How to select a Retirement Community

First, visit a variety of communities that you are interested in, schedule tours and talk to the residents. Ask about various floor plans, services and amenities and take into account the reputation, value and quality of service of the community. There are several pieces of information you should ask for when visiting a community: comparing the marketing materials, residential service plans, financial plans, disclosure statements, resident contracts and resident handbooks of each community should give you enough information to make an informed decision. If you have a question about our community, just ask!

How to Choose a Good Nursing Home

Lancaster Newspapers recently published an article that reviews the nursing homes available in Lancaster County. Rankings for the various facilities were given by the Federal Government in a report called Nursing Home Compare, which can be found on the Medicare site.

What is a Continuing Care Retirement Community?

Continuing Care Retirement Communities offer multiple levels of care. Brethren Village offers five levels: Independent Living, Personal Care, Memory Support, Skilled Nursing and Home Care. A CCRC’s tiered approach to the aging process accommodates residents’ changing needs. Upon entering, healthy adults can reside independently in single-family homes, apartments or cottages. When assistance with everyday activities becomes necessary, they can move into personal care or skilled nursing care. In addition, Brethren Village Home Care provides compassionate full-service care in the privacy of your own home. Brethren Village Home Care promotes a care goal to restore and maintain independent function and health with supportive personal care services that relate to activities of daily living (ADLs). Our Home Care serves Residents within the Brethren Village campus community, and those who reside in the local Lancaster County community. We operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the convenience of our clients.

With all of the options, amenities and services available, CCRC communities give older adults the option to live in one location for the duration of their lives, with much of their future care already planned for. This provides a great level of comfort and security to Residents, as well as their children, taking much of the burden of caregiving off the shoulders of their children.

Why choose a CCRC?

Living at Brethren Village is just like living in your own home. You come and go as you please, plus have the conveniences of on-campus services and amenities such as a pharmacy, bank, and pool right in your own backyard.

Many of us view ourselves as healthy and think that we will probably never need long-term health care. The truth is, 60 percent of all Americans who reach age 65 will require some degree of long-term health care at some point in their lives.

Should you ever need advanced care, our on-campus Personal Care, Skilled Care, Home Care and therapy services are here if you need them. What could be better than living in a in a safe, secure, and warm community environment?

Why retire in Pennsylvania?

Charming small towns, exciting cities, tons of history and a variety of landscapes make Pennsylvania an extremely desirable place to retire. Pennsylvania is also one of the few states that doesn’t place a tax on retirement income (including 401(k)s, IRAs or Social Security) after you turn 59½. Retirees are pleased to find out that PA is significantly less expensive than its pricey northeast neighbors. The cost of living in PA is about 1 percent above the national average, compared with 27 percent for New York and 35 percent for New Jersey.

Lancaster, PA, specifically, is a sought-after place for retirees to grow old, and it’s easy to see why. Small town friendliness paired with a charming center city, Lancaster is a county brimming with art, culture, history, food, diversity, education, shopping and entertainment – making it an inclusive place to spend your golden years. Foodies will delight in the eclectic variety of eateries that specialize in locally sourced, farm-to-table fresh food. Lancaster is the perfect go-to city, nestled among gorgeous farmland, and offers close proximity to Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York and the coastal beaches.

In 2009, Forbes named Lancaster, PA, as one of the top 10 counties in the country to retire.