I attained the designation of Certified Care Manager issued through the National Association of Certified Care Managers. I can help by acting as a neutral third party when difficult family issues involving a senior arise and connect people with appropriate medical and non-medical services.
Here are some of the services that I generally provide in order to assist the families of seniors:
1. I meet with the senior and their family in order to perform an assessment of the senior’s cognitive and functional capabilities. I also assess his/her physical environment and support systems.
2. I will assist with connecting people to paid and unpaid services.
3. The senior’s family is brought together to discuss the problems I have identified and the most cost-effective methods of dealing with the problems. I set goals and monitor the plan put into place. I also re-assess the senior’s needs.
4. I assist in identifying and interviewing appropriate home care companies.
5. I speak with the hospital personnel to coordinate a transfer to short-term rehabilitation communities or transition the senior back into their home.
6. I point out financial or legal difficulties and connect the families the right specialists.
7. I will formulate the right recommendations for a potential move to permanent independent living, assisted living, memory care, or nursing home communities.
As a senior living advisor my focus is generally on the senior population, I have assisted with coordinating services for younger individuals with disabilities.
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Real Life Stories
I recently received a phone call from a friend I had not seen for many years. He found out about my services via our re-connection on Facebook!
He shared that his Dad was in his early 80’s and basically bound to a wheelchair. He fell in the bathroom while his wife was out running some errands. Luckily, he was able to grab the portable phone and call 911. The son called me to become involved because he lives out of state and his mom, the primary caregiver, was having difficulties caring for him at home. It was determined after a number of days in the hospital that his dad hit a plateau with his therapy and needed to go to a nursing home. At this point, it was pretty much determined that his mother can’t care for him in the home anymore.
The son hired me to deal with the hospital personnel and facilitate the father’s move to a specific community within 5 minutes of the parents’ home. The community was of the appropriate religious denomination and a very popular community for rehab.
The day I called to inquire about a bed, there were none available. However, after exerting pressure on the case manager to get the referral packet out immediately and talking with the admissions director, who is a former colleague, I was able to secure a bed for him. The transition went very smoothly.
In the second case, I was hired by the two children of a man who is in his early 90’s. One child lives in the Chicago metropolitan area. The other child lives out of state. One is the Power Of Attorney For Health Care. The other is the Power Of Attorney For Property.
The reason they hired me is because their father currently lives in a retirement community that is strictly independent living. However, he has some medical conditions which lead them to hire several caregivers. The last monthly bill for the caregivers was in excess of $10,000. Unfortunately, his circumstances do not allow him to continue those sorts of expenditures.
I was able to step in and assess his current medical needs and financial realities, that latter of which is very complicated. Unless his move to a different community where he can stay permanently is exercised with care, his daughters will find themselves in the precarious position of his exhausting his funds and having to move him to community that accepts Medicaid immediately.
I have been able to identify several places where their father can move on a permanent basis.
At this point, they are touring communities and will make a decision shortly.