Elderly care in Panama

Hi  John & Amira !

Welcome to Expat.com!

Armand

Hi John & Amira,

You just asked a great question that really needs to be addressed here in Panama. I'd never really put a lot of thought into it since I'm not in your situation, but wow, with so many expats moving here, at retirement age, you'd think somebody might want to quickly create an assisted care facility, if one doesn't already exist.

I just searched the internet trying to find answers for you. I did come across this website http://www.homewatchcaregivers.com/pana … -care.aspx but it seems to be more about caregivers coming to you. As you mentioned in your post, the option to have a nanny either live in or visit however many times a week you want, is a popular option. Most posts I saw online regarding elderly care involved someone coming to the person's home. I'm gonna keep checking though because I'm sure there must be actual facilities here somewhere.

Dang, I got excited for a moment. I thought I found something. I kept seeing designs for an assisted care facility in Panama Pacifico, an upscale area built inside the old Howard Air Base. It turns out this was just a project put on by Iowa University. They had their design students come up with plans for a facility in Panama Pacifico. I think that's all it was...a homework assignment.

Ok, just found an excellent post in Richard Detrich's blog (an excellent blog by the way) about finding assisted living for his brother. It looks like there's a place in Bugaba, which he explains in his article is about an hour and fifteen minutes from Boquete or forty minutes from David. This would mean that you'd have plenty of places to choose from as far as living options. Tons of beautiful places are in the vicinity. Check out Richard's blog here: http://richarddetrich.com/2012/11/04/fi … in-panama/

I hope some of this helps. Sorry I couldn't dig up anything else.

Oh, and if you want other nuts & bolts info about living in Panama, check out my blog at www.thestayathomegringo.blogspot.com

Chris

Hi Chris:
Thank you so much for all the information! We went through your blog and we were amazed at the amount of information you have been sharing. (Not looking forward to getting a drivers' licence though...)
We appreciate getting all this information & tips in advance that will surely save us from a lot of headaches once we move to Panama. We love your blog! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences!
Best wishes:
John & Amira

thank you Armand! We are very happy to be a part of this group.

Thanks. I really appreciate your kind words and I'm glad you like the blog.

Linda Hart responded to this thread on another forum. http://boquete.ning.com/forum/topics/ne … on-the-way She knows of a place in David that is taking good care of her mother. Generally though you are right. Most elderly people are cared for by their families so there aren't a lot of options. The language barrier is another big consideration if your dad speaks no Spanish.

Kris

John & Amira wrote:

We are thinking of moving to Panama from Canada and retiring with my elderly dad who is currently in a nursing home. We understand that it's possible to have a live in nanny but we were wondering if there were any places for respite care to have dad supervised a few days a week and have his medications administered on time. It seems that there are not many (if any) nursing homes in Panama. We appreciate any information about this.

Hi Kris:
Thank you so much for the link, it was very helpful to read all the comments and to find such a nice group of caring people sharing their experiences. We are glad to hear that there is a least one home for assisted living and we look forward to the adventure. If you come accross any furhter information on the topic please let us know.
Thanks again!
Best wishes:
John & Amira

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PanamaCareGivers/  This group may also be helpful. Unfortunately they don't archive messages but you can get involved and post questions there.

Kris

John & Amira wrote:

Hi Kris:
Thank you so much for the link, it was very helpful to read all the comments and to find such a nice group of caring people sharing their experiences. We are glad to hear that there is a least one home for assisted living and we look forward to the adventure. If you come accross any furhter information on the topic please let us know.
Thanks again!
Best wishes:
John & Amira

We are from Canada and we are planning to move to Panama. We understand that the postal delivery is nearly non-existent in Panama.
We appreciate if anyone from Canada has been able to find a solution to have important mail such as next year taxes, and other documents forwarded to Panama? We are thinking that the only solution may be to ask a relative in Canada to keep our mail, sort through it and send it to us by some private company such as Fedex/ Purolator.
We look forward to your feedback. Thanks in advance!
John & Amira

Hey guys,

Getting mail here isn't difficult at all, with the use of PO Box/Mail forwarding companies. I was going to write all about it here, but I already wrote a blog post, a long time ago, that covers all this. It also covers keeping in touch by phone and stuff like that. So rather than write it all out again, I'll just post the link to that post here:

http://thestayathomegringo.blogspot.com … anama.html

Hope that helps. I just picked up a birthday present, package, from my mom, sent from San Diego, California. She sent it to my mailbox here in Panama, which is set up with a Florida address. She sent me a hat and a DVD and I paid a little over $7 to pick it up.

Chris

Oh, yeah, I'm not sure I put this in the post. If you're going to send important documents, I've been told by the mailing facilities that it's a good idea to put them in a box, like a package. It's easier for them to trace packages than it is to trace a small envelope. Also, packages usually show up faster. With some of these companies, you have to imagine there's a large barrel that will be sent from Miami to Panama. If your envelope happens to come in when that barrel is empty, it'll be at the bottom, and they'll wait until that barrel is full before shipping it to Panama. So it could take a couple of months to get that letter. Other times, it might end up on the top of that barrel and show up a week or two after its sent.

So, for that reason, if you want something to show up in Panama quickly, stick it in a small box and send it.

Chris

Hi Chris:
Once again, you have been so helpful! This is great information,
thank you so much! One thing less to worry about as we continue to plan our move.
We are so lucky to have access to this kind of information that can saves us so much time,frustration and stress. You are doing a great job!
Warm regards,
John & Amira

hi Chris! You are an endless supply of useful information about everything. Thank you so much.

http://blog.thepanamaadventure.com/2013 … -for-mail/  This is a post about what we are using in David. It is like what Chris uses, where mail is sent to a Florida address and then it is shipped on to here.

We have our mail sent to my daughter in the US. She sorts it, and then scans and emails anything that needs our attention. That way there is very little that has to be actually mailed to us, and things come to our attention in a more timely manner. With internet banking and internet almost everything, it's been easy to manage things in this way.

Kris

Thanks guys, and Kris, you're pretty nifty yourself.

Chris

Hi Kris:
Very helpful information as well! Thank you!
It certainly gives you peace of mind to be able to address all these concerns ahead of time. You are doing an amazing job helping others to follow your footsteps.
Best wishes:
John & Amira

Just paying it forward a little. There have people who helped us a whole lot too. Thank goodness for the internet. I wonder how much harder it was before we could all talk to each other so easily.

John & Amira wrote:

Hi Kris:
Very helpful information as well! Thank you!
It certainly gives you peace of mind to be able to address all these concerns ahead of time. You are doing an amazing job helping others to follow your footsteps.
Best wishes:
John & Amira

(Moderated)

Hi guys i really enjoying to reading all the blogs,,,comments,,, this site is verry nice and decent,,,
Got back from philippines soon!

Thanx and have a good day!

hi guys.

Hi kelly,

Welcome to Expat-Blog

Can you please introduce yourself ?

Thank you

Maximilien
Expat-blog Team

Good morning:
Could anyone provide us with the contact information for an accountant to prepare Canadian taxes?
We just came back from another trip to Panama and we are completely sure that we want to move in the next few months. We will have to go through all the preliminary steps and we need to figure out how we can continue to prepare our Canadian  taxes while in Panama ( as we plan to receive a pension). We would appreciate the guidance from any Canadian expats in regards to how you resolved correspondence issues, mail, money transfers, etc.
In addition, we wanted to find out how we will get local bills if there is no mail services. We look forward to your feedback.
Many thanks,
John & Amira

We're from the US, but I do the taxes on line with TaxAct. Or, maybe you and your accountant can do things by email, skype phone, or other communication?
We do banking and bill paying on line with our US accounts. We shop with credit cards, or cash from an ATM (from our US accounts)
My mail goes to my daughter's house where she can check for anything important, and scan/email it to us as needed.
For something that has to be mailed here, you can use a mailing service like Mailboxes Etc. It costs a bit and takes 1-3 weeks, but things do get back and forth OK.
Local bills (water and electricity) are brought by a courier and left in our front gate. We have an arrangement with the cable/internet company to bill monthly to my credit card.
Both of my daughters have power of attorney so they can do business on our behalf if necessary. We also got this apostled so it's legal in Panama in case of emergency.

Hope that helps a bit. Maybe you could also put this on a new thread so anyone not interested in elder care won't click on by.

Kris

John & Amira wrote:

Good morning:
Could anyone provide us with the contact information for an accountant to prepare Canadian taxes?
We just came back from another trip to Panama and we are completely sure that we want to move in the next few months. We will have to go through all the preliminary steps and we need to figure out how we can continue to prepare our Canadian  taxes while in Panama ( as we plan to receive a pension). We would appreciate the guidance from any Canadian expats in regards to how you resolved correspondence issues, mail, money transfers, etc.
In addition, we wanted to find out how we will get local bills if there is no mail services. We look forward to your feedback.
Many thanks,
John & Amira

You can now purchase an entire system for your house that includes a device/panic button your Dad can wear, along with buttons to place in the bathroom or near his bed, or favorite chair.  It's inexpensive, and you don't have to buy a service.  Your alarm can either call your cell or set an alert wherever you like.  Lots of options these days. 
  I chose to live in a small town minutes from a hospital and close enough to David that I can easily fill any prescriptions or see a specialist.  (They come to our small hospital in Puerto Armuelles once each week).   Household help is an affordable option as well.
  I don't know if you've chosen your future home yet, but it would be wise to go and talk to a Dr. there and also stop at a local pharmacy.  Don't rely on anyone else to check this out.....You will be able to ask all of your questions and get a feel of how you like your Dr.  He or She will also be able to write refills for your prescriptions and tell you how to get them filled.  I know many people have them filled in David then the bus (yes, the bus!) Delivers them to town.  They call you when it arrives at the bus station.  Welcomes to Panama, where there are a thousand ways to "skin a cat"!

Thank you so much for all the tips that you have given us, it's truly amazing how many options are available!
We actually used the alarm you mentioned before dad went to the nursing home so we are familiar with it and we are glad to hear it's available in Panama!. He is in need of much more physical care now but if we retire in Panama we will be able to be there for him and maybe we can get some extra help if needed. Thanks agin for all the information. We are looking forward to our move this year!!!!

Just found this on FB and wanted to share...
facebook.com/nursehousepanama
Panama[/url]

I am thinking of building retirement community in or arond Panama City with assisted living, memory care and independent living.  Will it work and where would work the best?  Does anyone build a quality facility there? 

I currently have a home at Red Frog Beach on the Island of Bastimetos near Bocas.

We currently own and manage multiple facilities.

A group of people in Boquete, Chiriqui, Panama are putting together a business plan to build an Assisted Living facility here.   This is sorely needed here.   Right now there is a nursing home in David, and the owner has 3 others around the country.  There is an upscale Assisted Living in Panama City, but very expensive (in terms of Panama).   The culture here is to keep the elderly at home with family caring for them, until they pass, with caregivers coming in.  There is a forum for Panama Caregivers on Yahoo...you need to register and join the group.  They are centered in Panama City.

If you are interested in the project in Boquete, you can contact xxx

Penny Ripple

Chris...
I just posted a project in Boquete for Assisted Living, and would like to talk with you.  Please contact me at xxxx
Penny Ripple

Looks like Nurse House is 1) in Costa Rica...not Panama and 2) it's geared toward pregnant women.