Retirement News : Seniors : At Beach hearing, dozens speak out for better long-term care

At Beach hearing, dozens speak out for better long-term care

Date Added: 30-05-2005

VIRGINIA BEACH — Lita Slaughter spoke for many caregivers at a public hearing on long-term care services on Wednesday when she talked about caring for her 67-year-old mother who has Alzheimer’s disease.

“How is it possible to help someone at home without totally breaking the bank?” she asked.

Slaughter was one of about 70 people who came to the hearing at the Virginia Beach Central Library.

The hearing, the third of 10 planned across the state, was sponsored by AARP Virginia to gather information on people’s experiences with long-term care.

AARP, which represents and advocates for people 50 and older has launched a multiyear campaign to improve long-term care in the state. Among its goals are to increase consumer choice, expand home- and community-based services, and improve the quality of care in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

The stories and questions gathered at the hearings will be used to develop volunteer programs and craft legislation to present to the General Assembly.

Similar themes arose throughout the two-hour hearing. Many speakers had been disappointed with the care that relatives received at nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. “Where are the standards for how these folks are supposed to care for our loved ones?” asked Virginia Beach resident John Petersen.

Several speakers said that nurses and other caregivers at such facilities were overworked and underpaid, and needed more financial incentives to work in the long-term care industry.

A survey AARP recently conducted showed that 80 percent of its members would prefer living at home rather than in a long-term care facility. But that choice raises difficulties, too. As Slaughter testified, it can be an expensive endeavor. Slaughter brought her mother with her to the hearing, which showed another difficulty in caring for relatives at home: finding affordable respite care.

Another speaker, George Bryant of Virginia Beach, said he had purchased long-term care insurance in the late 1990s but recently was told his premiums were increasing by 86 percent. AARP needs to get more involved in making sure Virginia’s Bureau of Insurance doesn’t allow such increases, or people will be priced out of having the protection they need.

Another Virginia Beach resident, Ed Schwab, said his mother has moved multiple times recently, once from an independent living unit, then to an assisted-living facility. She is now getting ready to move to a nursing home. He said it’s tremendously expensive to make the transitions.

Also, each facility’s contract is different. “It’s all done in their own random legalese. There needs to be a basic contract that people can learn and depend on.”

Other speakers cited a need for more services delivered to the home and more preventive health programs to keep people from needing long-term care services in the first place.

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