Stargazer
Also, what will you do as people's conditions decline and require more care than can be provided? A person who is simply incontinent can care for themselves if they are physically able to change their clothes and clean themselves. But if they need help with that, they will most likely need that help several times a day, every day, at least. And if they require that level of assistance, they will also need help with meal prep, housekeeping, laundry, shopping, trips to doctors, all ADL's. As their conditions decline, which they will, be prepared to have someone live with them. One person forgetting to turn off the stove can be catastrophic.
At what level of care do you draw the line? And what happens when you get to that point?
Excellent questions!
A handyman would be a must.
If your neighbor could not help you with it...bill the handymans hours on 1/4 hour intervals and keep the costs down.
Same thing with security. I see a gated scenario actually. If you don't belong there, you shall not pass.
Also, a "panic button" would be a must IMO.
There are a ton of different possibilities for these and most are medicare covered.
It would only be a month or two before services like LYFT or UBER would get used to those who could not work out shopping/Dr's appointments with a neighbor who still drives.
Think about having surgery and recovering...(anyone keep up with "Roofus and Doofus" on Youtube?) He would have DREAMED about a setup like this to heal in. (Poor Chico...check out his nursing home experience. Frightening.)
35 years ago, I was on a board that wrote one of the first care waivers in our state.
Meet asset requirements, get a note from your doc...and you received a self directed care waiver.
This funded paychecks for the people you want to hire.
Hours per week were determined by need and the system worked rather well.
"New Horizons" in Connecticut is a huge spread for people with severe medical problems/disabilities where they live on their own in apartments.
They direct their own care like this...hire and fire their help...and work out their own schedules.
I have known several residents there (still do) since it opened.
There is NEVER a problem getting help. The neighbors, the ones with sharp minds, naturally watch out for those who would otherwise be easily manipulated. Strength in numbers. (Vive' la France!) ;0
"Patients" who they never thought able to handle directing their own care, found the transition easy with peer support. Ding-bat aides don't last long.
A little confusion with your finances or forgetting your burner on is an easy fix. Shut the propane. Ask for a neighbors help.
Participate in daily cost-sharing meals that are informally done amongst friends or meals on wheels.
No one likes relinquishing their independence and I don't think there is an easy answer to every problem that would arise, but it sure beats alternatives currently available for those without hefty incomes.
Sadly, if someone is taking off naked to wander the street at 3AM, they would have to move to a place that could handle their needs.
A few double wides with peer management and you have "community care homes." (Google it, there are a ton of examples all over the country.)
Someone who is bedridden would need to move to one of these. With modern gadgetry, you can do a lot with a little.
There is a spot out West where folks live in their own apartments and twice an hour, an aide looks in on them with a "fuzzy cam."
(Slightly out of focus so dignity is preserved as much as possible, but clear enough to see if someone is on the floor, or in distress.)
This is something that could be looked into in the fullness of time. For now, step one...is to find the right place. With the number of people currently aging, it surely would fill up.
We all want to fix every problem before they come up. If this got traction, within three months, the best planning would be tossed on its head.
(Happens every time.)
I see the next level as a community care home, (not a "nursing home") keeping medical management far far away from the desks of those maintaining the campground.
Don't hire any nurses. If someone has an open wound, they would need the nurse to come in. Same as if you lived in a house.
There are a ton of nursing companies out there. (Med Tex, Community Care Corp, Staff Mates...etc.) Let them worry about the state regs. I only want to worry about the people living there.
The key here is self-directed care and a community of peers to watch out for one another. They come into your home right up to life-end if you so choose.
Does this all come with some risk? Yes it does. 100%!
You could die in your RV before anyone knew you were in trouble. That is a very realistic possibility.
My guess is, most of us would take those odds to keep living mostly the way we want to.
(If you want to think about one of the most difficult situations, what do you do with the person whose idea of a good day is drinking a fifth of vodka and playing Elvis concerts at 160db at 2AM??)
Look at what we have here and how many people educate and empower each other with the tricks of living mobile.
There is no reason why there could not be a campground that caters to the aged vagabond, with built-in supportive community and easier-than-normal access to the services required.
The campground I have described is certainly where I want to end my life.
(Lord knows, my pets, my outdoors-dominated life and my fire-pit would not go over big in a nursing home.)
I've tried to explain this best I can.
My swollen joints allow for no more typing right now, so I have to sign off.
Sure hope those 50+ out there are thinking about this.
It is, very seriously, in my plans.
We only need ten more like me...with a little scratch, not millions...to make this happen to keep the capitalistic crap out of it. (Financing, management, government hassle...*hiss, hiss, hiss and double-hiss*)
Please, keep suggestions/comments/thoughts coming.
