Tips 2 Seniors | Meet the Author: Diane Masson
Speaker, Blogger & Senior Living Expert
Diane Twohy Masson shares her personal and professional experience to help seniors and their families navigate the Silver Tsunami.
The author spent two years exploring senior housing options with her mom before finding the ideal Continuing Care Retirement Community. After enjoying eight successful years in an independent living setting, her mom suffered a fall and the onset of dementia. This daughter helped transition her to assisted living — in the nick of time. Seven years later, even this expert struggled making the dramatic decision to move her mom long distance into a skilled nursing community.
Diane Twohy Masson has worked in Senior Housing since 1999 and is an award-winning Certified Aging Services Professional (CASP) with a B.S. in business management and a minor in marketing from Central Washington University. She can share behind the scenes insider tips and advice after mystery shopping 300 senior living communities. Diane and her teams have helped thousands of seniors move into multiple styles of senior living, but she learned the hardest move is helping your own parent.
Diane Twohy Masson is the best-selling author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com with a 5-star rating. The book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum. Within this book, the author developed a sales method with 12 keys to help senior living providers increase their occupancy.
She enjoys public speaking, golfing, traveling, Disneyland, bird watching, writing, hiking, camping, reading, scripture study, and spending time with her family.
My Personal Story…
Tips 2 Seniors Blog
Articles & Resources for Seniors by Diane Masson
How Will Self-driving Cars Impact Seniors and Senior Housing?
Self-driving cars are here. The first self-driving taxi was launched in Singapore, only navigating in a limited portion of the city. Google has logged more than 1.5 million miles in self-driving cars in four states here in America. The Ford Company announced its plan to have a driverless car by 2021. USA Today, stated experts believe that driverless cars will be available to the public in 2020. We are just a few years away – wow! Seniors who have vision or other health challenges can become independent again with these state-of-the-art cars. But with 50% of seniors having dementia at age 85, a driverless car may strand disoriented seniors who can’t remember the make and model of their car or where they parked it. Some seniors base their decision to move into a retirement community on when they can’t pass the driver’s license exam. At first glance, it seems that retirement communities that offer transportation will be able to eliminate the driving staff. Right? Wrong!! Don’t be so fast to downsize these crucial senior assistants. Can a driverless car at a retirement community help seniors: In and out of the cars and buses as a senior becomes more frail? Load and unload groceries? Locate their doctor’s office in the medical building if the senior has dementia? Make sure he/she can return safely to their home after an appointment? Only drivers at retirement communities can help with all of the above scenarios. Join the conversation and share your Tips2Seniors here through comments. Diane Masson is an award winning author who passionately educates seniors about senior housing options through television, radio, a Tips2seniors.com blog and Southern California seminars (at 55-plus retirement communities,...Video: Tips to Select Senior Housing Options
Learn valuable tips to differentiate quality retirement communities from mediocre ones in an interview with author and senior housing expert, Diane Masson. Answers for seniors, adult children and family members in “Your Senior Housing Options,”authored by Diane Masson. It’s available on Amazon.com with a 5-star...Active Senior Moves to a Continuing Care Retirement Community
A Freedom Village independent resident shares why she chose to move to a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) from a 55 plus retirement community (Laguna Woods), Three months later she was blessed with a quick rehab recovery at Freedom Village Skilled Nursing Care after breaking her hip. Author Diane Masson shares a tip from her book, “Your Senior Housing Options.” Answers for seniors, adult children and family members in “Your Senior Housing Options,”authored by Diane Masson. It’s available on...Senior Stay or Go – TV Interview in San Diego
Learn when is the right time to move and 5 Tips on how to explore senior housing options. Shout out to Ron Greenwald and Patti Gerke for providing educational resources for seniors and their adult children. Learn everything you need to know in “Your Senior Housing Options,”authored by Diane Masson. It’s available on...When is the Ideal Time to Move to Senior Housing?
Do you know a friend, family member or a senior neighbor who is struggling in their home? Have the day-to-day basics become too much? This video shares some tips on discovering the right time to start exploring senior housing. Amazon review for: “Your Senior Housing Options.” 5.0 out of 5 stars A true compass for selecting senior housing By Mark Ibsen Diane provides encouragement to plan ahead and instruction on how to navigate retirement living options. Her personal trials and breadth of experience in the field allows her to identify pitfalls to watch out for and questions to ask. I found this a very readable book that is extremely helpful for retirees and their loved ones with the desire to chart the course for retirement living success. “Your Senior Housing Options,” is designed to help seniors and their boomer children to navigate choices quickly in crisis mode or preferably while planning ahead. Learn more tips...Proactive Senior Plans Ahead at 73 Years Old
Learn the reasons why a 73 year old senior would plan ahead. After living in a 55-plus retirement community for 15 years and watching neighbors struggle as they age, she and her husband wanted to live in a supportive environment that offers future health...
Over Medicated by Your HMO or Doctor?
Have you felt like a number instead of a person at your HMO or heath provider? What happened? Frustration? What about vulnerable seniors who may or may not have an advocate at their doctor and hospital appointments? If sane adults can’t advocate for themselves, how can a senior with dementia? A few weeks ago, I went to my HMO (Kaiser) for a simple endoscopy procedure. It was a 5-minute procedure that required me to be under anesthesia in a twilight state. Anesthesia has not always been my friend. So I came armed with all my previous anesthesia experiences (the good and the bad). The doctor was informed of my concern through the nurse. The doctor acknowledged my concern (relief on my part) and said she would give me the same twilight anesthesia as a recent colonoscopy. I agreed to this, because it had been a good anesthesia experience for me. Well, I awoke after the procedure to a nightmare of nausea and another bad anesthesia experience. A week later, my husband compared the anesthesia of the colonoscopy with the anesthesia of the endoscopy. Low and behold, they had given me 25 extra milligrams of Demerol for my endoscopy. That was not what I agreed to with my doctor. Why would they give me more than necessary? Was it because I was on a conveyor belt of medical procedures for that day? When I shared this experience with others, a couple of friends shared more stories. A coworker was given anesthesia during a colonoscopy and felt them begin the procedure. The medical team jumped when she said that she was...
Divulge to Mom with Dementia her Spouse or Child Has Died?
This can be a controversial and personal question. Many people say that you should not lie. My husband was one of those people who believed it was wrong to lie to anyone, even my mom with dementia. After my sister died my mother, with severe short-term memory loss (dementia), inquired about her daughter Shannon. My honest husband told her that she had died. Her reaction would be like any mother learning this terrible news. A week later, my mom asked my husband about my sister, Shannon, again. Before I could respond, I had to witness my mother’s intense pain of learning that her daughter died for the second time. Every time she asked the question about my sister and got the answer that she died, it was like the first time that she ever heard about it. She couldn’t grasp her daughter’s death in her long-term memory. What a blessing? Right? Wrong!! It is so hard to lose a sister and not share that loss with your own mom. She just was not mentally capable. It was time to train my husband how to handle the sister question, so he could be prepared. Next time my mom asked where Shannon was today, he would say that we had not seen her in some time, but we think she is doing great (in heaven of course). My mom was satisfied with that and let it go. What about a spouse passing? This one is tough if the senior husband and wife lived together or regularly visited his or her spouse with dementia. The loving spouse may be in the dementia...
Develop Talent – Invest in Yourself and Your Team!
Do you study how to improve your talent in senior living? Are you improving your mind on a regular basis? What books are you reading to improve your attitude? Do you have time to take a lunch? Are you scheduling rejuvenation time? Or is it easier to say, “I am too busy!” And you work through lunch again? Burnt out employees in senior living can become cranky and irritable. It can affect the quality of service to senior residents. The grouchiness can wash into home life too. Do yourself a favor and invest in yourself and your team. Start a new book review with your senior living sales or operations team. Read one chapter a week or two chapters a month. Select a book and have each person apply the principles in each chapter to his or her senior living position. One of my teams is reading, “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full.” Its focus is written for retirement communities, but the principles can easily be converted to assisted living, skilled nursing or memory care communities. Feedback from teams on a nationwide basis has insisted this book has helped their occupancy grow. My sales teams are currently reading, “How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling,” and, “The Greatest Salesman in the World.” “The Greatest Salesman in the World,” book has you read a scroll three times a day for one month before you move onto the subsequent scroll with the next principle. This is the third time in my life reading this book daily for 10 months. Each time it changed my...
Tips to Evaluate Mom’s Memory Care on a Long Distant Visit
Can you ever trust a retirement or assisted living community to take care of your mom better than yourself or a family member? Long distance relationships are never easy. Add dementia and hearing loss to the story and long distance communication with a senior parent is impossible. The only way you really know if your mom or dad is okay is to have eyes on them for yourself. My husband just went 1000 miles by plane, two hours by car and a 20-minute ferry ride to visit his mom, Amy. One year ago, she was hospitalized after her husband had a heart attack. After the trauma of her husband (who was her caregiver for five years) being hospitalized, she eloped and the police had to bring her home. Amy is now in her third licensed assisted living community. How do you evaluate the care of your senior parent? What should you be looking for or asking about on a one-day long-distant visit? First, how does mom look? Is her hair washed? Are her clothes clean? Do the other residents look well cared for? The answer to all of these for my mother-in-law was good and yes! Can she feed herself and how much can she consume? Always stay for at least one meal. My mother-in-law ate three plates of food over four hours by herself and asked for dessert. A year ago, she never wanted to eat, so this was a huge improvement. Does she know your name? Can she hear? How does she communicate with the caregivers? My mother-in-law introduced my husband (her son) by his full...Learn More About Senior Housing…
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