Hundreds of thousands of aging players who got their head knocked around like this, or worse (Courtesy of Cincy Jungle).
In my studies as a sports injury epidemiologist, I discovered an interesting side topic regarding NFL retirement homes. How do you fit a former football player into a typical retirement home?
Unique Former Athlete’s Needs
NFL players have unique needs. For one, they are bigger. Former football players can’t always fit in a typical hospital bed. They are often taller and wider than the general public and need special accommodations. With that size also comes the need for super-strong nurses. Maneuvering a former athlete with mobility challenges could be incredibly difficult. Not that it was ever easy to move them around—ask their former opponents what that was like.
A report from the NFL found that 28% of former athletes will have Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS, and/or CTE. This is significantly higher than the general population (three times higher is a conservate estimate). They are also eight times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s or dementia before age 50 than the general population. What does this mean for a retirement home?
An obvious need from those statistics is an increased demand for memory care resources in a facility. A less thought-of problem is the challenge associated with trying to maintain the health of and contain a large football player. They often have the mind of an elderly person but the body of a middle-aged individual (or younger).
Are Regular Retirement Homes Prepared?
Assisted living homes are not typically geared towards people with relatively healthy bodies (before they deteriorate too much) and severe neurocognitive decline. Typically, younger people in nursing homes have challenges that require physical care. Older people with cognitive disorders are typically also experiencing physical conditions that slow them down a bit, energy-wise.
The world of health care is not well prepared for the former player, who is struggling with neurocognitive decline but is not limited physically. That requires a level of care that traditional care homes are not equipped to provide. Are facilities going to run reps in the court yard?
For the numerous players who have suffered lifelong physical injuries as a result of their careers, they will need physical therapists. This is in addition to super-strong, athletic nurses that are trained in working with people with neurocognitive decline. See how hard this gets?
Often, players struggle for years, starting at a young age. Keeping players occupied at the less severe end of neurocognitive decline would be difficult, but as the disease progresses, you could easily have very large men acting out as a result of their cognitive disorder. Irritability and loss of self-control are associated with conditions like dementia. That is a different situation than the typical resident’s.
NFL Specific Retirement Homes?
The NFL Alumni Association is working together with home care and assisted living companies to have specially trained health care workers and facilities designed. Amada Senior Care, an in-home care franchise, is working with the Alumni Association to serve the members of the association.
Validus Senior Living was originally working with the NFL Alumni Association to create specific facilities for former NFL players, but that contract didn’t work out. This is a complicated project for any company. People may want to go to a specific retirement home because they will be there with NFL stars. Also, there is a concern over former players marketing their homes in ads due to their likely diminished mental capabilities.
Plans for NFL-specific retirement homes are cropping up in different parts of the country. New Orleans and Canton, Ohio, to name a few.
Resources for Former Players and Their Loved Ones
There is incredible strength in all of the former players’ families who are handling the care of the athlete in their lives. The person they love who is struggling through no fault of their own and is loved and appreciated by their family.
These caretakers are often undertrained and overworked and are saddled with an unbelievably difficult scenario. This is often compounded with financial difficulty due to the lack of insurance options for former players (think pre-existing conditions; those co-pays must be massive) and the often insufficient funding from the 88 plan. That’s a story for another day, though.
If you are a former athlete or the loved one of a former athlete and are experiencing or see your loved one experiencing symptoms like impulse control problems, aggression, mood swings, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and paranoia, please go to the Concussion Legacy Foundation website for resources. They will tell you whether these symptoms are a result of neurocognitive decline or not.
For other head-scratching sports topics, look at my articles here.
