Many adults hesitate to make a move when they are faced with the overwhelming prospect of downsizing a lifetime of possessions. At Marca Life Planning, we offer Home Transitions. It consists of several services for you – Retro-Fit, Downsizing, Relocation, and Personal Emergency Response Systems.

Retro-Fit
Most seniors who want to age in their own homes believe they need to change themselves to adapt to their home as they age. In reality, their homes need to adapt to their aging needs. Our Home Transitions program identifies booby traps and obstacles in home safety and provides suggestions to make living easier.

For a one time charge, our CRT specialists visit you at home to discuss aging goals and evaluate the home. Our written Retro-Fit plan provides ideas for aging in place and cost projections through Senior Checked providers. For an additional charge, CRT specialists can help you execute the plan by overseeing your home’s Retro-Fitting process to completion.

Downsizing
When we think of downsizing, we think of moving to a smaller residence. However, a home transition often leads us to reorganize and de-clutter our current living space. A lifetime of collecting memories often results in an excess of objects in our living environment. While these memories are precious, clutter around the home is a hazard and can cause falls and other injuries.

Our certified specialists are trained to help you sort through your items, carefully selecting what to keep that will best preserve your memories, and thoughtfully planning for the gifting and/or sale of the rest.

Relocation
When the home can’t be modified to keep up with aging needs or the home is in a declining neighborhood, relocation may be the best solution.

Relocating is a major life transition and demands physical stamina and time. Whether you’re an older adult or the child of an aging parent, our certified specialists can research the best options for you and provide a written plan to outline your cost. Once you select an option, we provide a single point of contact to coordinate all aspects of the move.

Our job is not finished until the new house feels like home.

Personal Emergency Response Systems
MARCA™ Personal Emergency Response Systems require no monthly or activation fees and allow you to continue an independent life style.

The pendants are splash resistant, so they can be taken into the shower where accidents often occur. Talk directly to family, friends, and an emergency FreedomAlert or Guardian Alert 911 operator at the touch of a button. Communication is through the pendant from anywhere in and around your home.

Ensure a smooth transition and make daily living in your home easy and safe. Contact our specialists at Marca Life Planning about Home Transitions today!

Experts at AARP stress that every family is different, but it often helps to enlist the entire family to have the talk. According to a survey by the Hartford Financial Services Group and the MIT AgeLab, 50% of married drivers over the age of 50 prefer to hear about driving concerns from (1) their spouses, (2) their doctors, and (3) their adult children.

Safety First
As for the conversation itself, experts say you should approach it from a safety and health perspective, rather than age.

For example, you can say something like, "Does your eyeglass prescription make it tougher to see when you're driving?" or "Does your doctor think your medication will have an effect on your driving?" You can also talk about it in terms of driving itself -- "driving isn't what it used to be" -- focused on the way others drive or difficult road conditions.

If one of their friends has stopped driving, you could also ask, "I hear that Mr. Smith gave up driving. Do you think your driving ability has changed?" or ask about an older family member and when they stopped driving.

Suggest Limits
You can also suggest that your parent puts limits on his or her driving, rather than stopping completely. Ask your parent if he or she might be more comfortable not driving at night, or only in good weather, or just locally and not on highways. These strategies can help you ease them into the idea of hanging up the keys.

Consult a Doctor
If your parent is still unwilling to discuss the matter, you can turn to their doctor -- making it a medical issue and not an age issue. This generation respects their physician's voice and will often take their advice. Older drivers value the opinion of doctors, and some doctors might be able to see if your parent's visual and cognitive skills and reflexes have declined.

Present Alternatives
Many older people reason that hanging up the keys takes away their independence. When you're going to have this conversation, make sure you have some alternatives in mind. Find out if your community has good public transportation that goes where they want to go or an elder organization that offers transportation.

Some will say they can't afford to give up the car and take taxis. Do the math for them, because that might not be true. If they don't have to make car and insurance payments, pay for gas and upkeep, they might find that there's a tidy sum available for alternate transportation.

Suggest They Take a Driver Safety Class or Evaluation
The AARP offers information about driver-safety classes, and a doctor might recommend that your parent undergo an assessment of driving skills, including a road test. The results may surprise your parent so much that they make their own decision to give up driving.

Driving is a milestone of freedom in our teen years, but it can become a safety concern when we’re older. Many people don’t spend a lot of time in the passenger seat while their aging parents drive, but that is the best way to gauge their competency.

AARP has created a list of the top 10 warning signs:

• Almost getting into accidents, with frequent “close calls”
• Finding dents and scrapes on the car, or on your parents’ property such as fences, mailboxes, garage doors, or curbs
• Getting lost
• Difficulty seeing or following traffic signals or road signs
• Delayed response time such as moving their foot from the gas to brake pedal or confusing the two
• Misjudging gaps in traffic
• Experiencing road rage or having other drivers honk at them
• Easily becoming distracted or having difficulty concentrating while driving
• Difficulty turning around to check over their shoulder while backing up or changing lanes
• Receiving multiple traffic tickets or warnings from traffic or law enforcement officers

As the population ages and as lifespans increase, the numbers of those needing long term care are sure to rise.

These factors increase one’s risk of needing long term care:

• Age: The risk generally increases as one gets older.
• Marital status: Single people are more likely to need care from a paid provider.
• Gender: Women are at a higher risk than men, primarily because they tend to live longer.
• Lifestyle: Poor diet and exercise habits can increase one’s risk.
• Health and family history

Other facts and statistics point to the growing need for long term care:

• More than 6 million elderly Americans need assistance from family or friends if they are to live at home.
• At least 2/3 of all home-care assistance is provided free by family members and friends.
• By the year 2020, one of six Americans will be 65 or older.
• 70% of people turning 65 will need some long term care before they die.
• More than 50% of the U.S. population will require some type of long term care during their lives (nursing home care, home health care, assisted living, or rehab facility care).
• 2021 is the year the oldest baby boomers will turn 75. As the population ages, research has predicted the nursing home population to grow to 3 or 4 million residents.