Section 202 housing is run by non-profit organizations who receive government funding in addition to the residents’ fees which are calculated based on individual income. These facilities are designed for seniors who are still able to live independently, but cannot afford mortgage payments or regular rent payments.

Finding Section 202 Facilities

The best place to start your search is online at the Department of Housing and Urban Development website which lists all section 202 facilities across the United States. First, determine your preferred location, and then plug in the city and state into the search page. This search will pull up a comprehensive listing of all section 202 low-income senior housing in that area.

Contact facilities

Once you have your list in hand, you can begin calling facilities. First, verify if the facility is still a part of the section 202 program. Each facility must meet specified requirements to maintain their eligibility to receive government funds, so always double check their current status in the program.

Check for vacancies

Second, check and see if they have any vacancies. Be sure to note if you have special needs such as ground level or elevator access or other handicap-accessible requirements. If your desired location does not have vacancies, ask if they can place you on their waiting list. It’s advisable to continue calling facilities on your list until you find several locations, so you can visit before making your final decision.

Make an appointment

Third, find out if you need to make an appointment in order to visit the facility. It’s a good idea to visit facilities as soon as possible as vacancies are usually snapped up quickly.

Ask about required documentation

Fourth, ask what documentation you need to bring with you in order to complete an application.
You will probably be asked to provide proof of identity and citizenship such as a birth certificate, driver’s license, or social security card. You will also need to show proof of low income such as your pay stubs, pension check stubs, bank statements, or social security statements. You may be asked to provide proof of medical expenses that impact your income such as medical bills or pharmacy receipts as well as a statement from your doctor saying that you are able to live independently. The facility may also ask for references from your previous landlords. If you will be applying to multiple facilities, you will need to make copies of each of these documents to give to each facility.

Ask a loved one to help

Fifth, because this search can take time and persistence to find a location that is in the right area and has a vacancy, it’s a good idea to get a friend or family member involved in the process. Be prepared to make a quick decision as the vacancies in section 202 housing facilities usually do not last long. Having a someone you trust with you in this decision process will provide a second perspective to help you if you are forced to decide quickly.

With a little persistence, you can find affordable senior housing. But don’t put it off until the last minute. Because of the high demand, vacancies are snapped up quickly. If possible, start your search before your funds run out, or while you can still wait for a vacancy in your preferred location.

What is osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is one of the most common types of arthritis that affects seniors. The pain, swelling, and stiffness associated with osteoarthritis is caused primarily when the cartilage in the joints that usually acts as a cushion between bones becomes worn down and eventually disappears altogether, allowing the bones to rub against each other. Sometimes boney spurs form and muscles or ligaments attached to the bone become weak further compounding the problem.

What is the cause of osteoarthritis?

Science has not procured a single known cause of osteoarthritis, but research points to several contributing factors which increase your risk of having osteoarthritis:
Family history of osteoarthritis
Carrying excess weight
Fractures or joint injuries
Long-term over-use, repetitive motion, or high-impact sports activities

Patients who have any of the following medical conditions also have a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis:
Bleeding disorders such as hemophilia
Disorders that inhibit blood circulation near a joint, such as avascular necrosis
Other types of arthritis such as chronic gout, pseudo gout, or rheumatoid arthritis

How do you know if you might be at risk for having osteoarthritis?

Symptoms of osteoarthritis::
Do you experience:

…deep aching joint pain in hands, knees, hips, or spine that worsens especially after exercising or gaining weight?

…a grating sensation in the joint when you move?

…pain even when you are at rest?

…an increase in pain during humid or rainy weather?

…visible joint swelling?

…any loss of mobility or range of motion?

…muscle weakness around painful joints?

If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, it doesn’t mean you have Osteoarthritis, but it does mean you should ask your doctor about it. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease, so depending on how long you have had it, you may experience the above symptoms more or less severely. You may not experience all of the symptoms,, or you may not experience any of the symptoms, but you may still be at risk for having osteoarthritis. Since many ailments share similar symptoms, the above symptoms could indicate something else all together, but if you do experience any of these symptoms, call your doctor and ask about osteoarthritis.

Treatments
There are many helpful treatments available to reduce and slow down the effects of osteoarthritis with timely and proper treatment. Depending on the severity of your symptoms and which joints are affected, your doctor may prescribe one or more of the following treatment options:

Medications
Over-the-counter pain relievers (Tylenol), nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs like aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen), or the prescription drug, Celebrex, are the most commonly prescribed treatments for osteoarthritis patients. Long term use of the above medications can increase your risk of heart attack and stroke, so use must be monitored by your doctor.

Corticosteroids are often injected right into painful, swollen joint to reduce pain and swelling, but are not usually prescribed as long-term solutions since they only relive pain for a limited time.

The dietary supplement, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, has reportedly provided some relief to some osteoarthritis patients. Often doctors recommend a 3 month trial period using this supplement to see if their patients improve.

A topically applied pain relief cream, Capsaicin (Zostrix) skin cream, may be prescribed. Patients often do not feel relief until after 1-2 weeks of consistent application to the painful joint.

Synvisc or Hyalgan, an artificial joint fluid is often injected directly into the joint. Pain relief from this treatment usually lasts 3-6 months.

Exercise
Based on the affected joints, a specialized exercise program may be recommended by your doctor. Appropriate exercise can help maintain or even increase your joint mobility, strength, and overall movement. Osteoarthritis patients are often encouraged to engage in water exercises such as swimming and water aerobics because they work the entire body, but are gentle on your joints.

Physical therapy
Your doctor may refer you to a specialist for physical therapy. A physical therapist knows specific exercises and stretches for strengthening the joints and connected muscles, increasing range of motion, and decreasing pain and inflammation. Your therapist may also recommend applying heat to relax your muscles or cold to reduce swelling, and a brace, splint, or wrap to help support or immobilize the joint properly. Improper support could lead to loss of mobility, increased stiffness, or injury, so you should always seek your doctor or physical therapist’s advice on appropriate supports.

Weight loss
Carrying extra pounds places more stress on the joints, so changes in diet and exercise may be recommended by your doctor to drop the extra pounds and relieve pressure on your joints. A healthy, well balanced diet and adequate rest will also promote healing in your muscles, ligaments and joints.

Workplace alterations
If your work causes excessive stress on certain joints, your doctor or physical therapist may recommend strategies to reduce trauma on your joints. Or you may need to request modifications be made to your work area to help you function without putting added strain on your joints.

Surgery
Severe cases of osteoarthritis may require surgery to replace or repair damaged joints. Surgery options are:

Hip or knee replacement
Arthroscopic surgery to trim torn and damaged cartilage (osteotomy)
Surgical fusion of bones, usually in the spine (arthrodesis)
Realignment of bones to relieve stress

Osteoarthritis doesn’t have to keep you down. The effects of “old age” might be reversible or at least improved. Ask your doctor about osteoarthritis.

1. Social Community and Support of Other Seniors
After exiting the workforce and being relieved of family responsibilities, many seniors find themselves longing to develop relationships with those going through the same season of life. Retirement communities provide ample opportunities to meet and socialize with like-minded seniors. These relationships often end up sustaining and enriching many seniors as they savor their retirement years and experience such strong support from others who really understand and share their experiences.

2. Community Life
Many seniors are looking for an active community life that provides ample opportunities for seniors to explore interests and hobbies while enjoying relationships in a community setting. Game nights, social knitting and scrapbook groups, dance lessons, and outdoor activities are often at the heart of community life. Many retirement communities are build around or in close proximity to golf courses and provide swimming pools, tennis courts, walking trails for the seniors wishing to pursue those activities.

3. Serenity
Many seniors flock to retirement communities looking for a place of peace and quiet that is hard to find in general community living. Since the minimum age requirement of most retirement communities is 55, these communities are able to establish a serene sort of sanctuary for seniors not wishing to be disturbed by the noisy or immature: loud, obnoxious teenagers, crying infants, or yelling children. This peace and quiet holds a strong appeal for many seniors looking for a calm place to retreat.

4. Comfortable and Convenient Accommodations
Retirement communities provide various types of housing, but often many seniors have a desire to downsize without feeling cramped, so retirement centers usually provide housing options to suit your needs and desires as well as providing larger spaces for social gatherings and activities. Many seniors choose communities in a more comfortable climate depending on their preference and health needs. Also, many retirement communities are strategically situated close to shopping centers, grocery stores, and beauty salons, keeping most amenities within walking distance, or they provide regular transportation to retailers or services located farther away.

5. Beautiful Grounds and Pain Free Housing Maintanance
Retirement communities recognize and appreciate the need for beautiful, tidy grounds to create that sense of serenity that so many seniors are looking for but no longer want to devote hours every week to maintaining the home and yard. On site maintenance and grounds keeping is a perk many seniors appreciate.

Many seniors are choosing to enjoy their golden years in the comfort of a retirement community. After years of hard work, they’re finding opportunities to enjoy life like never before and to spend time on what’s really important: building relationships.

So how does an active senior choose an independent living facility? Here is a roadmap:

Pick a Location!
What are you lolling for? Temperate weather? Proximity to family? Adventure and Activity? Get your thoughts down on paper and choose a city. This part is easy enough. Your loved ones probably already know what they are looking for. Help them narrow it down.

Choose a type of senior housing:
Do you want your family members to live in Rental Apartments or Manufactured Homes? Townhouses or Condominiums? These can be easily explored online or with a quick phone call.

List the types of amenities that are most important:
Not all independent living facilities are created equal. Some focus on spacious interiors, others on local activities. Does your loved one enjoy golf and shopping? Morning walks? Do they like to entertain? All of these should be listed and carefully thought through. And don’t think that you will have to nix half the items on your list. These things have been thought through and built into senior housing packages across the country. It’s okay to be choosey!

Take a visit to your top choices.
Of course, you can request a full information packet from these facilities first. But there is no substitute for a first hand look around. Ask for a tour in advance, and you’ll get one. These facilities are highly competitive, and want your business, so they will absolutely want to show you around!

Observe, observe, observe!
So many things to look for, but they’re obvious. How are residents treated? How nice are the units? How prepared is the local medical staff? What about security? Best to take a list of things to be looking for before you arrive, and to ask lots of questions if you can’t observe the answer right away. Feel free to be exceptionally curious!

Above all, trust the instincts of your loved one. Do they like the place a lot, or do they have reservations? Watch and listen to them. After all, you are serving and helping them make a decision, not making it for them. So help them think it through, and enjoy the process!

Insomnia affects countless millions of Americans each year. It is not a disease, per se, but it is a condition which prevents individuals of any and every demographic from living a full, rich life. And, as is the case with so many other conditions, senior citizens are affected worse than most.

Senior insomnia can be caused by a million different factors, and s often treated with just as many strategies. The emotional and physical challenges that seniors face are oftentimes more intense, and even with sleep aids, the problems can continue for a very long time.

So what can we do to help our seniors get some sleep? The best place to start might also be the simplest: exercise.

It might sound too silly or obvious to be true, but physical exercise can be the best friend of anyone who wants to sleep. Why? Well for starters, because it exhausts the body. Running, tennis, or even walking can dispel that pesky pent up energy that can keep a senior’s mind from racing when it ought to be resting.

But the benefit is not just physical. Emotionally, exercise can increase the feeling of wellness in any person, let alone a senior struggling with insomnia. It is undeniable: people who exercise on a regular basis on average feel better about themselves and better about life. This is not a coincidence. Exercise produces natural endorphins that make people feel better. They are more confident, and they are happier knowing they are helping their body instead of working against it.

All of those effects work positively for seniors battling insomnia. By getting regular workouts, seniors can increase the feeling of helplessness, sadness and depression. And at night time, this can translate to deeper, less interrupted sleep.

So before you encourage mom or dad to grab a prescription for sleeping pills, get them some walking shoes instead. It might help them sleep easier.

Finding a doctor who is competent and has an excellent bedside manner is difficult, but possible, you just have to know where to look and who to ask.

Check with the local support group, particularly one specific to your illness. Many of these people have first hand experience with local practitioners and can tell you who to avoid, and who will potentially suit your needs. If your choices are limited, sometimes just being prepared for Dr. Textbook can really help (like bringing a list of questions).

Quality assurance checks are becoming more and more frequent in the field of medical care. Many doctors reports are free, others charge a small fee.

Online message board or chat groups are excellent sources of anecdotal feedback about caregivers.

Ultimately, you may not know if a doctor will suit your needs until you meet them, so be willing to keep searching. Medical insurance policies can make switching doctors difficult, but switching to a provider who will provide better care and communicate effectively with you could certainly be worth the hassle.

They were both pleasantly surprised. My mom found support and encouragement from other care givers, and my dad was encouraged to find others facing the same challenges and pushing through them.

So why join a elder care support group?



For support group participants, these meeting prove to be more than just an empathetic experience, a sharing of woe, or “wow our lives are rough” sessions, but also creative problem solving sessions. Participants share what kind of home modifications, diet changes, exercises, and medical care had brought them relief and strength, as well as passing along current research, medical breakthroughs, and technological advances that might improve their quality of life.

Support groups are like a gold mine, giving you the chance to meet with other people who have done the legwork in your local area and found resources close to home such as doctors, caregiver support, social and community events, and educational or informational classes on your particular disease or related care topics. Patients and their family members can pass on names of highly recomended doctors as well as which medical providers to avoid.

In addition to being an excellent informational resource, support groups can provide emotional stability and encouragment, a safe and healthy arena to process through the difficulties of having a terminal illness or the challenges of providing care for someone who has a terminal illness. Knowing that you’re not alone, that there are others who understand what you’re going through can be so encouraging.

Reinforce the main reason your having “the conversation”: Because of deep love and concern. Sometimes a parent will do things for his or her children that they wouldn’t do for themselves. Knowing the emotional and mental concern that is weighing on you may be enough to urge them to go get some answers.

Ask why your loved one resists going to the doctor. When we asked my father about this, we were shocked to learn for the first time that both of his parents had died ultimately because of a doctor’s mis-care (ignored x-rays showing deadly lung cancer, and overmedicating causing death). He had two substantial reasons to have a fear of doctors! Upon hearing this, we proceeded the rest of our family meeting with more understanding and gentleness.

Walk your loved one through the “what ifs.” Sometimes just speaking their real concerns out loud will be enough to remove fear of diagnosis and denial of health issues. What if it IS something curable? Getting quick relief and a doctor’s care makes sense. What if it is something incurable? There are many incurable conditions that will be slowed or respond favorably to medications, diet changes, or lifestyle changes especially when they are identified earlier rather than later. And what if it turns out to be nothing? Everyone will breathe easier just knowing.

Ask your loved one to mention your concerns at his next regular visit (unless more urgent care is necessary). Sometimes people are more willing to broach the topic casually at a regular checkup with a familiar physician they trust. After our family sit down, my mother was convinced and brought up our concerns at my dad’s next appointment. His Urologist was the one who finally convinced him to see a specialist about Parkinson’s Disease.

Offer to help make an appointment, provide support, and transportation to the doctor’s office. Sometimes just being there is enough to break through the fear or denial.

Placing Mom or Dad in a nursing home can be such an emotionally charged experience. But for many people who need more intensive medical care, making the move to a nursing home is absolutely necessary. The process of selecting which home will be best suited to your loved one, can be complicated and overwhelming. But this process can be simplified by some quick prioritizing and simple checklists before you begin your research. Consider what are the most important things to you when choosing where to place your loved one?

Location

Keeping Mom or Dad in close proximity to family and friends is perhaps the most important consideration since frequent visits with familiar faces often make the biggest impact on a resident’s quality of life and positive mental health. Keeping close ties with family is more important than the asthetics of the grounds and buildings.

Nursing Home Quality Assurance Report

That said, doing a little online research before heading out to personally check each site can save you a lot of leg work. Top priority here would be to check the safety and quality assurance reports of each nursing home you are considering. Many items on your checklist will be addressed in those reports.

Quality assurance reports are usually done by a neutral, third party company, and are random checks on everything from occurrence of bedsores and neglect to having adequate, qualified staff. These safety reports can be obtained directly from the nursing home or may be found here. These reports identify Oregon Nursing Homes which have safety violations. These reports may give you an idea of which nursing homes you need to avoid.

Cost of Nursing Care

No one wants finances to be a deciding factor, but because of the high cost of nursing home care, unfortunately costs must be taken into consideration. Some nursing homes will accept Medicare. For a list of Oregon Nursing Homes covered by Medicare, click here. Other nursing homes are willing to work out a payment plan or have some kind of financial assistance. Check with the individual homes for more information on this.

Finally, with checklist and questions in hand, visit each nursing home to get a first hand look. Is this a place going to work for Mom or Dad? Request an appointment to go over any questions you might have. Making repeated visits on different days and at different times is recommended to get a more complete picture of what the nursing home is really like.

While not a particularly enjoyable decision to make, choosing a nursing home doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With a little preparation, you can make the decision with more confidence and find the place that suits you and your loved one the best.

Some seniors have held on to a suspicious, negative attitude toward technology, but they are getting past that. One of my dear friends just turned 70, and she has a 17 inch Mac Book Pro. Now she doesn’t know how to do anything but check her email, but still. She is proving that she is not afraid.

And she isn’t alone. According to a recent survey, American seniors are adapting far better to new technology than their European counterparts. 65% of Elders in the U.S. are said to have a positive attitude toward technology.

What do they use them for? Conversations. How novel! They don’t check their stocks, they don’t play Farmville, and they don’t download Jay-Z mp3′s. No, they talk and occasionally text, provided the buttons and screen are large enough.

For technology cheerleaders, this is welcome news. And for those of us who worry how Grandma fairing in her new Assisted Living Community, this is also good news. A senior with a cell phone is a senior who is reachable.

So if she doesn’t have one yet, it’s time to get a cell phone for grandma. There are plenty of low-minute Senior plans out there that serve well for emergencies. They usually cost between $30 and $45 per month. That’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.