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New elder care co-op the way of the future

Nobody likes the idea of relinquishing their home and the freedoms they've enjoyed as adults and moving into a senior's care facility.

Depending often on how much you can afford to pay, such institutions may offer a lot of the comforts of home, but it's still not the same as actually being in your own home.

Also, depending on how much care you need, there's the frustration of giving up independence and the ability to make decisions for oneself.

That can be exacerbated by unfamiliar surroundings.

The negative emotions can have physical repercussions.

Sometimes it's just a lot of little things that add up.

Consider that residents must often give up the ability to prepare their own food, on their own timeline.

It is understandable that care facilities must prepare specific menus on a certain schedule, but it must chafe if you get a hankering for something special, or they're serving something you just don't feel like.

How about being able to get out of bed in the middle of the night to go outside to stare at

the moon, maybe even view an eclipse? There are, of course, circumstances where living in a facility with round the clock care is a necessity.

But most people would prefer to die peacefully in their own beds, surrounded by the familiar, without a period of time in a care home because they can no longer do the housekeeping, snow shoveling, and yard work as they age. Perhaps they need someone to check in on them periodically.

That's why the new elder care co-op being created in the Cowichan Valley is such a great thing.

It helps to give seniors ownership over their lives and their futures - literally.

We were not at all surprised by the high level of interest expressed at earlier meetings on the subject, though the organizers were.

Any service that can help people stay safely and comfortably in their own homes for as long as possible is the way to go.

Such things are only going to get more popular as the Baby Boomer generation moves into the care home demographic.

This could well be the start of something big.