Now or Never: Long-Term Care Strategy is a podcast for all those seeking answers and solutions in the long-term care space. Too often we don’t fully understand the necessity of care until it’s too late. This podcast is designed to create solutions, start conversations and bring awareness to the industry that will inevitably impact all Americans.
Christina Hardin-Weiss: I think
anybody that's got a loved one
that wants to age in place, do
it with dignity and being able
to provide an adult to be able
to live as independently as
functionally independent as
possible. is really the biggest
gift I think you could give your
loved one.
Caroline Moore: Welcome to Now
or Never Long-Term Care Strategy
making. themselves. with Kosta
Yepifantsev a podcast for all
those seeking answers and
solutions in the long term care
space. This podcast is designed
to create resources, start
conversations and bring
awareness to the industry that
will inevitably impact all
Americans. Here's your host
Kosta Yepifantsev.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Hey, ya’ll!
This is Kosta and today I’m here
with my guests: Cindy
Hardin-Weiss, and Christina
Hardin-Weiss Co-Founders of
Adaptive Equipment and
Caregiving Corner, working to
enhance continuity of care from
healthcare facility to home,
increase client and caregiver
safety during daily care and
improve and maintain the
client’s optimal level of
functional independence. Welcome
to the show, Cindy and
Christina, would you start by
telling us a bit more about
adaptive equipment and
caregiving corner and your
experiences in the care industry
overall?
Christina Hardin-Weiss: My name
is thanks for having us, Kosta.
We really appreciate being on
here. My name is Christina, I'm
a speech therapist. I've been
practicing for probably around
25 years, and most of my career
has been in long term care. And
so we'll
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: Yeah, and
I'm Cindy and I'm a physical
therapist. I have been
practicing for about 30 years
and most of my career has been
in the home health setting.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Very cool. So
what got you into this industry?
Christina Hardin-Weiss: Well, I
knew I wanted to be in
healthcare. I didn't realize
that I kind of fell into the
geriatric population. I didn't.
I didn't it wasn't something
that I planned. I had a graduate
assistantship where I worked at
a VA VA center near my college
of my university. And the second
I walked through the door and
knows exactly what I wanted to
do long term care was for me.
And so I Yeah, it's something
that I've always enjoyed working
with the adult population,
stroke rehab in particular, and
people living with dysphasia.
And I'm
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: just, you
know, I've loved the geriatric
population all along. I think
about my second job was home
health and fell in love with
home health, I love the
atmosphere, I love being in
other people's spaces, you
really get to know them a little
bit better. And so really fell
in love with that and just kind
of stayed with that for most of
my career.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Amazing.
Well, this is going to be an
exciting episode talking about
minor home modifications,
talking about adaptive
equipment. I think a lot of
times when people are nearing
retirement or when they need
long term care, they don't
really think about that two
storey house with three bedrooms
upstairs. You know, that was
pretty much the predominant
build through most of the 90s
and 2000s. A lot of people are
having to figure out what to do.
So on that note, AARP found 80%
of Americans turning 65 want to
age in place. What are the top
three pieces of adaptive
equipment you believe every
senior should have in their home
to ensure their independence and
quality of life.
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: So what I
would say is as far as adaptive
equipment, it may not be
specifically adapted equipment,
but to age comfortably. Today,
three of the top areas that
we're always telling people to
check are your toilet height. A
lot of times it's too too short.
Your comfy chair height, because
as we age and as we get a little
bit weaker, our comfy chair
becomes a little bit too low
sometimes. And then the bed
height because our bed heights
right now are just astronomical.
It's artists that tall, you know
trying to pull volts your way
into the bed. So if there are
adaptive pieces that you can get
to help you know, if you got a
toilet that's too low, you can
get a toilet riser. We always of
course suggest getting handles
on that for a nice push off for
safety. As far as the comfy
chair, you know, you may look at
furniture risers, some people go
to lift chairs, it just depends
on on what you need there. And
then the bed height I always
suggest that I love for people
to bring the bed down to them if
that's an option. But some of
those options I always say hey,
if you're in the if you're in
the market for a new mattress,
please check and see if you can
order a special boxspring that's
only four inches tall instead of
the normal six inches tall, you
know and check your mattress
height because you really you
really want that to do decent
height. Because if you're
getting off the bed, and if you
have to actually start sliding
off the bed before he touched
the floor, you're increasing
your fall risk. And so those
three main areas,
Kosta Yepifantsev: yeah. And you
know, I never really thought
about bed height before I
thought of the other two and
come into contact with them
often but I feel when you're
when you're talking about pole
vaulting into the bed, that's
that's what I have to do. You
know, I've got to get a running
start, you know, so I can get
in. So where do people go to buy
these toilet riser with handles?
These other adaptive tech
technologies? Or I'm sorry,
adaptive equipments, where would
you go and buy those?
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: A lot of
times, it depends on if they're
a bathroom item. Unfortunately,
they are not typically covered
by Medicare, and a lot of the
references will will follow suit
with Medicare. Now, another
healthcare advantage or the
health editor advantage Medicare
Advantage plans may have
stipulations, and may may cover
some of that, but not typically.
So what I suggest is, you can
always go to a local medical
supply store. If you're an
Amazon shopper, you can check on
Amazon. The big thing we always
tell people is you got to know
your measurements. If you're
looking oil at riser, do you
have a standard or a little
toilet? Because hygiene products
are usually not returnable?
Yeah. So
Christina Hardin-Weiss: another
place they could look Costa is
they could do they could go to
their local lending closet, look
online for your local health
equipment lending closet,
China's larger cities will do
equipment drives couple times a
year and they will collect used
gently used equipment. And then
they will refurbish it, and then
lend it out for free or low, low
charge to community members. If
it's unusable, they will still
take it, they will recycle it,
keep it out of the landfill, and
then take that money and the
recycle money and put it back
into their not for profit
organization. So that's a great
way to help to help yourself as
far as your pocketbook is
concerned as well as the
environment too. So
Kosta Yepifantsev: that is
great. So let's talk about home
modifications, Christina, what
specific home modifications or
strategies do you recommend to
create a safer, more accessible
environment for those wishing to
age in place while living with
dementia? Or other disabilities?
Christina Hardin-Weiss: Yeah,
and dementia in particular,
that's, that's such a, that's
such a tough one. I think just
you know, working in long term
care, like I have, the majority
of my patients always want to
age in place, you ask anybody,
yes, I want to go home. And I
want to age in place. And so we
always try to address it as
whatever it wherever you call
home, because you do have those
people that are comfortable
living in congregate living like
that. But as far as with the
with somebody living with
dementia, you know, there are so
many, there's so many things
that a person can do as far as
the environment, and it's not
major changes that need to be
made. It just needs to be you
didn't you just need to think
about what what, what does that
person, what makes that person
comfortable, you know, maybe
make sure that you've got
pictures of family members up,
you know, lighting is always an
issue. Maybe sometimes personal
living with dementia, they're
you know, they've done studies
where they've linked vision
issues with people with with
dementia. And so make sure that
there's adequate lighting,
there's natural lighting, put
put motion sensor lights in
areas that are kind of dark.
That way when they walk by that
floods that area, especially the
floor. As a person advances with
dementia, their vision, instead
of looking straight ahead or up,
they tend to look more down
towards the floor. So while
they're walking, then tend to
put those motion sensor lights
when they walk by and it will
flood their path. Of course,
make sure that you're you know
that your pathways and stuff
like that are clear, try to keep
the home as clutter free as
possible. When it comes to color
contrast, that's huge. You have
to make sure that they're if
you're putting a their plate on
a white placemat on the table,
maybe make sure they get you use
a red plate for that contrast.
But and not all, all color
contrasts work for every person,
it's different for each person,
find out what your loved one
that what that contrast works
for your loved one. And, and so
it's just it's just things like
that, if they've got a routine,
make sure that you know what
their routine is. Lots of times
people living with dementia are
still able to live functionally
independent. But you might have
to write out this the
instructions, no big deal. It
still makes them independent,
right? It's not what they did
when only one but it's certainly
still functional and it's
independent. And the bottom line
on that is dignity. For me.
That's just huge. And I think
anybody that's got a loved one
that wants to age in place. Do
it with dignity and being able
to provide an adult to be able
to live as independently as
functionally independent as
possible. is really the biggest
gift I think you can If you're
locked down,
Kosta Yepifantsev: where do you
go to find these types of
resources? Like the knowledge
that you have? Obviously, you've
learned from being a part of the
industry and working with people
that have disabilities. But
where does like your average Joe
go? Is there a website? Is there
a resources out available to
them in the community so that
they can get these types of
like, I would have never thought
about putting pictures up on the
wall of family members so that
you know, especially when you
have like late stages of
dementia, that was that's a
great idea. But where does
somebody go to find that out?
Christina Hardin-Weiss: You
know, we usually the first place
we usually tell people to go is
to go to their area agency on
aging, every state has a handful
if not more area agencies on
aging, they are federally
funded. That's usually where
your Meals on Wheels program
comes through. They do the
senior health insurance programs
to help seniors with their
understand their insurance,
sometimes they will help people
who are living with disabilities
and they will like ours in
particular is really big, we
have a we have an Air Force Base
near us. So they're very helpful
for sure the veterans as well on
so I would find out where who is
your local area agency on aging
caster, you would be surprised
how many people we ran across
the don't know who their AAA is.
And so I would find out who my
AAA is, they are a wealth of
information, especially when it
comes to tapping those resources
within the community that are
available to those individuals.
So that would be the first place
I would start as far as finding
more resources to tap into.
Kosta Yepifantsev: It's great.
Cindy, from a physical therapist
perspective, what aspects of
home design are often
overlooked, but can
significantly impact the seniors
ability to age in place safely.
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: I think the
two biggest ones for me is
especially if you know, when
we're younger, we never think
about these different things.
But I think the entry and exit
to the home, how you're getting
in how you're getting out, and
the bathroom setup, especially
the shower. You know so many
homes that I am in all of the
time have the tub shower
combinations that makes it very
difficult and very unsafe at
times to get in and get out as
people age. That is a big hang
up for a lot of people and
getting in and out of the house
because there's so many other
steps here there steps there.
There's you know, the second
story, those all those types of
things. But I think really the
the interior entry and exit
because all you know, I hear all
the time, I've got so many
doctor's appointments, I've got
to get out, I gotta get out of
my house. So those things are
very top priority, I would say,
Kosta Yepifantsev: you know, if
I can add just one small thing
that I've noticed, while
performing minor home
modifications, there are some
alternatives that don't require
you to take your entire tub and
surround out and replace it with
a shower. There's this thing
that I think is rather genius.
It's called a Tub Cut. Yeah,
it's it's really it doesn't work
if you have like a cast iron
tub. But you know, those are far
and few between nowadays. But if
you have like acrylics around,
you cut a piece out of it, and
you stick this like thing on on
where you cut, and you use like
some some compound to seal it.
And it has like a little door
even sometimes you can that you
can put on it. And I think and
it's really not that expensive.
I mean, relative to doing an
entire, you know, modification
to your home, right?
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: Yeah, I
think there are so many yeah,
there's so many great, great
items and ideas like that out
there.
Christina Hardin-Weiss: Yeah, it
isn't genius. Anyway, we find
lots of times cost is that we
get we get companies that reach
out to us. And usually the
majority of them are companies
that have been founded by former
caregivers, they found a
particular product help them
during their caregiver journey.
And so they turned entrepreneur,
entrepreneur when their
caregiver journey journey ends.
And so they reach out to us and
it's usually a mom and pop, we
get the whole story about how it
came to be. And it's just, I
mean, their people are just
ingenious. They're just, I mean,
you know, necessity is the
mother of invention. And it
couldn't be further from the
truth whenever we hear these
stories all the time. Yeah.
What's the
Kosta Yepifantsev: most
effective way to identify the
appropriate home modifications
and adaptive equipment to meet
an individual's specific needs?
Yeah,
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: we we think
the most effective way and, you
know, this sometimes goes into
being a little bit more
proactive. But you know, you
have to you've got to have a
home assessment. You've got to
have a therapist come out, an
occupational therapist, a
physical therapist, to come out
and really assess the individual
needs because there there are so
many things that you learn when
you're in those people's
environments. You learn a little
bit more about them and And then
you can kind of problem solve,
you can try to do the most
efficient and effective changes.
Or maybe there doesn't need to
be large changes, maybe there's
a piece of equipment kind of
like the Tub Cut out, you know,
rather than been tearing out a
shower. But we we can't express
enough really getting that
assessment to really find out
because, you know, everything
doesn't work for everybody. And,
you know, it's
Kosta Yepifantsev: what
conditions are you like, should
you be aware of? Or is it like
if somebody starts falling
repeatedly? Is that when you
should get the assessment? Is
there something that happens in
infliction of some kind? That
says, Okay, I think it's time
for us to take the next steps.
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: Yeah, I
usually Yeah, I think it's, we
usually call it with any type of
changing condition, whether it
is okay, falling in a lot of
times, you know, I, I like to
tell people, again, we really
try to encourage people to be
proactive, but even if you see a
loved one, or if you yourself
feel like you start to even what
we call furniture crews, you
know, you're starting to hold on
to stuff as you're walking
through the house, or you've had
some trips and stumbles, but not
literally fall into the floor.
Or if there's a change in
condition, maybe you know, you
just feel like you're getting a
little bit weaker, things that
you used to do are becoming a
little bit harder to do anything
like that is a good indication
that, hey, it's time just to at
least get a professional
opinion. And, you know, when we
come out or when any
professional comes out, they can
always give you suggestions. And
what I what we'd like to do is
rank than in what what probably
should be done right now and is
the to do right now. And then
what are some future goals? Or
some things that maybe we can
put on the backburner and let
people choose what their what
they want to do, but at least
have that written out so that
you kind of know what to expect?
And what do you what is
Christina Hardin-Weiss: the
there's a statistic about
falling when a person falls
there,
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: they're 50
for the doubles or chance,
basically, to fall a second time
and something a lot of people
Christina Hardin-Weiss: don't
tell their doctor that they had
a fault. So they there's a
there's just that 50% Yeah. And
that's a huge, that's a huge
gap. And for not to not tell
people and then if you if you
fall once and you have, you
know, it doubles your risk of
falling again, and you didn't
tell anybody about it. You know,
there's, there's a lot of people
out there that we could we could
help, we need to help have
Kosta Yepifantsev: to think I
think a lot of times there's a
stigma. And I speak about this a
lot. But I think there's a
stigma. When you get to a point
to where you you know, you age
and an injury may occur. You
don't want to lose control
autonomy and independence. And
like you were saying earlier,
you don't want to lose dignity.
And so you try to for and this
is not what I recommend doing.
But a lot of people they try to
go until they absolutely can't
anymore. And at that point,
their overall health and decline
has gotten to an untenable
point,
Christina Hardin-Weiss: right?
Yeah. Yeah, that's huge. And
it's important, I feel like for
caregivers, for family
caregivers, then to kind of
stay, you know, to stay present
in that your loved ones in their
life and tried to take in some
of that information, and reach
out to people that that had the
resources. So
Kosta Yepifantsev: I am curious
if somebody needs access to a
physical therapist or an
occupational therapist
assessment, is that something
that Medicare would pay for? Or
is there an agency that they can
reach out to? How does that
process work?
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: Usually,
what we what we'd like you to do
is, is yes, try to reach out to
your primary care doctor that
initially let them know what's
going on, and they can make a
referral week therapy can always
come in, you know, the majority
of the time it's going to be
covered. Even just an
evaluation. There are a lot of
times that I may go into a home
and evaluate somebody and we
decide, you know, hey, you're
doing okay, we've gone over some
things. It was an evaluation
only. But yeah, there's always
if there's any type of changing
condition that's well warranted
to at least get an evaluation.
Christina Hardin-Weiss: Yeah.
And for a loved one, let's say a
loved one goes into the, into
the hospital for you know, some
acute reason. There. You know,
that's always that's always a
good time for the family
caregiver, to go through the
home, get us a home safety
checklist, go through their home
before they bring their loved
one home, goes through the
house, find their areas that
they're concerned about, and
take it back to the therapy
department or to a social social
worker before they bring their
loved one home so that that
healthcare facility can at least
help address and validate that
caregivers concerns.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Absolutely.
Can you discuss the role of
technology in promoting aging in
place and how it can be
integrated with home
modifications and adaptive
equipment to provide a more
comprehensive support system for
seniors? Yeah,
Christina Hardin-Weiss: exactly.
I think I think the smart home
technologies really is I think
we're really at that point now
where it's going to be, you
know, when I first started in,
in, in long term care, we didn't
see a lot of thought as
smartphones and tablets is
different. And as as we've gone
on, you start seeing the family
caregivers bringing in tablets,
and of course, now everybody 80%
of the population has a
smartphone now, right? So
you're, we're seeing more and
more of that, Cindy, and I live
in Illinois, and we had the
opportunity to go to our
Illinois Assistive Technology
program in Springfield,
Illinois. And boy, they have the
way they had their setup as they
have smart room set up that that
that a family member or an
individual can walk through and
find out what kind of smart
technology is out there, and
then have a new habit
implemented and learn more about
it. And they haven't implemented
into what they think would be
helpful. I mean, they had a
smart, they had a smart living
room, they had with all the
smart hugs, they had a smart
kitchen, a smart laundry room, a
smart bedroom, and a smart
bathroom, right in there. And
everything was connected to one
of the virtual assistants. And I
mean, some of the stuff that
that it was, it was amazing.
Yeah, so go ahead. No, I was
just gonna say it's just, you
know, I don't think I know, I
didn't realize some of that
stuff was out there even so, and
we work with it all the time.
You know, it just makes sense.
But I really think that it's,
it's going to be helpful in
helping those individuals that
are wanting to age in place. And
not only those people, but their
loved ones, their family
caregivers, to be able to give
them that space, gym place and
keep their dignity and allow
them to be that adult and sit
and still be still have that
child parent relation, that
loving relationship instead of
always be harping on a mom and
dad, why aren't you doing this
kind of stuff. So I really see
smart technology and home mods
like that, including being
included in home modifications,
as really helping that that a
lot those relationships a lot.
Kosta Yepifantsev: I have a
colleague in Tennessee, whose
mom lives in Massachusetts. And
she's, I believe in her 80s Now,
but she's a fall risk. And she
has some other health conditions
that she's working through. So
my colleague incorporates a
sensor system throughout the
entire home. And one of the
interesting aspects of I mean,
there's a lot of features that
it has, but one of the most
interesting is it will alert her
if she has stayed over a certain
period of time in one spot. And
so, like, a lot of times,
especially somebody that is a
fall risk, they have that, you
know, purse, personal emergency
response system, that necklace
that where they can push the
button, but some people don't
like to sleep in it, and they
take it off, and then they don't
put it back on. And I think one
of the beautiful things about
technology is when you start
using it, it only improves it
can it only gets better, a
becomes more functional, it
identifies what doesn't work,
and then you create technology,
that's even better. Right. And
so that's one of the things as I
see us progressing in the long
term care industry is, you know,
I just I don't think that
there's ever going to be enough
support for one human being to
care for another human being.
And that be the only way things
can happen. I just don't think
that there's enough of those
ones to care for the other one.
No, unfortunately, it
Christina Hardin-Weiss: feels
like at this point right now. We
are people are going into health
care facilities, and they're
getting all that skilled care in
New when they go back to their
home, all of that skilled care
and know how falls on the family
caregiver shoulders. And I feel
like that technology is going to
help is at least going to help
give them the tools that they
need to be able to, you know, to
monitor to know what's next as
far as actual physical providing
that care, but it's so it's just
it's we are that that point
where all of that care is
falling on the family caregiver,
and it's a tough situation.
Kosta Yepifantsev: And they're
not in the medical profession. I
mean, a lot of the times, you
know, yeah, and the chances
Christina Hardin-Weiss: of them
getting hurt, providing physical
therapy increases exponentially
too.
Kosta Yepifantsev: I will say,
you know, it's a physical
therapist. There's there's one
component of technology that I
don't think that we put enough
emphasis on and it's probably
just because it's a lot more
expensive than you know,
developing smaller sensors or
little cameras or alarms, you
know, things like that. But it's
the mechanical technology. It's
the you know, the electrical
airlifts that people use in
nursing facilities, but how do
you make something that people
would be willing to use in their
own home? You know, like,
sealing track systems, there's
so many different mechanical
tech that is missing from,
really from maybe not in
facilities, but definitely in
people who are just middle class
Americans who are trying to
afford, you know, caring for
someone, let alone buying a
piece of equipment. Right?
Christina Hardin-Weiss: Exactly.
Yeah. And that's where I would,
that's where I would tend to
tell individuals, you know,
especially when they first
become caregivers, they're
running around with their hair
on fire, because they, you know,
it's a lot, it's overwhelming,
go to your area agency on aging,
find out what resources are
available, find your local
lending closet, why buy it
before you try it, maybe you
want a good point, you then you
got all this money out of your
pocket. And then also check for
your Assistive Technology
program in your state, almost
every state has one. And some of
them have some really great
lending programs and reuse
programs. They've got lending
like with augmentative, and
alternative communication
devices that they can lend out.
They've got reuse programs,
where they get wheelchairs, and
walkers and canes and all kinds
of stuff that they can lend out.
Kosta Yepifantsev: So if we're
talking about things like
building a weird wheelchair
ramp, or if we're talking about
putting in a walk in shower, I
think we can all agree one of
the scariest parts of home
modifications is the price. Are
there any cost effective
strategies you recommend? Before
we literally rip our entire
house apart?
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: That again,
I'm gonna fall back to please
make sure you get some type of
professional assessment because
Okay, there are there are ways
around, there are corners to
cut. But it has to be a safe
corner to cut, you know, and so
I really think, you know,
getting that assessment, getting
that one on one to really find
out the specific needs. And then
the other thing is, is maybe
maybe you know that the
individual thinks, Well, I've
got this area, this area in this
area, and we have to rip the
whole thing out, well, maybe we
can save on this one and put a
little bit more here. But it's
it's, it's getting that
individualized assessment,
that's going to be helped to be
the most cost effective, I
think, just in doing that.
Kosta Yepifantsev: So before we
wrap up, I'm going to ask you
kind of a broad technical
question. And it may be a little
long winded. So bear with me
here. Alright, so you've been
working in minor home
modifications, adaptive
equipment for how long now?
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: Well, our
careers but
Christina Hardin-Weiss: yeah,
adaptive according to care. I
mean, corner. We've been doing
this since probably 2015.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Yeah. Okay.
So something that I've noticed,
while being in this industry,
and I've been doing this for
about 12 years, when would they
were building all of these homes
in the 50s 60s 70s and 80s? Why
did they build them so that
wheelchairs couldn't fit in all
the doorways? Why did they
always only put in a tub shower
combo? Like, you know, it seems
and if you go back to like the
70s, and 60s, especially like
these doorways are like, some of
them are 20 inches. They're
tiny. You know what I'm saying?
And so I just, I don't
understand. Do you have any any
thoughts as to why these homes
are not adapted for either
multigenerational housing or
aging in place? Like what did
they think was going to happen
when you needed to be in a
wheelchair? or something of that
nature?
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: Um, I'm not
100%. Well, it's, it's it's
yeah, that's just you know, one
question there.
Christina Hardin-Weiss: Were
people smaller than maybe,
Kosta Yepifantsev: maybe, right.
Christina Hardin-Weiss: Over
time, we just everybody just
shut up and started getting
bigger and
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: broader. And
yeah, that that is a good
question. I
Christina Hardin-Weiss: don't
because wheelchairs have changed
much. But
Kosta Yepifantsev: yeah, and
wheelchairs really the component
that I'm most curious about,
because, I mean, even if you
don't consider the population
getting larger, I still think
like, Okay, well, wheelchairs
have been generally the same
size. And so many times I go
into people's homes to do an
assessment that you're
describing. And it's always some
kind of door widening that's
included that's necessary for
people to safely add to people
to actually even be able to
enter or exit a room. So I
always I was always fascinated
by that.
Christina Hardin-Weiss: Yeah,
yeah, that's yeah, who set the
standard for a wheelchair then
if that's the case,
Kosta Yepifantsev: right. Or who
set the building standard? Yeah,
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: right. Yeah,
right. Right. It's probably, you
know, yeah, I don't I just don't
think people thought of that.
And I don't Yeah, I don't think
it was brought to the forefront
until you know, you start having
the things like that. Our
opinions with the Disabilities
Act and things like that, that
really started bringing people's
awareness to those facts, and
life
Christina Hardin-Wei: expectancy
probably wasn't as long then
either, you know, and when they
were building that dielectrics I
mean, we've, we've gone up quite
a bit, you know. So
Kosta Yepifantsev: I think it's,
I think it's fascinating how far
we've come, you know, talking
about the American with
Disabilities Act. But also, I
mean, I believe, is, I believe
why a lot of this has happened
is because at that time, we
weren't planning on Aging at in
place, we were planning on
considering a nursing facility.
Once a, you know, once a fall
happened, or a broken hip, you
know, the, one of the most
common injuries that people
experience. And once you know,
with 80% of Americans wanting to
stay in their own home, you
know, this, this sort of rubber
meets the road, right?
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: Yeah, I
think with that, too, you've got
to think about to the medical
technology now, even some of
those things that are going on,
you know, I'm sure in the past a
broken hip meant a lot different
circumstance than what it does
now.
Kosta Yepifantsev: Yeah,
absolutely. Good point.
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: So you might
play into it, as well. So,
Kosta Yepifantsev: so we always
like to end the show with a call
to action. What's one thing we
can all do today to make our
community and world a safer,
more adaptive place to live?
Christina Hardin-Weiss: Well,
you know, and I've, I've said it
a couple of times already Costa
I, for myself, I, I feel like
making sure that you know, as a
family caregiver, as an
individual wanting to age in
place, know who your area agency
on aging is, know that they've
got a ton of resources out
there, you know, know that you
have a lead, there could be a
lending closet close by that you
might have an assistive
technology pro program close by,
and know that you don't have to
do this by yourself. If you're
the family caregiver, you do not
have to do this by yourself.
There's a ton of services and
people in this industry that are
just, you know, are willing to
help and do what they can for
for the good of the population.
Cindy Hardin-Weiss: Yeah, and I
would say to, you know, if
you're an individual or a
caregiver of a loved one, and
the plan is that I want to age
in place, then, uh, we can't
preach enough to try to breed be
proactive with those things
that, you know, try to look
forward and look into the future
about you know, hey, well, is
this going to work for me when I
get or if this happens, or if
this is going to work for me
that really try to be proactive
in in your, you know, quest for
aging in place.
Caroline Moore: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of
Now or Never Long-Term Care
Strategy with Kosta Yepifantsev.
If you enjoyed listening and you
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Long-Term Care Strategy is a
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Today’s episode was written and
produced by Morgan Franklin.
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Kosta? Visit us at
kostayepifantsev.com