Often situations arise which signal that changes may be needed in an elder’s living situation or that a crisis is imminent. Click on the links below to learn more about common events that can be addressed by professional care management.
Crisis
- Frequent emergency room visits for falls, accidents, or other health events
- Reports from police, emergency medical teams, neighbors, or social services about elders
- Recent loss of spouse
- Depression or suicidal thinking related by elder living alone
- Elder behavior issues reported in assisted living facility or nursing home
Deteriorating Conditions
- Single elders are experiencing greater isolation and less stimulation from family, friends, neighbors and social activities
- Elders are less able to care for themselves during the activities of daily living; elder is unsafe being left alone
- Children experience increasing stress about a parent’s health condition
- Elders begin experiencing delusions, hallucinations or a distorted sense of reality
- Elders or family are frustrated with the care provided or status of an elder’s condition at an assisted living facility or nursing home
- Elders or family are dissatisfied with the quality of a caregiver or in-home aid’s services or attitude to elders
- Elders are unhappy with the services being provided by health care professionals or in-home caregivers or believe they are insufficient or inappropriate
- Children are increasingly concerned about an elder’s physical or mental abilities
- Pain is becoming an important issue with an elder’s quality of life
- Elders or family are concerned about security or accessibility of an elder’s living environment.
Life Transitions
- Elder wants to transition to a retirement community
- Discharge arrangements need to be made for an elder from a health care facility
- Elder couple wants to live independently at home despite disabilities
- Family considering having an elder live with one of the children
- Family coming to grips with the grief, dying, and death process
- A family caretaker needs to transition responsibility to another party
- An elder needs a conservator of the estate or person
Long-Term Planning
- Medicare benefits are running out for elder in a health care facility
- Elders need help allocating resources to their family and planning to optimize long term care costs and tax burdens
- Elders need help with end of life plans, advance directives or living wills
- Elders interested in purchasing long term care insurance but don’t have knowledge of costs and benefits
- Elders and family need a strategy for managing life transitions