'Village' movement allows seniors who need care to stay in their homes longer

The Fiscal Times reports that, as the population ages, more communities are trying to find ways to allow older Americans to remain in their homes, even when they need health care. "The small but fast-growing 'village' movement — where seniors help seniors to coordinate and deliver services within their communities — is a grass-roots response to the well-documented preference of older people to remain in their homes as they age. There are many different models for this approach, but one of the most venerable is Boston's Beacon Hill Village, which was created by a group of long-time residents in 2001. Now there are more than 50 such villages nationwide, and more than 600 in development. … With the need for long-term care expected to double between 2000 and 2040, these models can postpone the need for institutional care and cut significant costs for individuals as well as government programs like Medicare and Medicaid." Nursing home care cost an average five times more than for seniors living at home in 2009, according to a study in Health Affairs (Bedway, 9/18).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.