The Care Coordinator. A Valuable Asset for Clients and a Crucial Component in Life Care Planning

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Audrey Melton
8 years ago
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1 The Care Coordinator A Valuable Asset for Clients and a Crucial Component in Life Care Planning

2 What is a Care Coordinator? A Care Coordinator is a trained and experienced care manager, mediator, and counselor who can assist a senior and their family to determine what types of care and services are best for the senior and will advocate to ensure that proper care is being provided to help the older adult maintain the highest quality of life. Why is there a Care Coordinator at a Law Firm? When it comes to older adults, legal, financial, and care issues are intricately interlinked. Creating a complete plan for long-term care requires an understanding of all three. Having a Care Coordinator on staff at the law firm allows our legal team to address the health, safety, well-being, and quality of life of the senior in creating the long-term care plan. The ongoing collaboration between the Care Coordinator and the legal team also allows us to address changes in the senior s legal, financial, or care needs as they arise. This collaborative approach provides our clients with the highest quality of elder law services possible. What will a Care Coordinator do? Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the older adult s current living arrangement and care needs and determine what improvements can be made given the senior s and their family s circumstances and wishes. Create a personalized care plan to meet the older adult s physical, medical, and psychological needs while addressing the practical and family issues involved. Assist in coordinating the senior s care in order to reduce miscommunication, time, stress, errors, and cost to clients. Provide support and guidance to the family to resolve care problems and advocate for quality care for their loved one with in-home care providers, assisted living facilities, long-term care facilities, hospitals and medical professionals.

will advocate to ensure that proper care is being provided to help the older adult maintain the highest quality of life. Why is there a Care Coordinator at a Law Firm?

3 Help coordinate the senior s transfer from home to a retirement community, assisted living facility, or nursing home, and the older patient s safe discharge from a hospital or care facility to return home. The Care Coordinator will also identify and provide referrals to private and community resources available to help care for the older adult. Consult with and educate the senior and their family on the many aspects of long-term care and counsel them regarding the senior s legal rights to quality care in facilities. Help control the cost of care for the older adult by reducing inappropriate institutionalization and overuse of services as well as proactively monitoring the senior s condition to prevent costly crises and unnecessary hospitalizations. Monitor the older adult s ongoing care and changes in condition to re-evaluate and adjust the care plan as needed. Who could benefit from Care Coordination Services? Persons with an increased need for caregiver support Persons with complex family dynamics, poor family communications, or no family living nearby Persons who need new providers either because they are dissatisfied with their current provider, are new to the area, or have a change in benefits or needs Persons who live alone, are socially isolated, or are experiencing a loss of interest in socializing with family and friends or a loss of interest in outside activities Persons with cognitive, psychological, and/or behavioral concerns such as increased forgetfulness, memory loss, increased crying, depression, irritability, or aggression Persons with safety concerns such as falls, fire hazards, or driving difficulties, especially if they result in frequent emergency room visits

Consult with and educate the senior and their family on the many aspects of long-term care and counsel them regarding the senior s legal rights to quality care in facilities.

4 Persons planning a transition to a new living environment Persons who want education about long-term care options Persons with a current health crisis or with complex health issues such as: o Hospitalization/Injury o Multiple Diagnoses with Multiple Treatments o Frequent Medication and/or Treatment Changes o Medications Prescribed by 2 or More Providers o Multiple Health Care Providers o Lack of Health Care Advocate For you the senior, our Care Coordinator: Preserves your independence longer at home by monitoring your care plan and safety. Ensures that your health concerns are addressed with your medical providers and helps you understand your treatment options. Facilitates dialogue between you, your family, your doctors and other medical professionals to create a collaborative team approach to help you, rather than a collection of people with varying perspectives arguing about your care. Family members and other caregivers learn how to best coordinate their efforts for your benefit, especially when faced with difficult medical needs and changing care plans. Provides a professional to whom you can safely and confidentially discuss any delicate concerns. Helps you maintain your dignity with your family because you are not as dependent for assistance, thereby reducing your worry of being a burden on your family. Reduces the feeling of hovering family members because the Care Coordinator is able to monitor your care.

Lack of Health Care Advocate For you the senior, our Care Coordinator: Preserves your independence longer at home by monitoring your care plan and safety.

5 Educates you about your long-term care options so you can make well-informed decisions about your care and future living arrangements. Ensures you get the right care, at the right time, and in the right place to help you maintain the highest possible quality of life and independence. Helps you stretch your budget by assisting you in finding high quality care at the most reasonable prices available. For you the family, our Care Coordinator: Conducts an impartial evaluation, determining if your loved one has life under control or if he or she is masking the need for help. Serves as a liaison (with your loved one s permission) between you and your loved one s care providers, providing firsthand information to you about the care your loved one is receiving. Recognizes and intercedes on symptoms or behaviors that, if left unchecked, could lead to critical problems. Educates you regarding care and health issues, and lessens your worry because you no longer agonize about what you may have overlooked, not understood or whether your loved one is even getting the right care. Provides relief to you knowing that your loved one is likely to better respond to the recommendations delivered by a professional, even though the family has been saying the same thing for a long time. Helps your loved one get beyond the saving for a rainy day mentality to realize that this is the rainy day. Helps you turn a series of crises involving your loved one into a series of planned-for transitions.

Helps you stretch your budget by assisting you in finding high quality care at the most reasonable prices available.

6 What Does This Mean to You? At the law firm of Carney, Sugai & Sudweeks, our Care Coordinator is an integral part of the team providing services to our clients. Our Care Coordinator is assigned to help our clients and their families understand the elder s care needs and access resources to address these needs as part of the overall long-term care plan. Our Care Coordinator functions as one of the points of contact for the family with the law firm and assists in coordinating the legal services needed to support the care plan. Our Care Coordinator has extensive knowledge about the costs, quality, and availability of elder care resources in the community. As they travel along their Eldercare Journey, it is comforting to our older clients and their families to have a supportive and knowledgeable advocate to accompany them along the way. Although it is recommended that elder care services be purchased from the firm as a package along with legal services, the elder care services are also available separately and in a variety of different options. To see the full menu of elder care services available and determine what is best for you, call the office to schedule a free introductory consultation with our Care Coordinator. Whether you are an older adult or the family member of an older adult, you ll discover the meaningful impact the Care Coordinator has on your peace of mind.

Our Care Coordinator functions as one of the points of contact for the family with the law firm and assists in coordinating the legal services needed to support the care plan.

7 About our Care Coordinator: Jennifer Burkett brings a variety of experience from different aspects of elder care to her role as Care Coordinator for the Life Care Planning Team at Carney, Sugai & Sudweeks. Jennifer is a Certified Senior Advisor with a Master s Degree in Counseling Psychology. She is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a focus on expressive arts and older adult mental health. In addition, Jennifer has extensive experience as a Long-Term Care Ombudsman for Santa Clara County and as a Geriatric Case Manager. She has served as a Social Services Coordinator for a local adult day program and a Rehabilitation Aide for a Skilled Nursing Facility. Jennifer is a member of the Elder Abuse Task Force of Santa Clara County and is an ongoing volunteer for the Older Adult Transitions Services program at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View. She also volunteers as a court mediator for the Dispute Resolution Program through the Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations.

She is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a focus on expressive arts and older adult mental health.

8 At Carney, Sugai and Sudweeks, we take a unique approach to enhancing the quality of our clients lives. Our objective is to use the depth of our experience and legal knowledge to create a supportive approach to resolving our clients concerns and protecting their legal interests, while preserving harmony within their lives, relationships and families. Carney, Sugai & Sudweeks, LLP 750 University Ave, Suite 140 Los Gatos, CA

our clients concerns and protecting their legal interests, while preserving harmony within their lives,

HOW A GERIATRIC CARE MANAGER CAN HELP

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