Shortly after the mother of Ryan, the blog's author, suffered a stroke in the summer of 2005, he began the site "because I found few practical resources for helping families considering assisted living." His stated goal is "to share with you some of what I learned in hopes of making it easier for you and your mom, dad, relative or loved one."
Ryan's experience during his mother's extended illness (the stroke was just the beginning of several other medical problems that required 18 months of care) brought to light several problem areas in health care for the elderly. As he says, "the medical system isn't a big fan of keeping people in the hospital. They're highly trained at treating acute problems and dealing with specific injuries and conditions. But when you are older and it comes to recovery from serous illness, your options are usually to go home or go to a skilled nursing facility where they can provide some therapy, administer IVs and other things requiring a registered nurse."
Ryan found much advice on medical conditions and treatment, but virtually nothing on understanding assisted living. He did find some websites that taught him the basics, like "make sure a nurse is on duty" or "make sure the kitchen is clean." And so he established his interactive blog that provides short, informative articles concerning various aspects of assisted living, elder healthcare, long-distance caregiving, and many other related subjects, with their links. Readers are encouraged to comment on articles posted, or to submit their ideas. Subscribers are eligible to download a copy of Ryan's 30-page Assisted Living Family Attitudes and Preparedness Study when they sign up at http://www.insideassistedliving.com/ . The study was compiled from information shared by 200 families who were willing to share their attitudes, concerns and beliefs toward assisted living.
Some of the categories covered are Caregivers, Doctors and Medications, Elder Law, Insurance, and many others. Recent posts includes More Elderly Parents Living with Adult Children, Better Communication with Tender Loving Eldercare, and even AARP Presidential Interviews.
