My New Year’s Resolutions 2013
2013 will bring many changes to GetHealthHelp. As we stand on the fiscal cliff and cower under the debt ceiling, it is hard to be flippant about what the New Year holds. The usual New Year’s resolutions, like eating healthier or to start an exercise program, don’t seem to take on any urgency when we see our nation’s leaders and our role models kicking the can down the road. Being the eternal optimist, here are a few resolutions that I plan to keep and some that I will probably need some help with. My best wishes to all for a healthy and happy New Year.
1- Make the GetHealthHelp website even more informative.
2- Make the GetHealthHelp website easier to navigate.
3- Make the GetHealthHelp website more interactive.
4- Make the GetHealthHelp website more fun.
May you find everything you envision.
Choices for when you out live your assets.
DON’T WORRY
Many adult children who are paying for in-home caregivers are facing the reality that their parents will outlive their savings. By the time they are calling me, it usually goes something like this, “My Dad is running out of money, I need to place him in an assisted living facility,” or “My Mom has spent everything, now she needs to get on Medicaid.” The children have decided on the ‘Tactics’ without considering what the ‘Strategy’ is for reaching their parent’s life expectations or taken into account the ‘Goals’ and associated realities of their parent’s situation.
Miriam-Webster defines strategy as a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal, usually over a long period of time.
Sari Klinghoffer, Director of Sales, WPI Communications Inc. wrote “A strategy looks at the big picture and uses various tactics in its execution.” The big picture is to gain their customers trust. In the past she used direct mail. Presently they have added blogging and social media. So, while the ‘Tactics’ may have changed with the times, the ‘Strategy’ and ‘Goals’ have remained the same.
This may be said of our Elders also because the things that really mattered to them continue to do so, but the tactics must change in response to the new financial situation.
BE HAPPY
Instead of using business terms like strategy and tactics, we use words like ‘Life Expectations & Planning’. Life Expectations is often thought of in terms of years. But, instead we should think of what we ‘expect’ from life. An example of a lifetime expectation strategy would be to find contentment or peace, or you may want to find excitement and fun. We call it ‘Giving a Voice to Your Health Concerns.”
My client Virginia, who has stage 4 Alzheimer’s Disease told me that she likes to have change in her life. She was outspending her income and had drawn down all of her assets. The family thought she was ready for a nursing home. Her strategy is to keep life interesting. The tactic we employed to reach her strategy was moving to a different assisted living facility, one that had more activities for Alzheimer’s patients and where the costs were within her income level.
Sandra, a client, saved her money from years of teaching to purchase her dream apartment, even though the monthly bills were eating into her investment accounts. She never expected to find herself confined to a wheelchair. Always fiercely independent, Sandra hired private aides to tend to her needs. After depleting her savings, she told me that she’d rather live in her apartment without food than move to a nursing home. With the help of her accountant and attorney, we are getting Medicaid coverage and enrolling in a Long Term Managed Care Plan. Her strategy is to stay at home, her tactics are to apply for Medicaid Long Term Care coverage.
You can apply this concept to any situation. First determine your strategy, your mission, your goal. Then find the resources to provide you with the tactics to execute your strategy. A Patient Advocate can help you to think things through to identify your strategy and to prioritize which tactics will work best for you.
Call us for a free phone consultation, Caryn Isaacs, Paient Advocate GetHealthHelp.com 347-965-9222. E-mail patientadvocate@gethealthhelp.com
Resource:
Sari Klinghoffer, Director of Sales
WPI Communications, Inc.
Your Source for Newsletter Marketing
55 Morris Avenue
Springfield, New Jersey 07081
Tel: 973-467-8700 | 800-323-4995 Ext. 1028
Direct: 973-544-0410
Fax: 973-467-0368 | 800-677-9742
E-mail: slklinghoffer@wpicommunications.com
Web: http://www.wpicommunications.com/
Emergency home health crunch due to Sandy
Sandy strikes another blow on seniors and caregivers. Many home health aides lost their homes and cars in Sandy. Some families, who are juggling work and caring for their parents just can’t get to the store and run over to their parents home, while negotiating with plumbers and electricians at their own storm ravaged place. The effects of Sandy just keeping coming, like the wave that rammed through the area over a month ago.
Last week, I went to meet a couple who required 24/7 care. Dad has Alzheimer’s and is in a wheelchair. Mom had two car accidents in as many days over the past weekend. First, she had a run in with a tractor-trailer who was in town for Sandy and wasn’t familiar with the roads. Then, she rammed into a cement divider because the street lights were out and she couldn’t see. To top it off, one of the usual aides for the couple couldn’t make it in to work because of damage to his home and car. Senior Helpers Caring in Home Companions came to the rescue. Laura Giunta, Director of Business Development said, “Senior Helpers provides companion care in homes and facilities throughout Long Island. Services include Cooking, Housekeeping, safety monitoring, errands, plant and pet care, transportation, socialization and integration. As a certified Senior Advisor, I assist families in getting to the next step regarding the care and safety of their loved ones.” The agency arranged for one of the aides to drive Mom to the police station to get the report, then to take her to the Jewish Center where she teaches Hebrew. Both the day and evening home care workers were well acquainted with the family dynamics between the couple and their adult children, who were also busy rebuilding their Sandy affected homes. Kam, the aide who took on the extra shifts also lost his car in the storm. He was forced to travel two hours each way by bus to be there in time to coordinate getting Dad in and out of bed, which takes two people. He said the agency supports him in making sure he has the resources to know what to do in any emergency.
Laura and I share another client in Nassau County. This couple, Dad with Dementia and Mom suffering with chronic back pain and a history of falling, decided to go to Florida instead of sitting around their gutted neighborhood. Also, their usual companion had been told by her doctor to stop work because she was pregnant and shouldn’t be in such a stressful environment. Mom had fallen in her home earlier in the week, so she reluctantly agreed to have a replacement aide come in for a few hours each day. The day before they were to get on the plane, the couple decided to go to the store for a few things. About 5 PM I had a call from their daughter. Mom twisted her arm while opening the ice cream freezer and fell on her head. She was bleeding all over the place..and luckily conscious….and Dad was in the car! A customer, who was also a nurse, called their daughter and she called me. I told her to call Melanie from Senior Helpers. The agency had a companion drive over to the market to pick up Dad, take him home for dinner and get him settled. He was pretty upset and disoriented until she offered him ice cream. The police drove the car home. Mom was in the hospital for 7 hours. They scanned her head, neck, arm and then finally super glued her head gash. Senior Helpers had a special aide pick her up, get her into bed and stay over night. The aide also went to the store to get those needed items the next day and got the couple on their way. They landed in one piece in Florida and are thankful that Senior Helpers was there for them.
Many of my clients are facing similar issues when their aides cannot make it to work or are resigning their posts. Going through the hiring process to replace a long time private aide can be traumatic for the patient as well as the family. This is one of the reasons I prefer to use a reliable agency who can make sure there is always someone available. You can reach Laura at
Email: lgiunta@seniorhelpers.com
Web: http://www.seniorhelpers.com
Phone: 631-383-4341 516-750-0035
AGINGICON.COM
Have you lived a life of accomplishment, doing what fulfills
you? Have you reached an age where things are harder to do?
Are you a leader and you know that you cannot do it alone?
Then, you are an Aging Icon.
My name is Caryn Isaacs.
Having been at the helm of developing hundreds of healthcare
businesses and running several multi-million-dollar companies,
my journey includes pioneering a physician-owned HMO and
active engagement in Healthcare Reform.
As a Patient Advocate, my company, GetHealthHelp, LLC,
specializes in crafting solutions that enable Aging Icons to
continue pursuing their passions.
An example is a 98-year-old author, playwriter and poet who is
suffering from fibromyalgia and thought that all her work
would be forgotten. I found a way for her legacy to continue by
publishing them as books and now working on having them
made into films.
If this sounds like something of interest, let’s meet to talk
further.
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