Just because you're old doesn't mean you suddenly love spending hours chatting with strangers. Plus, what I'm up to on the book tour and some yummy newsletter recommendations.
The Cherry Home reference is similar to what I had been reading but not sure it is the same. Just monitoring someone is what takes up the hours. The advances in the last few years appear to be large. Self-driving cars may help when you don't want to do Uber everywhere. Instead of "a" robot, many lesser skilled special purpose robots might be the key. So, a hybrid of people and other tools may bring the cost down.
Bring on the robots! I found my mother's and my mother-in-law's caregivers intrusive (even when not intending to be) and, in one case, caught one using my mother's car (and debit card) for her own use. This may be connected to their appalling pay scale and lack of skills needed for the job. Even with the low pay scale, the cost to the person being cared for is high. My mother had very substantial savings when she needed to begin her care (first home care, then assisted living, then nursing home) and it was gone in a flash. She refused to leave her home town (where 6 generations of her family had lived and her friends were) to move near me and I, being an only child in the sandwich generation with a career, husband (also an only child), and two children could not move to where she was. I am grateful to my cousin who lived near my mom and checked in to look after my mom.
I have had two hip replacements (from which I recovered completely) and hated having the required initial home health visits. I told my practice not to send one of them back. I DID greatly appreciate all of the nonhuman contraptions that made recovery easier--the "reacher," the hiking poles, the shoe putter-onner, etc.
I understand that former President Bush had a service dog to assist him, which is also a possibility if it works for the individual in question.
I would much prefer a robot. I also tend to prefer staying at a (nice) hotel than in a friend’s home. For me, these two things seem somehow linked.
The Cherry Home reference is similar to what I had been reading but not sure it is the same. Just monitoring someone is what takes up the hours. The advances in the last few years appear to be large. Self-driving cars may help when you don't want to do Uber everywhere. Instead of "a" robot, many lesser skilled special purpose robots might be the key. So, a hybrid of people and other tools may bring the cost down.
Bring on the robots! I found my mother's and my mother-in-law's caregivers intrusive (even when not intending to be) and, in one case, caught one using my mother's car (and debit card) for her own use. This may be connected to their appalling pay scale and lack of skills needed for the job. Even with the low pay scale, the cost to the person being cared for is high. My mother had very substantial savings when she needed to begin her care (first home care, then assisted living, then nursing home) and it was gone in a flash. She refused to leave her home town (where 6 generations of her family had lived and her friends were) to move near me and I, being an only child in the sandwich generation with a career, husband (also an only child), and two children could not move to where she was. I am grateful to my cousin who lived near my mom and checked in to look after my mom.
I have had two hip replacements (from which I recovered completely) and hated having the required initial home health visits. I told my practice not to send one of them back. I DID greatly appreciate all of the nonhuman contraptions that made recovery easier--the "reacher," the hiking poles, the shoe putter-onner, etc.
I understand that former President Bush had a service dog to assist him, which is also a possibility if it works for the individual in question.