Take That Nursing Home and Shove It!: How to Secure an Independent Future for Yourself and Your Loved Ones.

I ordered this book from Amazon in October when an elderly relative had a major stroke and was hospitalized. This book has been a life saver for me. That was four months ago. This has been the best resource to guide me in making the best choices concerning healthcare, rehab, and skilled nursing decisions. The book is written in a clear and concise style that reads easy for the lay person. Susan is able to translate the complicated wording that proliferates in Medicare, hospital, and insurance documents into simple and clear language that spells out what rights and services the elderly person isentitled to. I read the entire book in two days and came away with a much better understanding of the "system" I was going to be dealing with as the primary person responsible for decision making. Since reading the book, I have gone back to the list of resources and appendices several times to get information as new issues come up as I navigate through the world of Medicare and skilled nursing. In this four month journey, Susan has been the only professional I can rely on to give me advice and information that is correct and in the best interest of my relative. I recommend this book to anyone who needs to understand the healthcare system our elderly relatives (and ourselves) will eventually be navigating through one way or another. This book is worth every penny and more.

While better than a lot of books on this topic, the author doesn't go nearly far enough into helping people understand home care options, and at least some of her advice seems to be "don't become disabled in the first place". That is hardly helpful. Still, you'd be hard pressed to find a better guide the nutty American long term care system.

This book is full of information useful to seniors, families and caregivers. I am a senior, and once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. Looking at the Table of Contents you will find everything like tips on when and how to start taking Social Security. I thought I knew all the options (I didn't) There are sections on "ageing in place" - evaluating your home and your needs to be able to stay in your own home and how to find appropriate caregivers. Geffen describes facilities that house older adults that are a better alternative to nursing homes. I gave copies to my daughter, my step-daughter and step-son, and my brother for the holidays. My daughter said, "Mom, I couldn't put it down!"

The book doesn't give a lot of ideas as to how to really make this happen (staying out of the system)

My 95 year old Mom is starting to have more difficulty living at home, so I turned to this excellent book for advice. It really helped us understand all the gobbledygook that the nursing homes have been throwing at us rapidly and in doublespeak. Now that we understand the system, it is helping us to make a good decision WITH my Mom as to whether she wants to move to an assisted living community or whether some accommodations to her current situation would be better.

There's no getting around aging. Until somebody finds a magic potion or fountain of youth, we all need to know what Susan's powerful book explores; we all need to prepare, not deny, the facts of aging. This book offers pathways to crisis-avoidance and preparation. There are lots of hucksters and charlatans who will gladly take our money and fail to perform if we fail to manage the process and procrastinate until we are managing a crisis instead. Thought provoking, factual, and highly personal. Read this book!

A bit repetitive with not as much info I was hoping for. Love the concept, though, and agree with the premise.

This book is excellent. It discusses the difficult choices that a person and/or their family must make as one gets older. It pointsout both the positives and negatives of decisions that affect one's later years. I would highly recommend it to both young andold. Young people need to know what to expect, both for themselves and any aging family members. Of course the elderlyneed to know what options are available to them.