Crossroads

Geriatric care managers are essential advocates for navigating the path for senior loved ones with medical or mobility challenges. A geriatric care manager or aging life care professional consults with individuals and families who are navigating changes in health and memory. People are doing this work across the country to help navigate the complicated, overwhelming, confusing system that is long term care choices and memory changes, and what do people do while amid these changes. Lisa Mayfield, CEO and founder of Aging Wisdom, joins Suzanne to talk about how these consultants advocate for loved ones during these crossroads and transitions.

How can families be supportive during a senior loved one's downsizing to senior living, and when is it time for Mom to let professionals take over? Rebecca Bomann, CEO of SASH Services (Sell a Senior's Home), joins Suzanne to advise families during downsizing. Sometime families help, and sometimes they get in the way and make it more complicated than it needs to be. Her three tips: Let mom take ownership of the move; let professionals be the bad guy; and validate mom's emotional journey.

Rebecca Bomann, CEO of SASH Services (Sell a Senior's Home), joins Suzanne to expose two myths: 1) You can only sell your home successfully at certain times of the year, and 2) All real estate brokers are the same.

What are the obstacles to downsizing, and how can we get past them? Rebecca Bomann, CEO of SASH Services (Sell a Senior's Home), joins Suzanne to address obstacles people face as well as their solutions. Rebecca says, "I've sat in hundreds and hundreds of living rooms over the years that I've been providing these services, and my clients articulate to me why they don't feel like they can move even though they really want to or need to.

Rebecca Bomann, CEO of SASH Services (Sell a Senior's Home), joins Suzanne to talk about various options for downsizing and moving, including for those 55 and up, as well as the emotional journey of leaving the family home. Rebecca says, "Happily, there are so many options out there for seniors who are looking to downsize from their home, more and more living options, a greater variety of pricing options for people, amenities, activities. They're allowing pets more in these communities. There's a lot of open doors and opportunities. So it doesn't feel like clients are looking at kind of a barren landscape of where to go. There's a rich buffet of opportunity and options where people can live."

Daphne Davis of Pinnacle Senior Placements joins Suzanne to offer tips for dealing with complex family dynamics of helping a struggling senior loved one. Be the son and daughter, don't try to parent your parent.

A senior loved one has had a hospital stay, and now they want to go home. Or their insurance is running out and they need to return home to recuperate. What are their options at home for care? While at the hospital, talk to a social worker about in-home care, which can supplement help from a spouse and other family members. Daphne Davis of Pinnacle Senior Placements talks about considering the various services available to families that Medicaid can pay for.

Daphne Davis joins Suzanne to talk about crossroads and transitions. One of the most difficult parts of aging with families is being unprepared for life's changes. When adult children realize that mom or dad may need some help, broaching the topic can be challenging. A longtime contributor to Answers for Elders, Daphne Davis is President of Pinnacle Senior Placements.

Through the use of a watch, room sensors, and an app, Care Bloom provides 24/7 health monitoring services for caregivers. Lindsay Friedman and Shannon Lyons join Suzanne to talk more about the Care Bloom watch and app, an innovative new tool to assist senior loved ones with aging in place.

If you or your relatives want to build a new structure, or get modifications done on your house, there are resources to make sure that the builders are doing it right. Dr. Jill Bjerke joins Suzanne to talk about aging in place constructions as part of this month's Specialist Spotlight on Aging in Place. A home assessment at silverspaces.com provides guidelines and recommendations to design an aging in place home, like lever handles on doors and faucets, a raised dishwasher so you don't have to bend down so far, a stove that has controls in the front, a low-maintenance exterior, things you ordinarily wouldn't think about with new construction.