The broken rib could have been a disaster for Claire Soroko. She had been saying goodbye to friends Christmas Day when she stumbled from an outdoor step and banged into an iron handrail, breaking a bone in her chest. Afterward, she couldn't clean, drive or even dress herself.
"I really don't have anyone," says Soroko, a Park La Brea resident in her 70s. "My daughter and son-in-law are very busy. I couldn't ask them to come and stay with me."
Such accidents can often mean the end of living independently. Twenty percent of falls among elderly people require medical attention, and serious injuries, such as hip fractures, often require nursing-home care.
But today's older Americans are increasingly adamant in their desire to avoid nursing homes or assisted living. And they now have a movement to back them up. Called "aging in place," it has a beautifully simple premise: Keep seniors safe, well-cared for -- and in their homes.
In Soroko's case, more than 500 Park La Brea residents 60 and older have formed a novel network to ensure that its members can remain in their homes despite illness or physical decline -- homes that many have known since the complex opened during World War II. Soroko called the agency's office upon returning from the hospital. By the end of the day, the staff had lined up daily caregivers, transportation to doctor's visits and the hair salon, and visits from neighbors who brought meals and encouragement.
As the nation's demographic shifts to the old and older, such community associations are at the forefront of redefining how older Americans live. About 10% of Americans 65 and older live in nursing homes, assisted living or residential care settings. But that number rises dramatically among people who reach their 80s or 90s. Americans are living longer than ever--and their ranks are growing. The number of people 65 and older is expected to double in the next 2 1/2 decades as 78 million baby boomers, the oldest of whom are turning 62 this year, enter their golden years.
Together with businesses and technological advances, these associations could change the portrait of growing old in America.
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Where the heart is
There is simply no place like home -- living surrounded by favorite photographs and worn furniture, familiar smells and the comforting rhythm of the neighborhood, from the thud of the mail arriving each morning to the whoosh of the school bus passing by each afternoon.
