Are you a multi-generational family? Does “sandwich generation” sound familiar? Welcome to the dilemma of the Boomers. We’re reaching “upper middle age,”maybe retirement, ourselves. Our kids are college age with all the attendant needs and costs. Maybe we’ve even got grandchildren and have to help with childcare, just so our kids and their spouses can make ends meet. We’ve scrimped and saved in our 401K’s and IRA’s just to watch them dwindle, decline and effectively add another ten+ years to our working lives. Then there are our parents-they survived the Great Depression, did more than their share of scrimping and saving just to prepare for this time in their life. But had no idea just how much that would cost and how much longer they would live than was projected when they were young.
What do you do? Where do you turn? Do you feel like a piece of taffy that’s pulled and pulled until there’s nothing left? Well, you’re not alone. There are answers and alternatives to help ease your burden, help put that taffy back together, help make ends meet, and help give your parents the quality of life they deserve without killing or bankrupting you in the process. Allow me to introduce Geriatric Care Managers (GCM) to you.
We’re professionals with degrees in nursing, social work and gerontology. We have years of experience within the community your parent lives providing care to folks just like your Mom, Dad, Uncle Fred or Aunt Hazel. Whether you live a block away or 2000 miles away, a GCM can become the key to maintaining a balance in your life and that of your parents. She can provide your parents with the kind of care you would want to provide yourself, if you had the training and the resources and weren’t pulled in a dozen different directions. Best of all, with a GCM’s help, you get to star in the role you were born to play: son, daughter, niece or nephew.
Once contacted, we will meet with your loved one, and ideally with you, too, to provide a thorough assessment of your parents’ ability to care for themselves and determine if the appropriate interventions are in place. We will develop a plan of care, with your loved one and with you, that addresses current and future needs. Once an agreed upon action-plan is enacted, your GCM will visit at regular intervals which have been agreed upon in the Plan of Care. She gets to know your parent so that she can identify subtle changes and nuances before they become major issues or crisis. She communicates with everyone involved in your parents’ care to assure everyone is on the same page and needs are being anticipated and met.
There is a charge for the services of a GCM. But what you’ll find is utilizing her expertise will result in a savings as costly mistakes are avoided and crisis’ are averted. Even if your parent isn’t at the stage where active interventions are needed, or if they’re already in a care facility, establishing a GCM is a prudent idea. She serves as your back-up if you are unavailable when a need arises. In an ideal world, GCM’s would always have the opportunity to get to know their client long before a true need occurred.
Whether you find yourself being squeezed from all directions or just want to have the assurance that a qualified, caring professional is at the ready should your loved one have a sudden need occur, consider contacting a Professional Geriatric Care Manager today.
For more information, call Joyce Niederpruem BA, RN, CCM President of Southwest Solutions, Inc. @ 941-953-9757, or visit our website: www.southwestsolutions.org.
Member National Association of Geriatric Care Managers and Florida Geriatric Care Manager’s Association.
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