Online Class: Aging and Long Term Care 101

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

Caring for Seniors

Advocacy for Elderly Patients

End of Life Care

Course Motivation

Unfortunately, the funds to pay for all of these aging boomers' needs are not assured by any means. With an overwhelming shortage of loved ones to care for family elders, with long-term care insurance unaffordable for average Americans, and so few eligible for Medicaid (only lower income seniors qualify), this giant swath of older Baby Boomers might find options and services limited, at best. Inadequate and inconsistent regulatory processes, elder abuse, poor quality of care, and lack of coordination among ancillary services for the aged -- all plague the industry.

Yet research on aging and disease, pain management, and  products to help seniors look and feel younger, pervade our media, literature, movies, and will be the cultural impetus for thousands of new inventions, industries, and research to mend the aging bodies that refuse to sit this one out.

Insurance reforms, engagement of volunteers, and a new kind of non-profit will be needed to care for this valuable asset -- an energized and healthy (if they make healthy choices) older American. 

That said, cases of illness and disease will multiply with the booming senior population. Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease, addiction, depression, social alienation -- and a new workforce must be there to assist the weak, the ill, and terminally ill in our American family. At the same time, leaders in the industry, and healthy seniors, continue to show the huge difference that healthy choices domake in preventing disease and extending longevity, enabling seniors to thrive into their 90s and beyond.

Despite weighty challenges,  ALTC can, and should, seize upon scientific breakthroughs and new models to take this industry to new heights: A human lifespan of 120, people living to 100 as common as 85 once was, brain cells that replenish with use -- contrary to old assertions --all bode well for ALTC.

With medical and conceptual advances will come a new phenomenon: seniors as the largest consumer group in America, with significant political and economic clout, something never before seen in U.S. history. Their power will open doors for them to apply creative and precedent-setting solutions to problems of older Americans and ALTC.

The collective senior population must grab the brass ring, using their one-of-a-kind wisdom and experience, to be part of the solution -- to develop solutions, not only for the elderly and related industries -- but for future generations beset with crime, resource depletion, wars, and economies on the brink.

Course Objectives

At completion of this course, you will:

1. Have a grasp of the challenges in ALTC, and new prototypes emerging to meet the requirement of a much more diverse and larger market segment of seniors.

2. Have an understanding of existing types of ALTC, and evolving new types of services and settings for long-term care that are just beginning to emerge -- which represent aging services and long-term living options capable of fulfilling the demands of the marketplace.

3. Be familiar with the psychology of aging, normal cognitive changes, the latest findings on the brain's resiliency, keys to a satisfying aging experience and how to keep the mind sharp, and proactive steps to reduce the likelihood of depression, Alzheimer's, and dementia.

4. Learn the meaning of a "healthy lifestyle," commonalities of the clusters of centenarians across the globe, physical effects and biological processes of aging, what is and is not a normal part of aging, prevalent diseases and illnesses, and recommendations to avoid or manage them.

5. Understand the problems with quality in ALTC, and what can be done to improve quality -- such as a more centralized and consistent oversight delivery system, the urgent need for more staff, a desirable work environment to quell the relentless turnover, and government's involvement in assuring a pool of talent will be forthcoming to care for and train those who care for our elderly.

6. Be aware of the decrease in available family members to care for their elders, and how to fill that role when family cannot, options for juggling elder care with work and the demands of daily living, caring for yourself as caregiver to avoid burnout, and guilt regarding an aging spouse or parent.

7. Have knowledge of the rights of seniors: the need to protect them from abuse, neglect and exploitation (which is widespread); the role of ombudsmen to investigate and redress violations; and the federal legislation that grants seniors rights.

8. Understand essential legal matters of seniors, including legalities of death and dying, wills, powers of attorney, and legal terminology essential for seniors, their loved ones, and those who work in ALTC.

9. Become aware of the fundamental role of social involvement and emotional connection for seniors -- how it prevents disease, and how old age can be cause for joy and delight versus fear and despair.

10. Know the methods of paying for care: insurance and government funding, and one's own savings; the looming funding crunch with increased need for ALTC; how to keep insurance costs down, and the costs of the levels and types of care, based upon the number of activities of daily living one cannot manage on one's own.

11. Be able to obtain further resources for jobs and careers in ALTC, successful family elder care, managing your own senior years to best advantage, and government sites covering hundreds of links on ALTC, and all aspects of aging.

The number of citizens over age 85 will actually decrease from 2010 to 2030; however, in 2030, a very significant increase will begin, and by 2050 the 85+ segment will be upwards of 25 percent of the U.S. population.

Can we build enough nursing homes and retirement communities for them all? Or is that even the desired solution? In 2011, 90 percent of seniors indicate they want to stay in their homes as they age. Already 30 percent of seniors in the U.S. live alone.

The boomers will have a hand in building systems to meet their own and their fellow seniors' needs -- to fit their actively aging lives, since they are the power brokers in business, politics, government, education, and non-profits. Instead of nursing homes, the trend will be "aging in place" -- finding ways to age at home safely, with needed care, equipment, gadgets, and designs built in to compensate for physical -- and even cognitive -- limitations of seniors.

There is cause for concern, but also for optimism, about the potential to refashion ALTC to deliver the quantity and quality of services needed by the next graduating class from the school of life.