When Aging Parents Can't Live Alone : A Practical Family Guide

Aiming to help families make decisions on caring for elderly family members who can't care for themselves, discusses emotional issues of elders and families, and tells how to determine physical and mental capabilities of an aging parent. Walks step-by-step through various alternative living situations and tells what to look for and watch out for in different types of facilities. Discusses financial and legal issues, and gives advice on navigating the health care and social service systems. Includes checklists and questionnaires, and appendices of agencies, print and video resources, and forms. Rubenson is a medical case manager with Providence Medford Medical Center. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

As parents age, living independently often becomes difficult because of declining physical and mental health. Among the housing options available to older adults who can no longer live alone are retirement communities, assisted living, nursing homes, board and care facilities, living with adult children, or using in-home services. Understanding what each arrangement offers and deciding which will provide the best possible living arrangement for the older person's health and emotional well-being at an affordable cost can be challenging. Medical social worker Rubenson's guide describes services and amenities provided by both short-term and long-term arrangements such as hospice, rehabilitation facilities, and acute care hospitals, along with costs, insurance coverage, staffing, and licensing requirements. While doing an adequate job of describing housing choices, the book is poorly organized and lacks documentation of facts and figures. Questionnaires to assist in the decision-making process are overly simplistic, with several appearing in more than one chapter. The case histories often seem patronizing and do little to enhance the text. Appendixes include a resource list, a glossary, and, inexplicably, a guide to using the yellow pages of the telephone directory. A marginal purchase.AKaren McNally Bensing, Benjamin Rose Inst. Lib., Cleveland
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.