For the Love of Your Parents...

Preventing the Crisis

“My 86-year-old father recently had a fall on the weekend and went to the hospital via ambulance. He broke his hip and needed surgery. The day following his surgery the hospital case manager informed my mother my father needed to be discharged to a rehabilitation facility for therapy. My mother asked the case manager, ‘Where will he be sent for rehabilitation?’ and the case manager replied, ‘That is up to you.’

What ensued the following two days was unforgettable. In a flurry we called and visited one rehabilitation center after another trying to find a place that would admit my father for rehabilitation. We didn’t know the different types of rehabilitation facilities that exist in the area, and we didn’t know the admissions procedures for getting my father into rehabilitation. We wanted to find a facility that was close to where my mother lives so she could visit easily. But there was not bed availability for my father in the nursing home we had agreed would be best, and so we were forced to admit him into a rehabilitation center 20 miles away. During the admission process we learned we didn’t have any of the documents we needed for his admission. We weren’t even certain if his health insurance would cover his rehabilitation.”

Obviously nobody wants an emergency like this to happen, and likely nobody has planned for an emergency like this to occur, but the fact is 300,000 people suffer from hip fractures each year. And this is just one type of accident that can throw a family into a medical crisis.

Medical crises come in two forms: accidents like the one mentioned above, and diseases. Our vulnerability to age-related diseases increases as we age. The most common agerelated contributors to medical crises are: visual impairment, mental impairment and mobility impairment.

So, what can you do to prevent medical crises?

If you have aging parents you should enlist the aid of a Certified Care Manager to put a plan in place for your parents now, before a medical crisis occurs. Certified Care Managers are professionals who can assess your parents’ health care needs and their homes, to identify changes that need to be made to keep them free from falls and accidents in their home. If your parents have a house to maintain because they don’t want to move to an apartment or senior community, the Certified Care Manager will engage the services your parents need to maintain the home, inside and out.

Certified Care Managers are educated and trained to navigate the health system to ensure your parents are seeing the right physicians and specialists. They will coordinate the services of all physicians and drive your parents to their physician and specialist appointments. This is extremely valuable because it enables you to have a professional with your parents at their physician appointments who will ask the right questions and document the physician’s instructions and recommendations. After physician appointments, your Certified Care Manager reports back to all family members to ensure everyone has accurate information. How many times have you asked your parents what the outcome of a physician appointment was, and they can’t recall the instructions or explanations they were given by their physician?

And, if your parents need a little assistance in their home with housekeeping, meal preparation, laundry, grocery shopping, medication reminders or even personal hygiene needs, such as bathing, dressing and grooming, the Certified Care Manager will recommend in-home care for your parents. Together with your Care Manager you can decide how much help your parents need daily or weekly. Thereafter, your Care Manager will recommend a reputable home care agency that can provide the caregiver to help your parents at home. The Certified Care Manager will even sit in on interviews you have with licensed home care agencies to be sure the agency is bonded and insured. And to be sure your parent’s needs are being met by their caregiver, your Certified Care Manager will monitor the services provided by the agency and caregiver.

Most commonly, adult children, friends, or other relatives step in to be the caregiver for their parents. In doing so, they jeopardize their own health care, their jobs, and their personal families in the process. With the help of a Certified Care Manager, you can leave the health care navigation, physician visits, in-home care and oversight for home maintenance to your Certified Care Manager. This way, your visits with your parents can be social, relaxing and fun.

Times have changed.

Let’s face it, times have changed and more often than not, adult children live at a distance from their parents. Managing the needs of your parents from a distance can be stressful and complicated because you’re operating without first-hand knowledge, information and resources. This makes it even more important for you to have a Certified Care Manager working on your behalf to keep your parents safe and secure at home. In summary, Certified Care Managers:

• Assess Health & Safety Risks in the Home

• Plan Nutrition Needs & Manage Medications

• Take Charge of Medical Emergencies (including Hospitalizations & Hospital Discharge Planning)

• Gather Information and Document Physician Instructions for Family Members

• Set Up and Coordinate Rehabilitation for Complete Recovery from Injury or Illness

• Engage, Monitor & Evaluate InHome Care Services

• Identify Financial & Legal Planning Needs and Arrange the Same

• Coordinate Home Repairs and Household Maintenance Services

When is the right time?

Many people ask, “How do you know when it is the right time to engage the services of a Certified Care Manager?” The right time to call a Certified Care Manager is before something bad happens. But most of us don’t want to believe something bad will happen. Here are nine warning signs that can alert you a health care crisis is on the horizon:

• Medication Mix Ups

• Falls

• Driving Accidents

• Confusion/Depression

• Disorder in the Home

• Living Alone at Home

• Not Socializing with Others

• Poor Eating Habits

• Poor Personal Hygiene