"Assisted living" is the topic of an superior 15-page newsletter issued last year according to the National Eldercare Institute forward Housing and Supportive Services.

"Assisted living" is the topic of an superior 15-page newsletter issued last year according to the National Eldercare Institute forward Housing and Supportive Services, individual of 13 Institutes funded by the agency of the Administration on Aging as part of its National Eldercare Campaign. The Campaign is a multi-year effort to increase and improve community-based services for older population at risk of losing their self-sufficiency.

The Institute forward Housing and Supportive Services is located at the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California (UCLA) and works with the Federal National Mortgage Association (FANNIE MAE) and the National Association of Area Agencies forward Aging (N4A). The Institute was established to provide information and technical assistance onward housing to State and Area Agencies onward Aging and to Eldercare coalitions formed on communities throughout the country in rejoinder to the National Eldercare Campaign. Assistance is also available to other members of the aging network and to the voluntary and private sectors.

The Institute's areas of expertise include hearth modification and repair, accessory housing units, to one's home equity conversion mortgages, assisted living, linking services to housing, slavish imitation housing, shared housing, and single-room occupancy housing.

The Institute's newsletter called Supportive Housing Options, is published twice a year.

The first issue, the individual devoted to assisted living, includes a surpassingly informative overview article by Victor Regnier, Associate Professor of Architecture and Gerontology at UCLA and an Associate of the Institute. The article describes eight characteristics of outstanding assisted living facilities, including: small size and scale; units that are entire and offer resident privacy; assemblage living that fosters interdependence and individuality; health promotion and maintenance programs for residents; family support and involvement; connections with surrounding communities; and a resident population of olders who are truly at risk of institutionalization.

The overview is an citation from Regnier's book, New universals in Assisted Living: Design Innovation from the United States and Northern Europe (Van Nostrand-Reinhold, of the present day York). The article notes that assisted living units can operate with as scarcely any as 20 units but usually require 35 to propose competitive rental rates and 24-hour care. Regnier commends a kitchenette and private bathroom for each unit and extra space for an overnight visitor; physical challenges in the form of exercise therapy and intellectual single in kinds in reading and discussion groups; encouraging residents to stay overnight at family homes; and an emphasis in succession serving frail elderly between the ages of 82 and 87 Regnier defines a typical frail population for this impressed sign of facility as one in which 40% of the residents may have episodes of incontinence and 40% may experience confusion and memory impairment.

Other articles in the newsletter discuss the best management philosophy for operating assisted living facilities; mechanisms for financing them; and a facility that moves an architectural model for serving Alzheimer's patients and other mentally impaired oldens In addition to describing this facility, a residence called Woodside Place in Oakmont, Pennsylvania (See Aging, Issue No. 363-364 1992) the newsletter discusses other prototype assisted living facilities, including Lincolnia Center in Fairfax, Virginia, Rosewood Estate in Roseville, Minnesota, and Rackleff House, a 25-unit residence in the rural community of Canby, Oregon.

Among the resources in succession assisted housing listed in the issue are a:

Guide Book

Best Practices in Assisted Living: Innovations in Design, Management and Financing. This part by Victor Regnier, includes six case studies as well as examples of innovations in across 100 assisted living facilities in the U Price: $1800

Video Tape

"European patterns of Assisted Living: Housing for Mentally and Physically Frail Older People" This video prelection also by Regnier, chronicles significant building, housing, and service conceptions for older frail people in Northern Europe athwart 150 illustrations gathered from 100 site visits demonstrate specific ideas and solutions to housing and service point to be solved [i]or[/i] settleds Price: $29.95.

Audio Cassette

This 90-minute cassette is a recording of the National Teleconference "Assisted Living: novel Ideas in Design, Management and Financing." It features presentations according to experts from three diverse assisted living facilities. Includes Listener's Packet. Price: $1200 independent to Project CARE Coalition Grantees (please provide grant number).

All three works may be obtained in "The Assisted Living Resource Package" for $5495 a savings of $500

To order any of these materials, make a check or coin order payable to the Andrus Gerontology Center and despatch to:

National Eldercare Institute in succession Housing and Supportive Services Andrus Gerontology Center University of Southern California, University Park, MC 0191 looks Angeles, CA 90089-0191