Nursing Home Alternatives: Can an Old Dog Really Learn New Tricks?
One of the newest forms of retirement homes and skilled nursing centers comes in an unexpected location – college campuses. These communities are formed on the basis of a relationship with a college campus and provide benefits such as offering special short courses run by professors, or transportation to college sporting events. Many of these groups are formed by alumni of the school who want to come back to remember their time at the university. As an added benefit, they allow for older adults to pursue new education opportunities and often times offer more fitness options as well.
Many people find that this type of community living allows older adults to be reintegrated into a community. Instead of the isolation of a retirement community where they are set apart from society, these nursing home alternatives allow for a skilled nursing or assisted living home to be inset into a community and carry over the school spirit and drive of the university associated with it. They also offer more interesting activities than traditional nursing home activities such as bingo. Now, instead of just getting by, many of the University-based retirement communities, or UBRC’s, actually require their members to attend lectures, clubs, or physical activity hours, just as college students must attend class.
The communities emphasize activity and forming relationships within the community and allow members of different generations to interact. Many students volunteer at the centers, performing musical numbers or lecturing on projects they worked on for class. The older adults are also students in many ways, forming their own clubs such as chamber orchestra and choir as well as attending lectures both on the larger college campus and on their own retirement campus.
There are different levels of care at the UBRC’s and they are usually very close to hospitals, which can be a plus for residents in times of need. The close proximity to college campuses also helps students and retirees alike who may not have cars. The formalized programming encourages the senior citizens to become active in the communities which can be very helpful in maintaining their a quality of life at an advanced age.
These communities are still new and may become more widespread as time goes on, however, many residents do not have the opportunity to join a community that encourages activity. All too often, nursing homes allow residents to simply lay in bed sleeping the days away. Nursing homes must provide care for our loved ones but they should also make an effort to increase the quality of life for those in their care. Maryland nursing home residents deserve to be taken care of and remain members of the communities they are in, instead of being shut away in a nursing home without much interaction.
If your loved one was neglected in a nursing home and suffered serious injuries, please call our office at 410-825-ABUSE (2287) or visit our website at www.NursingHomeJustice.com.
Nursing Home Justice ….. It’s What We Do!