From the Los Angeles Daily News, reproduced with permission.
Long-distance elderly care
by Nancy Wexler
Special to Family Life
New Jersey resident Maria Warden (names changed to protect their and their family's privacy) never would have known about the condition of her elderly mother's North Hollywood home if a neighbor had not phoned.
Spoiled foods filled the refrigerator, the neighbor informed Warden, tall stacks of papers covered the floor, the bathrooms were filthy, the stove was broken and rancid stale tobacco residue was everywhere.
"It is a pretty helpless feeling when you're 2,000 miles away, working full time and your family situation won't allow you to fly out," Warden said.
Thanks to advances in technology, though, Warden's mother was tended to within hours.
In the extremely mobile and technologically advanced environment of America, modern communication technology is both possible and vital for older adults and their loved ones.
While technology allows older adults to increase their life expectancy, it simultaneously creates an environment in which loved ones frequently live far from one another.
From the moment Warden picked up her phone in New Jersey to call the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, a network in Tucson that consists of more than 500 firms throughout the country, fax machines began ringing and multiple conference calls were placed.
Within hours, Warden's mother was visited by a local San Fernando Valley professional geriatric care manager, who evaluated and assessed her living environment and stabilized her emotional and physical needs.
For many long-distance caregivers, the services of a professional geriatric care manager, who lives and works locally in the community, can be extremely helpful.
Care managers are trained to assess what older people need as well as to implement and monitor those services. Their job is to ensure that those in need receive the services and tender loving care that their loved ones would give them if geographic location did not stand in the way.
"They provided me with an invaluable resource" Warden said. "Before, everything was a fiasco. Now, I feel Mom has a surrogate family. Even though we're in New Jersey, we have a professional care management team that knows all the local resources in L.A. We couldn't have done it without them."
After the immediate crisis is stabilized, professional geriatric care managers continue to monitor situations and make recommendations on how best to care for a frail elderly relative.
Such help can include arranging for home repairs and meal delivery, establishing in-home care at the patient's residence or finding an alternative living arrangement, such as a retirement hotel or nursing home.
There are many factors that go into a family's decision-making process, such as matters of cost, service availability and expectations for the future prognosis of the patient.
"When you're making decisions for a loved one, there is so much involved," Warden said. "It's a business, financial and emotional decision wrapped into one. You relax more knowing there is an objective, knowledgeable perspective available."
Another invaluable service the professional geriatric care manager provides is a commitment to monitor the patient's progress and report back to his or her family on a regular basis.
Technology, in fact (i.e., fax, computers and phones), allows for communication within minutes of any emergency or essential update. In a crisis, speed is imperative.
In essence, the care team provides the extra pairs of eyes, ears, legs and hands, doing for the elderly what their adult children would do themselves if they were able and had the expertise.
Living 3,000 miles from his dad's Northridge home, Stacey Parker, an East Coast professional, says hiring a geriatric care management team helped both him and his 88-year-old father.
"I know my dad is being taken care of," Parker said.
For more information, contact us, or read more about long-distance care giving.
Home Copyright Nancy Wexler 1996, 2000.