The nursing home news article “gold coast nursing home residents in limbo, claims wages unpaid for a month” shows some of the difficulties the WORLD will be forced to deal with. While this article describes failed business and care practices it is a reflection of a bigger problem. That problem extends beyond senior care to all chronic care, including dementia care across the globe. The fact is America, China, Japan, and Europe are all aging. The existing ACUTE HEALTH CARE and social systems are not prepared for the resulting issues that develop.
The problems and path forward
This response is NOT the full answer but tries to bring light to less voiced issues that are behind this shocking negative news stories. This is another example of the revolving door in Acute Health Care we all hear about every day. More accurately this illustrates what happens when you use an Acute care system to ATTEMPT to provide chronic care services. You pay a lot and get very little. Later we do provide a solution in the TLCSR.com model of care which focuses on chronic care, improving the leadership role of "doctors". They do so with added Geriatric training, continuity of care, community involvement, and local community businesses. In addition, the main franchise office provides the support those small businesses need to flourish in any social, financial, or cultural setting while maintaining a high minimum standard of care.
No simple senior living answers
There are no easy answers. What is clear is it will take individuals, multi-generational families, communities, government all to join together to get a meaningful change to the current acute health care system which is misused to attempt to provide chronic care. Until we get that most fundamental issue of the differences in the acute care and chronic care system defined cost overruns will continue. The USA will continue to spend 86% of their dollars inefficiently on Chronic Care using the Acute Health care system to fill. Patients and families will be confused and mislead even if unintentionally.
Cost Effective Senior Care Crisis Solutions
Models of care like the TLCSR model of care are high-quality, practical, cost-effective, socially conscious solutions. Moreover, it has a wide range of flexibility for cultural, community and financial situations.
Difficulties in Senior Care and Nursing Home Care
The problems with the current senior care crisis are fairly clear.
The old demographic model of a pyramid is becoming square
That means there are more seniors relative to younger people. There are fewer younger people to care for the growing number of seniors. Moreover, china is faced with even more of an issue here due to the long-time low birth rate policies of the past. The tlcsr.com model of care can help.
Senior care and health care are expensive
While many public health people like to suggest that “preventive health” saves money, in fact, preventive health saves lives and improves the quality of life. Those health savings COST A LOT OF MONEY. Insurance companies who have perhaps the largest databases in the world know doing less and letting people die saves money. It takes public legislation to force preventive screening. Few individuals or free market businesses would pay for that since it costs so much for the benefit provided. While that is true, it is not a fact anyone likes to publicize. Fortunately, the tlcsr.com model of care focuses on chronic care first and acute care second resulting in dramatic cost savings while maintaining a high quality of care.
That model of care results in dramatic cost savings compared to the current use of the acute health care system to try to provide chronic care services.
Social, cultural and multi-generational conflicts
The last main area I will list is the social one. Families, communities, geographic areas all vary widely. It is very difficult to put a single national policy because of that. Fortunately, the TLCSR model of care allows wide variation in care while using the franchise based system as a strong check and balance to maintain a high minimum standard of care.
Shared responsibility for this and all Senior Care Crisis
This article shows a unique point that many will not mention. The families who choose that facility ( nursing home in this case) also share some responsibly. When making any Chronic Care choice false or misleading advertising, weak government enforcement, all empower the operators to be overly aggressive or misleading in advertising. Likewise, families always want lower costs and less personal responsibility for the choices they make. That conflict is even greater with multi-generational families and caring for a senior class with dementia who has marginal insight and judgment. The conflicts of interest are many. Balancing social, financial, and community standards is impossible from a federal level and requires a more local community focus which the TLCSR.COM model of care adds.
Summary.
While we have no widespread solutions today, we hope identifying more objectively a wide shared responsibly will promote more communities and countries to consider interventions like the TLCSR.COM model of care and build on it.
Venture investors, countries interested in learning more contact the author directly.
