Services
Medicare beneficiary changes
If you are a Medicare beneficiary, make sure you are aware of the Medicare changes that occurred in over the past 7 years in regards to what your patient status is during your hospital stay. Not asking the right questions can cost you thousands of dollars out of your pocket...
It also is important to know that Medicare requires three consecutive midnights as an admitted inpatient before being discharged to skilled nursing or rehabilitation care. Continue reading
Adult Foster Care Homes That Allow Pets Keeping the Dog for Comfort
Vivian was a 72 year old woman who had battled ovarian cancer for over eleven years. It finally got to the point where the treatment wouldn't help anymore so she went on hospice. Vivian lived alone in an apartment in Tigard with her dog Murphy. She spent all day watching TV in a dark apartment. Her only visitors were the Meals on Wheels delivery volunteers and her hospice team. She was lonely and her hospice team worried about who was going to help her as her disease progressed...
After a second visit to one home, lunch with the provider and a chance for her to meet Murphy, Vivian decided to move in. Leaving her apartment and her independence was very hard but knowing she had somebody who would help her and that she would get to keep Murphy with her made it a little more bearable. Vivian's doing well, Murphy's enjoying having a yard to run in after living in an apartment his whole life and the proprietor of the adult foster care home is there to help Vivian when needed. Continue reading
Moving Into an Adult Foster Care Home Allows Wife to Go From Family Caregiver to Spouse Again
Mary's husband John had early onset Alzheimer's. Mary still worked full time so she hired caregivers to come a few hours each day to ensure he had meals and was safe while she was gone. When she got home from work she had to fix dinner, help him shower, clean the mess he made throughout the day, get his medications and meals ready for the next day, do laundry as he often had accidents. Mary heard him get up several times during the night which interrupted her sleep. Realistically she knew he was just going to get worse but she had hope that he would at least stabilize. He wasn't improving, unfortunately he was definitely getting worse. Mary knew she couldn't continue to work full time and worry all day about his safety. She couldn't afford to pay for caregivers to be with him the whole time he was at work yet she couldn't afford not to. Mary was exhausted emotionally and physically. She couldn't do it anymore and turned to Right Fit Senior Living Solutions for help...
We met with both of them to determine their ideal situation. She wanted him to live in an adult foster care home in nearby Tualatin so she could visit him on her way home from work in Portland. She liked the idea of an adult foster care home as there would be four other seniors living with a private family who is very experienced with being caregivers and working with people with Alzheimer's and other dementias. He would get a lot of personal attention in a quiet, calm and safe home. She liked that their food is all made from scratch and that they would manage his medications, do his laundry and help him shower. Continue reading
Urgent Need for Memory Care after Hospital Stay Causes Family Caregiver Stress Don’t Wait for a Crisis to Make a Move!
A call came from the discharge planner at the hospital in Hillsboro. They had a patient that needed 24x7 supervision who couldn't return to his home and needed to find a memory care facility as he was an "elopement risk" (they were worried he would walk out the front door and wander away). The hospital case manager wanted to discharge him as quickly as possible and asked us to help find him a room in memory care in Portland as it wasn't safe to allow him to return home...
There were lots of signs he (and his wife) needed more assistance. The daughters had already decided the next time he was in the hospital would be the final straw, it would be time to move. While usually we can find the perfect place for him to move, this time every memory care building was full and most had a waiting list.
Our number one recommendation is don't wait until there's a crisis to make a move. When it's a crisis you are stuck with what's available and it may not be what you really want. The senior in crisis won't get input on which place he/she wants, family will have to make all the decisions. They're already feeling overwhelmed with all that's going on with their loved ones and the pressure of making a quick decision to meet hospital discharge expectations is extremely stressful! Continue reading
Our number one recommendation is don't wait until there's a crisis to make a move. When it's a crisis you are stuck with what's available and it may not be what you really want. The senior in crisis won't get input on which place he/she wants, family will have to make all the decisions. They're already feeling overwhelmed with all that's going on with their loved ones and the pressure of making a quick decision to meet hospital discharge expectations is extremely stressful! Continue reading Downsizing to Independent Living
Mrs. M is an 87 year-old, active widowed woman. She enjoys traveling, playing cards, and socializing. But her home was located far from her family, and it was becoming more and more a chore for to take care of it. The family had a meeting, and decided to look into moving Mrs. M to Beaverton, Oregon to be closer to her family and give her a sense of security and socialization that she was missing in her home...
They called Right Fit on the recommendation of a friend. I met with the family and discussed Mrs. M's wants and needs, what their budget was, the ideal location, and the timing of the possible move. After I gathered these details, I found three independent living communities to tour one day, and then another two options for another day.
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Planning Ahead for Alzheimer’s Care
Mr. and Mrs. C live in their own home in a large neighborhood in Beaverton, Oregon. They love their home and don't wish to move. They were referred to us by an in-home care agency who has been helping care for Mrs. C in their home. Mrs. C is in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. Mr. C recently had a heart attack scare, and after his recovery, got his family together for a meeting to talk about the future. Mr. C called me to find out what Memory Care communities were out there; in the event that something happens to him, his wife will need to be looked after...
Both Mr. and Mrs. C liked one community in particular. It's near their son, near walking trails, has a nice courtyard and a nice view, and meets their budget. They also made a second choice as a backup plan in case the first community has no availability. They had another family meeting and told their sons about their decision. When the time comes, the sons know this is their choice, and will contact us to move forward with Mrs. C either moving to Assisted Living or Memory Care, depending on the nurse's assessment.
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From Assisted Living to Adult Foster Care
Sometimes an adult foster care home is a better option. Mr. T is an 85 year-old blind man who was living in an assisted living community. Because of his vision issues, his dementia, and his being confined to a wheelchair, it seemed assisted living just wasn't the right environment for him. He was not participating in activities with the other residents, he stayed in his apartment most of the time, and he simply required too much care compared to the other residents in the community...
His daughter contacted us to see what other options were available for her dad. She loves her dad and wanted him to be happy and feel safe and secure in his living space. What seemed to be a lovely assisted living community when she moved him in, turned out to be the wrong environment for her father. So we started looking at much smaller senior living communities: adult foster care homes. 
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Continue reading Couple Moves to Assisted Living
Mr. and Mrs. F were living in their own home but finding it increasingly difficult to take care of themselves. Their daughter lived nearby but had a full-time job, and she came over and helped out on a daily basis. After working all day, she went to their house and cooked for them, helped them clean up, and gave them their medications. She hired in-home care, but Mrs. F did not want a caregiver in her home and resisted it. Their daughter was feeling burned out, and she called us for help in finding placement for her parents.
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Hospice Patient Moves to Adult Foster Home
Mr. V was an 87 year-old man with Parkinson's dementia, heart failure, and general failure to thrive. He had been living in an assisted living community for several years, and used to be quite active, but his health was declining rapidly to the point where he was refusing to eat or drink. He would alternate between sleeping for hours on end, to being very agitated and trying to get up, despite being a considerable fall risk...
We found Mr. V a wonderful adult foster care home, where he received 24 hour care by an awake staff. Hospice followed him to his new home, and cared for him there. It was a much better-suited environment for him, and although the costs were still quite high with 24-hour care, it was much less expensive than having the round-the-clock in-home caregiver.
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