As I’ve watched my father’s relationship with his dear friend Ginny grow closer and closer over the last 20 months, it has demonstrated to me that love really can blossom later in life.  He and Ginny are just one of the many happy couples I see when I visit their Florida continuing care retirement community. So with Valentine’s Day coming up in a week, I wanted to share this contest sponsored by a national senior living provider. Following is the information from their website:

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Emeritus Senior Living, a national provider of assisted living and Alzheimer’s and related dementia care services to seniors, is holding a Facebook contest that encourages fans to share personal and family love stories.

Emeritus’ “Lifetime of Love” contest gives fans the opportunity to share their own love stories, or family love stories that have been passed down from parents and grandparents. Fans are encouraged to post their love stories as comments to the “Valentines Day Contest” tab on the Emeritus Senior Living Facebook page. One grand prize winner will receive a $500 American Express gift card. Twenty additional winners will receive a $100 American Express gift card. All winners will be announced via Facebook on February 15th, 2010.

The inspiration behind the Emeritus “Lifetime of Love” contest comes from sharing the personal stories and journeys of many of the residents who live at its 316 communities across the country. Among the residents who have shared their heartwarming love stories with Emeritus are four Garden Grove, CA couples who are scheduled to renew their wedding vows at Emeritus at Garden Manor community in a group ceremony on February 12th, 2010.

The old keep getting older. No wonder many Florida senior living facilities and businesses that serve the elderly tell me they are continuing to do steady business, even in these tough economic times. Life expectancy in the United States has reached an all-time high: 77.9 years. The increase is due mainly to falling death rates in almost all the leading causes of death.

The new statistics come from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Men now have a life expectancy of 75.3 years. For women, it’s 80.4 years. The numbers are for the year 2007, and are based on 90 percent of death certificates in the United States.

I never really thought about where these life expectancy figures come from. Now I know: the CDC analyzes figures on the death certificate that are completed by funeral directors, attending physicians, medical examiners, and coroners. They use these figures to estimate how long a baby born today will live, assuming mortality trends stay constant. U.S. life expectancy has grown nearly one and a half years in the past decade, and is now at an all-time-high. The average life expectancy for babies born in 2007 is nearly three months greater than for children born in 2006.

One reason for the increased life span is that there were sharp drops in mortality rates for several leading causes of death, including: influenza and pneumonia; homicide; accidents; stroke; diabetes; and hypertension. The latest numbers also reflect a decline in the two leading causes of death in the United States: heart disease and cancer. Together, heart disease and cancer accounted for just under half of all the deaths.
Other interesting tidbits from the report:

• For the first time, life expectancy for black males reached 70 years.
• Alzheimer’s disease became the sixth leading cause of death, surpassing diabetes, which now ranks seventh. The number of deaths from Alzheimer’s remained steady, but there was a 3.9 percent drop in the number of deaths by diabetes. Also, as people live longer, more develop Alzheimer’s.

So what does this trend mean for the senior services industry? How do we grow and adapt while continuing to offer high quality services to the elderly in our senior living facilities. What about implications for Social Security and Medicare? Share your thoughts below.

Today’s featured senior living facility is Pinebrook Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Venice, FL. Pinebrook is a 120-bed facility that offers a wide range of post-acute care, short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, and other specialty medical services. They also have a special Alzheimer’s care unit called the Avalon Wing, and they provide hospice-related services (in partnership with a licensed hospice organization) and respite-care services (for elderly people whose primary, at-home caregiver is temporarily unavailable).

Pinebrook has been part of the Venice, Florida, community for more than 17 years. Last year the facility received the Excellence in Action Award from the Florida Health Care Association, in recognition of outstanding customer service.
One of the facility’s unique features is an outdoor therapy garden. This functional therapy garden provides real-life activities where elderly residents can regain balance, strength, mobility-and confidence. For example, instead of using parallel bars indoors, patients can cross a bridge with parallel railings that spans a man-made koi pond.

Other therapeutic areas include:

• A beach-like area to practice walking in sand
• A gravel walkway similar to many home driveways
• An uneven pavement area

Pinebrook also offers:

• On-site beauty/barber shop
• Common room
• Several dining rooms
• Family lounge
• Well-equipped therapy gym
• Koi pond
• Picnic areas
• Assistance with scheduling transportation to medical appointments and nearby shops

To learn more about Pinebrook Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, visit www.pinebrookrnc.com. For a searchable database of senior living facilities in Florida, visit Florida Senior Living Advisor.

An Orlando-area senior living facility is awaiting test results to determine the source of a virus that has sickened more than a dozen elderly residents. According to Dain Weister of the Orange County Health Department, last week 16 elderly residents at Emeritus at Crossing Pointe developed gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. With today’s heightened awareness of swine flu, that was the first concern, but Weister told me they have  ruled that out. He said they have  also determined it was not a food-borne illness. He said they suspect it could be norovirus, sometimes known as stomach flu.

Emeritus at Crossing Pointe offers independent living, assisted living and Alzheimer’s care to 179 residents. This past weekend, the facility was closed to visitors in an effort to stop the spread of the illness. As of today, just the second floor memory care unit is still closed since that is where the outbreak occurred. A few of the sick residents had to be hospitalized but all are now back at Emeritus, according to Weister.

Weister said norovirus outbreaks are not unusual in nursing homes. According to the Centers for Disease Control, norovirus is highly contagious. The symptoms usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Sometimes people additionally have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness often begins suddenly, and the infected person may feel very sick. In most people the symptoms lasting for about 1 or 2 days. One of the most common complications of norovirus among the elderly is dehydration.

Many senior living facilities are run by large regional and national corporations. Those that are locally owned are usually very small, housing maybe half a dozen residents. Courtyard  Gardens in Jupiter, FL is an exception and it is this week’s Friday’s Featured Facility on the Florida Senior Living Advisor blog. Courtyard Gardens is an assisted living facility with just more than 100 residents. It opened 10 years ago and is owned by a local resident, Dr. George Peck, and his daughter.

Courtyard Gardens Marketing Director Donna Phillips started working at the facility after her mother moved in nine years ago. She told me she was raving about the care her mother was receiving to anyone who would listen, and that’s when management approached her about becoming the marketing director. “I know what people are going through because  I’ve been there,” she said. When asked what sets Courtyard Gardens apart, Phillips says it is the facility’s caring and qualified staff.

“We have 85 staff for 111 residents. And we put money into their continuing education,” she explained. “Everyone has Alzheimer’s training, even the front desk receptionist. And everyone has first aid training.” Phillips says every employees understands that the residents come first, and their safety and happiness are the top priorities.

Phillips says another reason they are always at 100% occupancy is the great food. “Our chef is from the Ritz-Carlton. Everything is made from scratch, and we always have fresh fruit and vegetables,” she said. Rates at Courtyard Gardens range  from $3135 for a studio to $4140 for a one-bedroom apartment. In addition, there are “levels of care” that can be added on if a resident needs help showering, taking medication, etc. These levels add about $400 to the monthly fee. In the Alzheimer’s unit, costs range from $3700 for a shared unit to $4500 for a single.

To learn more about Courtyard Gardens, visit the facility’s website at www.courtyardgardens.com.