May is designated as National Geriatric Care Manager month. Though we are always working on eldercare education, May is a special time for us to highlight the benefits of working with a geriatric care manager.  At Aging Wisely, we do a lot of outreach to make sure caregiving families know their options and where to turn for help.  We invite you to share and spread the word!

Staying fit means even more as we age.  It can mean the difference between healthy, independent living at home versus being susceptible to accidents like falls and needing additional elder care support.  Good "home fitness" means maximizing your level of functioning and wellbeing based on your situation.  You may not be training for a marathon, but the results for your quality of life could be equally amazing.

Bob: When a Fall is More Than a Fall

Bob had recently become an Aging Wisely client and his care manager would be working with his family to set up some services and start to look at the possibility of moving to assisted living locally or near his long-distance caregiver daughter.  Shortly after their first visit, the care manager received a call from Bob's daughter.  He had fallen the previous night and had failed to push his emergency response button.  A neighbor had finally discovered the situation that morning and called his daughter and 911.

The care manager met Bob at the hospital.  Though they had only worked together briefly, she had his updated medical history and medication list to help him provide to the E.R. staff. (Bob had a crumpled list of medications in his pocket which was a bit outdated and stumbled over a few questions, turning to the care manager to fill in some blanks.)  She was also able to gently give a little background to the emergency room physician so that he understood Bob was living alone and experiencing some self-care challenges as recently evidenced by the fall situation.  The care manager contacted Bob's daughter to keep her apprised.  She had been scheduled to leave in the next couple days for a major overseas trip and was contemplating cancelling.

Unfortunately, emergencies happen...particularly as we age.  Older adults visit the emergency department at higher rates than other age groups and those rates are also increasing more than for other age groups.  Good senior care management and patient advocacy ensures those emergencies are handled as well as possible to improve your short and long-term outcomes.

The whole process of finding the right assisted living facility can be daunting.  You have probably faced a long decision-making journey in even considering this option.  You don't want to make the wrong choice.  Such a move can turn out to be a positive transition (even if it starts out as a reluctant decision) or a very negative and stressful experience.  It is important to turn to the right resources for help.

As much as Florida is the land of sunshine and beautiful beaches, it can also lay claim to being the top spot for fraud and identity theft (per the Federal Trade Commission).

The Wall Street Journal recently published a great essay entitled, "When Simplicity is the Solution" which details our growing "crisis of complexity" with more choices and dozens of details we encounter every day that slow us down.  Of particular interest to us were the examples about Medicare, medicine bottles and the patient experience at hospitals.  We wanted to share a bit about how we think this concept might just apply to you if you have been searching for eldercare answers or senior care help:

Here's our "top 10 list" of signs that you might want to seek help from a geriatric care manager with your aging parents' care or eldercare concerns.  These are some of the common patterns that begin to build in our lives as we strive to care for loved ones as they age or suffer from various health issues.  If these patterns sound familiar, it is a perfect time to reach out to a geriatric care manager in your parents' local area to plan a consultation and/or geriatric care management assessment.

At least 1.5 million Americans are sickened, injured or killed each year by errors in prescribing, dispensing and taking medications. 

By now, it's likely you have heard the news story about the nurse who refused to do C.P.R. on a retirement community resident who later died.  Sally Abrahams did a good review of the story on her AARP blog.  It was a startling story for many and readers weighed in all over the internet with comments.  The reactions range from shock and anger that this nurse would not perform CPR to questioning the facility's policy and contemplating the senior's status regarding wishes (i.e. did she have advance directives or a DNR?).  Rather than delve in to the facts of this specific case, we'd like to broaden the discussion to a number of important issues for all families to consider.  Here are a few key take-away lessons and tips for families and elders: