Geriatric Care Consulting
Balancing respect, safety and independence for parents or a partner while coping with the emotions of changing roles in the family can be overwhelming in the best of circumstances. Families don’t always agree on what care is needed. Together we will assess your family’s needs, prioritize challenges, and identify needed education and resources. If there is family conflict, I can guide discussions that are solution-focused and mediate planning that unites the family in purpose.
Some families benefit from a one-time service to get them started. Others find that it’s best to meet a few times initially and then follow up as needed. As a general guide, it is best to plan for 1-3 sessions over a few weeks for the initial consultation process and planning. Once your plan is in motion, we can discuss what follow-up might be most useful to your situation. Sibling groups (or whoever is on your care team) are welcome to attend together. I provide services virtually or in-person.
Common topics:
- Approaches to communication, safety, managing finances, etc.
- Facilitating family discussions around difficult topics: talking with parents or partners, discussing the care of parents with sibling groups who may not be on the same page.
- Navigating care and medical systems.
- How to get an accurate diagnosis.
- Assessing driving and navigating an appropriate response.
- Understanding disease processes for improved long term planning.
- Differences in services between independent living, assisted living, memory care, nursing care; home-care vs. facility care, non-medical companion care vs. home health, etc.
- Understanding different pay sources, such as Medicare, Long-Term-Care insurance, private funds, Medicaid, and Veteran's Funds.
- Accessing federal, state and local services through community agencies and Veterans services.
- How to stretch care funds by understanding basics of estate planning and/or Medicaid planning and why that might be a needed consideration (many people don’t think they need this, only to find it’s absolutely essential).
- The differences between Power of Attorney and Guardianship to assess what is needed.