"The Pocket Guide to Senior Housing: "What they Don't Tell You and What You Need to Know", was written to help seniors and/or their families navigate their way through the process of selecting the best affordable housing for themselves or loved ones. It includes several pages of important questions to ask when touring, and is a step-by-step guide through the process, from the first call to the move in, and defines terms that are tossed around in the industry but unfamiliar to those outside the senior market. Small enough to fit in a purse or briefcase, the Pocket Guide includes several pages to keep track of the facilities you visit, and includes a list of resources to access both locally and nation-wide. User-friendly terms describe differences between Medicare and Medicaid, and the variety of housing options such as Continuing Care Retirement Communities, "stand-alones", independent and residential care facilities. The Pocket Guide explores the costs of senior housing, level of care charges and where, and if, Long Term Care insurance applies. The services of Geriatric Care Management are explained, as well as suggesting the use of a realtor with a senior specialist certification. The Guide not only tells you what questions to ask when you tour a community, but why they should be asked and how you should react to the answers. There is a discussion on private referral services, and there are several checklists of questions for you to check off as you tour or make phone calls. As many of the rules and regulations, costs and care levels vary from state to state and between companies, the Guide tries to keep most discussions generic and there is a page of resources so that you can contact your city or state for details.
About the Author: Pamela Pierson has a BS in Education from Wheelock College in Boston, an MS in Administration from University of Nevada-Reno, and has been in the senior care industry for over a dozen years. She has been both a Marketing Director and Tri-State Regional Marketing Director for several senior housing communities in the western part of the United States. Pam's career in education encompassed preschool, elementary and middle schools in Carson City, Nevada and Washington D.C. She eventually landed a position at Florida State University. Her resume includes owner of a courier service, travel agent, assistant editor for "First Monday", a political magazine, and most recently a career assisting seniors in their search for affordable housing. Pam currently owns Monarch Eldercare Consulting and also works for Lighthouse Care Management in Spokane, Washington. She is the current chairperson of the Senior Living Networking Group which she created with a co-chair in 2000. This group was formed with a goal of achieving an atmosphere of friendly competition in the rapidly growing senior care market in the greater Spokane area. Pam enjoys writing and has been published in numerous magazines. Her other passions are cooking, yoga, quilting, knitting, traveling, volunteering in her community, book group, and dreaming of her next big adventure. Pam has traveled internationally, often as a guide, taking small groups of people to various destinations around the world. She is a gourmet cook and creates delectable treats for her friends and family at either her home in Spokane or her lake cabin on Lake Pend Oreille. Pam also takes classes at the local community college, including cooking, crafts and a 6-week course in handling firearms. She is active in Rotary and a member of the Spokane Symphony Associates. Pam was born and educated in New England and makes an annual visit back to smell the salt air, dig her toes in the sand, eat lobster rolls and visit her friends and family that reside there. While she has spent over 27 years in the west, she still refuses to wear white after Labor Day! Pam and her husband Richard currently live on the south hill in Spokane with their delightful toy poodle named Sidney