Boomers changing the times

By Cleve Wiese

Published: May 14, 2008

As an overwhelming number of baby boomers approach retirement, health-care providers and government agencies alike are struggling to predict what kinds of services that group is likely to need – or want – in its later years.
“As the population gets older, we’re expecting a total culture change,” said Pamela Doshier, administrator of the Avante at Waynesboro nursing home.
In hopes of targeting that emerging demographic, Avante unveiled a new wing Wednesday in a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by several members of the Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce. The 26-bed “Wellness Oasis” is designed for short-term, physical rehabilitation from specific injuries or medical procedures. Stays cannot exceed 100 days, and the emphasis is on quick recovery and release.
“We’re looking for patients to come in, do rehab and, hopefully after a short stay, get better and go home,” said Shirly Brown, Avante’s director of community relations. “The baby boomers want to be at home as soon as they can.”
Brief stays aren’t the only thing separating the new wing from the traditional nursing home sections of the Avante facility. Set off from the rest of the building, the Wellness Oasis features a separate entrance. Rooms are decorated with elaborate sconces and bright paint, Doshier said.
“A lot of the people here as short-term patients don’t want to be mixed in with the general population,” Doshier said.
Caring for aging baby boomers is soon to be big business – and if individuals and government agencies fail to adequately plan, a big problem. By 2020, 1.5 million Virginians will be older than 65, said Tony Hylton, associate state director for communications for AARP Virginia. That will be a 77 percent increase since 2004, Hylton said.
“The tsunami of aging is coming to Virginia,” Hylton said.
Keeping at least some of those people out of nursing homes for as long as possible would not only satisfy the wishes of an distinctly independent population, it would also lighten an unprecedented burden on taxpayers, said Bill Peterson, a policy analyst for the Virginia Department for the Aging.
“Once people enter a nursing home, they often spend all their resources fairly quickly and become eligible for Medicaid,” Peterson said. “Then it’s the taxpayer paying for their care.”
To help stave off a fiscal meltdown, the state legislature is acting now to foster community programs that provide car rides, help around the house, cooked meals and other necessities to seniors, Peterson said. But while encouraging home care cuts down on tax dollars, policy experts fail to take into account the time family members spend making it possible, said Steve Morrisette, president of the Virginia Health Care Association.
“You’re hearing it’s cheaper for the state bureaucracy because it doesn’t have to pay for a nurse to take care of people 24 hours a day,” Morrisette said. “But that’s because family members, who don’t get paid, take care of them instead.”
Regardless, short-term physical rehabilitation programs such as the “Wellness Oasis” should have a great deal of appeal for health-conscious baby boomers, Peterson said. A lifetime of consistent exercise may delay the effects of aging, but it could eventually result in more procedures such as hip and knee replacements that necessitate intense periods of recuperation. 
“I think that facilities that are looking at that have probably done their homework and are looking towards the future of senior care,” Peterson said.