Assisted Living Facilities in Thailand and Abroad

[TotallyOz]

I have not reached the age to need a assisted care facility yet. But, I do think about the future. While I do love the idea of a "Golden Girls" type of situation, I am not sure that will happen. I had to put my grandmother in a facility last year at a cost of over 10k per month. The prices in the USA are crazy. I read this article below today on Flyer Talk and wondered if there were places in Thailand that others heard about?

 

 

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-health-fitness/1325596-memory-assisted-care-facilities-homes-abroad.html

[Guest jomtiened]

Michael,

 

I have found one such facility in Bangkok--Golden Years Hospital. They have a website you can take a look at(www.goldenyears.co.th). I do not know the prices.

[Guest fountainhall]

Michael is a mere youth compared to some of us. I guess if there is one thing I dread it is being packed off to some care facility to end my days. In my mother's case, one of the results of a stroke was to leave her without speech and so caring for herself was out of the question. My siblings and I found her a very pleasant home on the outskirts of town so it would be easy for her friends to visit her. But I cannot imagine how she really felt having to live together with a group of elderly patients most having suffered from strokes or from progressive dementia. It seems almost a cruel way to live out what for her had been a very active life. There's a lot to be said for the care provided to the elderly by extended families in many Asian countries.

[Rogie]

There's a lot to be said for the care provided to the elderly by extended families in many Asian countries.

 

That's a good point.

 

The BBC news last night had an item about the increase in Britain's population since the last census. A census is undertaken every ten years and the age group 65+ had grown by 900,000 since the previous one.

 

Coping with ever-increasing numbers of older people, coupled to the decrease in extended families no doubt in other western countries also, will result in many sad individuals living apart from their families for far longer than would have been the case just 20 or 30 years ago owing to improvements in medical treatment and changing life-styles eg. fewer people are now smokers.

 

I recently visited am elderly couple in their late 80's who'd had to move into a very expensive care home owing to the sudden onset of poor health. I have known them since I was a teenager and it was so sad to speak to the husband, in despair as his wife had taken to her bed and seemed to have given up on life.

 

I expect that is why Pattaya is popular amongst our brethren as at least, until medical intervention becomes necessary, hopefully several good years can be spent in enjoyable company.

[kokopelli]

For those who have a devoted boy friend he can be of help for a while but there are limits to even that.

[Guest thaiworthy]

For those who have a devoted boy friend he can be of help for a while but there are limits to even that.

 

No limits to mine. He gives me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation whenever I needed it, and lately I've needed it quite a bit!

 

Seriously, my mother lives in an assisted care facility, but she doesn't need round-the-clock attention. However, that is available, if she ever wants it. She pays $1900 a month for a 1-bedroom apt., which includes some of her meals, and there is a medical staff on site. Every morning there is a card she is required to turn over to let the staff know she is OK. They make the rounds, checking everyone's card. If she has an emergency, she pulls a red cord in the bathroom which triggers an emergency response team. On the downside, one of the requirements to move in is a deposit of $100,000 or more, which is mostly refunded when she moves out.

 

Not quite the $10,000 a month bill Michael had mentioned, but I don't know about his grandmother's special needs, or what that really includes.

 

For everything, there is a price to pay, even in affordable Thailand. I have heard of communities of elderly farang who look in after each other every day, change the cat litter box, bring up the mail, errands, etc. Not quite like Shady Pines, but a viable, low-cost alternative. A friend in need is a friend indeed, and all that.

 

 

When our mother got on in years, we weren't sure we could afford a rest home, so we took her to a rest area.

--Aldo Colombini

[pong]

just by pure coincidence my mother @88 is also now on the point of getting into-but we have national health etc.

As to the OQ: I remember from years+more ago on german TV a documentary about really assisted living/care in TH for Swiss suffering from dementia/Alzheimer, weher a 24 hr personal Thai nurse was available at cost much lower (perhaps even paid by Swiss insurance-they know prices) as group-living in Swiss would have cost. Somewhere up north in ChMai. Mostly insurance here-if it covers the case-will pay care in other countries IF it is cheaper and IF they are approved.

Most marrried expats -I think- tend to have younger Thai wives(maybe boyfriends too!?) who can do basic caring when they start to get too old.

[Rogie]

For those who have a devoted boy friend he can be of help for a while but there are limits to even that.

 

Most marrried expats -I think- tend to have younger Thai wives(maybe boyfriends too!?) who can do basic caring when they start to get too old.

 

The key word as used by Koko is 'devoted'. Can be a devoted bf or gf/wife, depending on who you are living with. It seems to me a high risk strategy, assuming it has all been pre-planned as such. But, pared down to the basics, if the guy is coming up with the money and the bf or gf is happy with the arrangement, and several years later his health starts to fail, it can surely be a comfort to know he has someone he can rely on. Getting old and sick in a foreign country, without the support of a loving partner, cannot be much fun.

[kokopelli]

For me it would behoove the bf to do all possible to keep me alive and happy. Dead I am worth little but alive there are those monthly pension checks. Which, by the way, is why there are so many centenarians in Japan; those old folks just never seem to die or even fade away.