AGING CARE MANAGEMENT™ SERVICES
Assessing and Initiating Services
The physical and mental challenges that accompany aging often make seniors increasingly dependent on community resources such as senior centers, health and social services departments, and other agencies that specialize in elder care.
KNOWING COMMUNITY RESOURCES
We know what is available, and how to access it.
Aging Care Managers make it their business to know what resources are available locally and how they can best be accessed. Based on what is specified in your loved one's Aging Quality of Care Plan, their Aging Care Manager identifies the appropriate resources and determines who will follow up to initiate the needed services. If a resource isn't available locally, your Aging Care Manager will problem solve to track it down.
Initiating services involves making phone calls, filling out applications, signing up on waiting lists, coordinating schedules, ensuring everyone who will be using a resource gets the proper training, and updating the senior and family on what is happening. Aging Care Management handles all of this, and more, so your loved one can start taking advantage of needed services as quickly as possible.
Experienced Aging Care Managers are deeply rooted in their communities, with a keen understanding of the health, mental health, and social services systems. They know not only what is available, but how to differentiate between local resources to decide which are best for your elderly loved one. Because Aging Care Managers are part of a larger team, they can also get feedback from colleagues, sharpening their knowledge of what's available.
WHERE WE FOCUS
What is Aging Care Planning?
Four areas of everyday life.
HOUSING
Where and how to live
Most older adults face questions about housing at some point: Where will I live if my care needs change? Do I need to move? If so, what are my options? Aging Care Managers answer these questions with sensitivity and compassion, and are well versed in the full range of alternatives
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The Housing Continuum
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Locked memory care facilities
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Skilled nursing
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Assisted living
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Memory neighborhoods within assisted living
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Residential care facilities, or small group homes
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Retirement communities
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Independent living
SOCIAL
Staying Engaged
Social wellbeing affects physical health, mental health, and every other part of life. Aging Care Managers identify both the positive activities to pursue and the obstacles that get in the way.
Positive Activities
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Social outings and cultural activities
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Educational opportunities
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Religious or spiritual activities
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Time spent with people who matter to them
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Adapting past interests, hobbies, and pastimes
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Exploring new interests
Common Obstacles
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Depression, anxiety, or paranoia
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Cognition changes
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Physical conditions
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Transportation and financial resources
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Communication, visual, or hearing limitations
MENTAL HEALTH
An often overlooked need
The most common mental health conditions among the elderly are depression, anxiety, dementia, substance abuse, paranoia, and the emotional toll of chronic illness and pain. Older adults tend to underutilize mental health services due to funding gaps, poor coordination between systems, stigma, and denial.
Support Options
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Individual and group therapy
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Peer counseling and support
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Day treatment and senior day care programs
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Geriatric psychiatric units
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ECT and TMS, where appropriate
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Geriatric detox and rehab units
SOCIAL
Staying Engaged
Social wellbeing affects physical health, mental health, and every other part of life. Aging Care Managers identify both the positive activities to pursue and the obstacles that get in the way.
Positive Activities
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Social outings and cultural activities
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Educational opportunities
-
Religious or spiritual activities
-
Time spent with people who matter to them
-
Adapting past interests, hobbies, and pastimes
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Exploring new interests
Common Obstacles
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Depression, anxiety, or paranoia
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Cognition changes
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Physical conditions
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Transportation and financial resources
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Communication, visual, or hearing limitations
GETTING SERVICES IN PLACE
Initiating needed services.
Getting services in place quickly requires organization, follow through, and perseverance. Having a professional Aging Care Manager on your side saves time and provides real respite.
Calling resources through the final selection process
Confirming dates with the client, family, and provider
Checking on availability
Introducing and facilitating the start of services
Applying and providing information for the intake process
Following up with everyone involved to keep them updated
Coordinating delivery and scheduling of a service or product
"Why do you need an Aging Life Care Specialist? Because family comes first."
-PATTI URBAN
A REAL SCENARIO
Handling all the details, even from 2,000 miles away.
Aging Care Managers excel in three areas: building trusting relationships so clients accept the help they need, knowing exactly the right resources to call, and handling every big and small detail so families can regain peace of mind.
Consider a senior with no local family who is about to be discharged from the hospital. Her daughter, who lives 2,000 miles away, gets a call telling her that a whole list of things needs to happen in the next 36 hours. The senior can't return home without care, so home health services need to be ordered. Durable medical equipment is needed, medications are awaiting pickup, and follow up appointments need to be scheduled.
Should the daughter buy a last minute airline ticket, take off work, and leave her spouse to manage the kids? Or should she engage an Aging Care Manager instead? Working alongside the senior and the hospital discharge planner, the Aging Care Manager can step in and handle it all:
Arranging for a caregiver to start the very next day
Coordinating with the caregiver to meet the senior in the hospital before discharge, so the plan feels comfortable and familiar
Ensuring medications are picked up at a local pharmacy
Faxing updated medication lists to the senior's primary physician
Organizing a new pillbox schedule and setting up a medication reminder system
Confirming home health company scheduling
Alerting the primary physician about the discharge and scheduling follow up care
Coordinating transportation so the client makes every follow up appointment
Scheduling deliveries for medical equipment
Being available around the clock to answer questions and ease the transition