Family Coaching and Guidance
As a parent ages, the challenges of "role reversal" in adult children can easily become overwhelming. When and how should you become involved? What resources are available? What can you do when a parent is "uncooperative"? How do you protect your own health and well-being and enjoy your life?
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Together, we can identify realistic expectations and new ways of communicating that may reduce frustrating encounters and develop a healthy and balanced relationship with an aging parent.
Geriatric Care Management
Geriatric care management is the process of planning and coordinating the personal and medical care of an older person. Care Managers can communicate with physicians, arrange for medical and personal care, and monitor services that meet the needs of the older adult. The result is coordinated services that are successful in reducing common risks and slowing deterioration while providing appropriate interventions. Care management often reduces overall costs and stress by avoiding inappropriate placements, duplication of services, and assessment/prevention to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations.
Communication with family regarding current conditions, care needs, and issues keeps everyone informed and involved while minimizing the family’s commitments.
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Preparing Your Home
Should an aging individual become temporarily or permanently disabled and desires to rehabilitate/remain at home, advanced environmental modifications are essential.
As a certified Age-in-Place Specialist, we can assess the existing barriers and make recommendations for home improvements based on universal design standards. The usual barriers in existing homes include:
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Inaccessible bathrooms
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Narrow hallways
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Stairs to reach sleeping quarters
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Home entrance
In some cases, modifications may not be affordable. Identifying alternatives, in advance, is another opportunity.
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Planning Ahead
A Life Care Plan helps seniors and their families plan for age-related changes and provides opportunities to communicate their desires and wishes in open discussion. It's never an easy conversation but it makes it easier to make decisions when a defining moment happens.
Focused on the individual's values, desires, and resources, the written plan helps families and responsible parties understand and prepare for the future.
Creating a comprehensive plan involves personal interviews, assessments, records review, home safety evaluation, medical history, advance directives, and more.
When completed, the plan is presented and discussed with the aging individual and the significant people who will be involved in making decisions as aging progresses.