Wisdom Wednesday: Aging Wisdom's Podcast

There may come a time when due to injury, failing health, or age, you are no longer able to communicate your wishes regarding your medical treatment. This could happen if you had a stroke, are living with Alzheimer’s or other dementia, were in a coma from an accident, or have an illness that has left you unable to communicate. 

Advance directive is a broad term use to describe any legal documentation that spells out your future medical care if you are incapacitated or unable to communicate, as in the scenarios referenced above. 

This would answer questions such as how much treatment do you want at the end of life? Do you want life support? Do you want a ventilator? Do you want a feeding tube?

Your medical power of attorney (POA) would be part of your advance directive, the person who will make decisions on your behalf, according to your wishes. Your living will guide your medical POA on your wishes.

A Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order may be part of your advance directive as well. If you're someone that doesn't want full treatment, it's important to do have a DNR order because the default in the hospital and the default for medics that come to your home is always full treatment.  

Have open conversations about these wishes. If you do have children and a spouse or a partner, making sure they understand your desire. If you're assisting your parents, these documents are really important. 

And when adult children reach out to assist with their parents and maybe they're frustrated that their parents are refusing help or their parents need more immediate care, it's often frustrating to them that we're asking about these documents as kind of the very first thing upfront because they feel unimportant when you're managing kind of crises at the moment. But these documents are what allow adult children to step in on behalf of their parents to engage services to get them help. 

So that's why these documents are really the first step in planning and preparing for yourself for your parents. 

Not sure what your next steps should be? We’ve helped hundreds of families navigate these conversations. Click here to schedule a get-acquainted call with one of our Certified Care Managers.

Additional resources:

• Advance Care Planning: Advance Directives for Health Care (National Institute on Aging)
• Estate Planning Guide and Checklist for 2024 (National Council on Aging)

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Have your done your legal planning and paperwork? The first step, for yourself, or if you’re helping your parents, is the estate planning documents. Usually, estate planning is a package of documents. 

Most people are most familiar with the will, but when we're talking about long-term care planning, the most important documents are the powers of attorney documents.  

A comprehensive estate plan typically includes these essential documents: 

• financial power of attorney
• health care power of attorney
• advance care directive
• a living trust
• last will and testament

If you have done these documents already, but haven't looked at them in a few years, it’s a good idea to review and possible update them. As Lisa shares: “I'm giving you a homework assignment of finding the papers, remembering where you put them, maybe dusting them off, and then being able to answer these questions that I'm going to ask you now.”  

If you're helping your parents, you'll want to ask them:

• Have they done their legal paperwork? 
• Who did they name (or who did you name) as your powers of attorney (POA)? 
• Who did you name as the backup persons?
• Are the documents written to be effective immediately? Or are they written to become effective upon incapacity, and what triggers that?
• Do the people who are assigned as POAs know they are the POAs? Do they know where the documents are? Are they willing to serve in that role? Do they have the capacity to serve in that role? Do they have an interest? 

If you're a solo ager: it's even more important to to do this planning and think about who would fill these roles for you -- who will navigate your health and finances if you don’t have a partner or adult children?

Looking for an attorney specializing in elder law or estate planning? Uncertain about the cost of long-term care? Not sure what you want and how to engage your family? We can help! Click here to schedule a get-acquainted call with a Certified Care Manager to head in the right direction.

Additional Resources

·      Estate Planning Guide and Checklist for 2024 (National Council on Aging)

·      Wholistic Estate Planning (Aging Wisdom blog article)

·      What is “elder law”? (Aging Wisdom blog article)

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

 Are you ready to take charge of the future? Whether supporting an older parent or planning your own aging, it's crucial to understand the intricacies of long-term care and be prepared for any unexpected twists and turns. 

Lisa Mayfield, our principal and founder, was invited by Kristin McHugh, Lead Advisor with Brighton Jones, to a conversation about proactive planning for the essentials of eldercare. 

We’ve created a series of eleven episodes, this being the first, from this informative conversation. The next 11 weeks will provide a comprehensive review of the steps, supports, and services everyone needs to prepare for their own aging, that of their partner or spouse, or planning for your parents or others you care about. 

Will you need help? According to the U.S. Administration on Aging, recent research shows that “most Americans turning age 65 will need long-term care services at some point in their lives.”1 

The first step is to kind of build a team of support around you. Pull in professionals who can help you anticipate, plan for, and navigate changes.  

Engaging knowledgeable professionals who can offer guidance and expertise, including: 

• An elder law or estate planning attorney ensures that key legal documents such as powers of attorney for finances and health care decisions and advanced directives are up to date. This gives others you trust, whom you’ve chosen, to legally to manage finances and medical decisions if you become incapacitated. 
• A financial advisor analyzes assets, projects future costs, assesses insurance options such as long-term care policies, and develops a financial plan to fund anticipated care needs. Learn how to select the right financial advisor for your needs.
• An aging life care professional (aka geriatric care manager). We provide consultation and comprehensive, personally tailored plans addressing health changes, family dynamics, housing, hands-on assistance, and more. We also assist in implementation and ongoing care management.  As Lisa shared, there are people like us all over the country. Aging Wisdom serves King and South Snohomish counties in Washington State. We are part of professional association – the Aging Life Care Association – and can help you find care management professionals.

Being proactive now leads to greater peace of mind and better outcomes. Preparation emerges as the key to embracing the evolving chapters of life while maintaining a sense of control and independence.  

1.    Who Needs Care? https://acl.gov/ltc/basic-needs/who-needs-care 

Additional Resources:

• What is Long Term Care? (Aging Wisdom fact sheet)
• The Power of Planning: Taking Charge of Your Own Aging Journey (article written by Lisa Mayfield for 3rd Act magazine
• Plan Your Lifespan (a website that helps you plan for health events such as hospitalizations, falls, and memory loss that may happen as people get older). 

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

It’s natural for disagreements to occur, even in families with strong functional relationships. However, when parents and other older adults you care about are experiencing memory and health changes, it can create tension. Rare is the family who are all on the same page and managing decisions and tasks smoothly.

An Aging Life Care professional (aka Care Manager) is an experienced, knowledgeable, and objective person who can:

• help ease those tensions
• provide space for everyone to voice concerns
• then educate, guide, and mentor the family in support of the best options for the person in their mutual care.

At an impasse with your siblings or other relatives? Schedule a get-acquainted call to explore ways we can support and guide you on this journey. 

Additional Resources:

•  Surviving and Soothing Sibling Strife When Caring for Aging Parents (Aging Wisdom blog article)
• Clash of the Siblings: How to navigate family dynamics when your parent needs help (Aging Wisdom blog article)
• Dementia and Family Dynamics (Aging Wisdom podcast episode)
•  Helping feuding families achieve harmony around what’s best for mom and dad (Aging Wisdom podcast episode)

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

The depth and breadth of what care management is able to provide for clients is best answered by the needs and goals of each individual client. This is what we mean by person-directed, tailored care.

In this week’s podcast, Sheila and Keri take a deeper look at the holistic range of services and supports that can be provided and coordinated by Aging Life Care professionals like our Care Managers.

Our Care Managers can remain actively involved to optimize care and adjust to changing needs and circumstances. When clients are facing the transitions of aging, we facilitate and guide strategic planning, provide coaching, and implementation of solutions.

We can remain actively involved to optimize care and adjust to changing needs and circumstances through

• care coordination
• effective advocacy
• responsive problem solving
• clear, collaborative communication
• personalized solutions

Whether a client needs support with a hospital or rehab discharge, planning for aging in place, selecting and making a move to a retirement community, assistance navigating the healthcare system, finding home health support, guidance in managing health conditions, to name several of the more common situations our Care Managers help clients navigate in support of well-being and quality of life.

Our team of Aging Life Care Experts brings unparalleled knowledge and experience. Our role is often described as coach, educator, stress reducer, navigator, and even life saver. We take a holistic, client-centered approach to guiding individuals, couples, and families navigating options for living well, caring well, and aging well.

Below are a few of our specialty areas:

• Alzheimer's & Dementia Care Management
• Elderly Parents Refusing Help
• Moving Your Elderly Parent to a Retirement Community
• Hospital Discharge Planning
• Parkinson's Disease Care Management
• Proactive Planning
• Solo Aging and Aging Alone
• Long-Distance Caregiving
• Stroke Care Management

Are you at a crossroads and not sure how best to move forward with key decisions? Did you recently receive a diagnosis that requires future planning? We can help! Click here to schedule a get-acquainted call with one of our Certified Care Managers for some clarity and peace of mind.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

What happens when you contact Aging Wisdom? Part 3
 
We usually outlive our ability to drive safely by six to ten years. As we age, we naturally modify how we drive to address physical changes: Stiff joints, poor vision, slow reflexes. But a day will come when it’s unwise to continue behind the wheel.

Unfortunately, if you don’t have a plan to eventually retire the keys, and your driving becomes a safety issue, others will make the decision for you.

This is a common dilemma for families and friends, and an issue that prompts an inquiry call and consultation.  

In this third episode of What happens when you contact Aging Wisdom? Sheila and Keri talk about what happens before, during, and after a consultation that is primarily focused on driving and implementing effective changes with those in your care who shouldn’t be driving anymore. 

Additional Reading

• Retiring the Car Keys (an Aging Wisdom fact sheet)
•  My Mom Refuses to Accept Help! Lack of Insight May Be the Reason(an Aging Wisdom blog article)  
• Resistance to Care is a Common Challenge: What’s the Best Path Forward? (an Aging Wisdom blog article)

Putting the brakes on driving is a real challenge, but with Aging Wisdom’s help, the transition can be much smoother. Click here to Schedule a Get-acquainted Call with one of our Certified Care Managers.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

In this second podcast episode of What happens when you contact Aging Wisdom?, Sheila and Keri talk about what happens after the get-acquainted (inquiry) call  when the caller wants to take the next step.

Following the get-acquainted (inquiry) call, the next step is to schedule a consultation. During the initial consultation, you meet with an experienced and knowledgeable Certified Care Manager. We learn about your situation, listen to your concerns, and explore how we can help.

The situation may call for an assessment. An assessment is a person-centered review of a client’s health care needs, functional and accessibility needs, strengths and supports, goals, and other characteristics that will inform the care plan.

Consolation provides an opportunity to set priorities, review options, make informed decisions, and implement creative solutions. After the consultation, we follow up with a written report that is tailored and prioritized to the client’s needs.

Want to explore how a consultation can guide you to the best options for your situation? Click here to schedule a get-acquainted call to explore the possibilities.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

What happens when you contact Aging Wisdom?

A Get Acquainted Call is usually the first contact. This call is an opportunity to learn about your situation and determine if our services fit your needs. 

“That first inquiry call is a time of discovery. They're telling us a little bit about what's going on. We're listening and then we're offering in general terms how we can provide assistance,” shares Sheila McKannay, New Client Services, Certified Care Manager. 

Individuals, couples, families, and friends come to us with a variety of concerns and questions. Our get-acquainted call won’t answer all questions, but it does provide a sense of how our Aging Life Care professionals can provide guidance and support.

Common situations that prompt an inquiry call include but aren’t limited to:

• An adult child calling about consistent uncharacteristic changes they’re observing in a parent that’s causing them concern such as personal hygiene, home maintenance, and managing finances or medications.
• Recognizing they need help managing caregiving responsibilities for a spouse or partner as dementia or another health condition progresses. 
• Questions about moving and what makes sense when. 
• A recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s, MCI, Alzheimer’s or another dementia, or recovery from a stroke. 
• They’re referred by their primary care physician, neurologist, elder law attorney, or financial advisor.
• Challenges when someone they care about is still driving and it’s no longer safe to do so.
• Siblings in disagreement about what is best for mom and/or dad and could benefit from the objective, informed guidance of an Aging Life Care Manager.
• A solo ager is having difficulty navigating the day-to-day and friends call to inquire about how to best help their friend. 

Next week, Sheila and Keri will talk about next steps, assessments, and consultations. 

Additional Resources:

• Seven Signs Your Parent May Need Help  
• Retiring the Car Keys
• Solo Aging: Eyes wide open
• Clash of the siblings! 

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Helping a person in your care navigate health and cognitive changes can be a challenge. It's not always easy, or successful. 

There are many reasons. 

Sometimes it's the result of brain changes that result in a lack of insight, a lack of awareness on the part of your loved one. Other times it could be fear or a sense of loss upon loss. 

Wendy and Sandra talk about driving and moving in particular, and offer approaches and guidance on how to help an older adult make choices and changes that are often difficult -- such as retiring from driving -- but necessary for safety. 

Here are some links to the resources and additional reading that were discussed in this week's Wisdom Wednesday:

• Northwest Driver Rehab
• EvergreenHealth Driving Skills Assessment
• Retiring the Car Keys     
• My Mom Refuses to Accept Help! Lack of Insight May Be the Reason  
• Resistance to Care is a Common Challenge: What’s the Best Path Forward?

Interested in exploring how best to navigate health and cognitive changes of an older adult in your care?  Schedule a free, get-acquainted call here to talk with one of our care managers to get the conversation started.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.