Aging for Beginners
Meeting a frail older adult parent’s needs can become overwhelming. The difficulty is greater when you live too far away to keep an eye on changes in health and needs advancing beyond your parent’s ability to keep up. What’s more, community resources are often limited, fragmented or uncoordinated.
A certified care manager helps fill all those gaps, from creating a road map for you parent’s future, assistance in implementing this plan and proving a readily available local contact in emergencies,
Each plan is unique to the individual, but all begin with a comprehensive assessment of current problems and proceed to steps to explore the best mix of resources and care available.
Carrying out that plan often means monitoring and coordinating home health aides; finding alternative housing like assisted living; facilitating communication with doctors, monitoring daily functioning and safety in the home; and providing information and referral regarding financial, insurance, government benefits and legal issues.
In human terms, a certified care manager might find herself you helping your mother — and you — deal with all of the resistance, sense of loss and sadness and logistical challenges that accompany her move from her home of 40 years to an assisted living facility.
A certified care manager brings peace of mind to all concerned.