Estate Living Magazine Connection - Issue 43 July 2019 | Page 31

I N V E S T
&
D E V E L O P
a longer retirement, helping people to live in their homes for
longer, tackling loneliness, and increasing independence and
wellbeing.
This means that, instead of sending retirees to old-age homes or
tailored retirement villages, the trend is moving towards bringing
services and products directly to one’s home and allowing
retirees to live in their homes for longer while receiving all the
care and assistance they need. Bringing in qualified nurses and
caretakers is not a new concept, but the prevalence is increasing
as it becomes more easily available along with the necessary
supplementary services.
Imagine having all the services you need within your local suburb
or community: security, meal deliveries, nursing, emergency
management and even handy DIYers who can deal with small
(or not-so-small) repairs. Each of these has staff who are trained
to deal with older clients (some of whom may have dementia),
is focused on retirees, and offers services and operating times
that make sense. Once these companies move into an area,
and make it simple and understandable for people to use their
services, we’ll find that independent home living becomes the
norm for retirees.
There are many factors specifically regarding healthcare that
concern the ageing population: overcrowded hospitals, lonely
old-age homes, and lack of nearby facilities. Engaging in home
care services can not only alleviate these concerns, but also
offers highly professional and qualified care at a lesser cost
than some of the alternatives. Home care can also simply be to
provide comfort and company, and can extend to counselling
when needed. Procare, a local specialist in the healthcare
industry, offers home care services for a wide range of needs,
and cares for people of any age. Whether it’s simply a weekly
check-in that’s needed or a full-time nurse at hand, they can
assist with a tailored solution.
Many pensioners who live with their families often need to spend
extended periods of time by themselves and it’s only natural
to feel a little lonely. An interesting app that’s recently been
launched in Florida aims to match students with older people
who either need chores done or who simply need company.
Papa Pals is just one example of many regarding the focus on
creating quality independent living for an older generation.
Google’s ‘Alexa’ and Apple’s ‘Siri’ are also being marketed
to retirees for simple tasks such as medication reminders,
tracking of to-do lists, audiobooks, news, trivia, etc. Even though
technology may seem like a different world to some older folk,
there’s a lot of development in the area of longevity and assisting
ageing users with technology.
procare.org.za
E
Whether you’re planning for retirement yourself, looking after
your parents, or possibly at that juncture of deciding whether
to move to a care centre or retirement village, take the time to
understand all the options available, and find out whether opting
for home care may buy you some more time at home.
Moving forward, it’s highly likely that we’ll see communities
organically grow and become retirement-centric, with
healthcare and independent living being the key areas of focus.
We can’t avoid health issues but we can certainly manage
them, and doing so in the comfort and familiarity of our home is
probably the best choice we could make.