As you approach retirement, ask all the right questions

BY JIM RAUH, November 20, 2008

Two items are basic to becoming a bona fide senior citizen: coming of age, then recognizing it. Clear that hurdle and you're either off down the path to retirement living or on a rocky road fraught with pitfalls.

It all depends on how honestly you define yourself, your retirement needs and how aggressively you and your family seek answers.

At age 65, the questions are many and for good reason. Retirement living is by no means an easy decision. Given the financial troubles currently besetting at least one major player in the Oregon retirement industry, seniors and families of seniors are now asking more questions than ever before - and should be - about the right place to live, lifestyle, at what cost, where, and with what type and level of services and care.

According to statistics provided by the Portland State University Population Research Center, some 45,000 Washington County residents reached 65 last year and seniors making up the populations of both Multnomah and Clackamas counties run about 9 percent. Further, PSU's Institute on Aging reports that almost 40,000 more seniors, native and transplanted, will hit 65 by the year 2020.

Where will the older members of your family live after retirement? For that matter, where will you live? Plan to stick it out at the old two-story family home? Plan to sell it and downsize? Thinking about a retirement community? Have you planned or are you planning anything?

What about lifestyle? Can you still drive? If you want to travel, will you drive or is this a service you expect someone else to provide? Who?

Will you continue cooking? Want someone else to do that for you? Are you active and independent? A bookworm wanting privacy? Seeking spiritual solace? Reliant upon others for physical well-being, social and emotional peace of mind?

Do you want to make new friends? Want to see your family regularly? What is the financial stability of the community I'd like to reside in? Can I trust them for quality, long-term care?

"These are all valid questions," said Tom Freitag, executive director of Hearthstone at Murrayhill, a 183-apartment retirement community in South Beaverton. "Anyone seriously considering relocation to a retirement community should insist on detailed answers and seek out second and third opinions," Freitag emphasized.

Freitag spells out what he considers the most important questions for any senior to ask of themselves and of any retirement community:

• Will the facility accommodate your current needs? What if the level of care you need increases?
• How does the facility provide for resident independence and choice while also serving residents' needs?
• Ask to see a copy of the resident contract, the house rules and state survey. This helps test a facility's interest in full disclosure. If you have questions about them, ask.
• Ask for the activity schedule and weekly menu. If you're visiting at a non-meal time and are seriously considering the community, ask to come back for a meal and to observe an activity.
• Meals are critical. Ask to eat at a table with current residents and ask them how they like living at the community.
• s the activity calendar well rounded? Does the community have a "holistic" approach to resident well being?
• Pay attention to facility environment. Is there a sense of life and energy? Does it feel depressed?
• Ask about the management: how long have key personnel been there? Long-term management generally is a sign of stability. If there has been a recent change, ask why.
• Ask how the community addresses resident concerns: Is there a Resident Council or monthly meeting with the residents? Ask to see minutes of those meetings.

"Look for facilities that are going above and beyond government regulatory compliance," advised Linda Kirschbaum, director of Assisted Living, Residential Care and Quality for the Oregon Health Care Association, an industry group representing an estimated 85 percent of all senior living facilities in Oregon. "Everybody uses the term 'quality,'" she said, "but six years ago the profession made a concerted effort to define it."

What resulted is a set of quality principles focused on continued service quality improvement, ethical business practices, staff retention, customer and resident family satisfaction.

The OHCA encourages its members to quantify quality.

Retirement community living is a new chapter in one's life. It's very important to spend the time to find a community that works well for you now and in the future.

Are you ready to do the diligence on retirement living? In addition to doing door-to-door facility research, there are abundant on-line resources: www.seniorresource.com; www.ncal.com; www.virtual-retirement.com; and www.ohca.com are good places to start. Tom Freitag can be reached at 503-520-0911 or www.hearthstoneccc.com.

(Soapboxes are guest opinions from our readers, and anyone is welcome to write one. Jim Rauh is a strategic communications consultant, public relations practitioner, and writer who lives and works in Beaverton.)