, she said.

Paying a surprise visit would be ideal, she said, because that

would allow a person to see what life is like there on a daily basis

without having a show put on.

Seniors should also be placed in their own religious environment,

officials said. If someone is a practicing Catholic, they probably

wouldn’t want to be placed in a Jewish oriented facility.

Charu Mody, the social services representative at Costa Mesa

Senior Center, said that the physical appearance of a facility is

important. It should be bright, airy with many windows, Mody said.

“The more familiarity to their home environment that you give

them, the better that they will adjust,” Goelman agreed.