By Joan Harris, LSW, MBA, CMC
In my 40 years of experience working with older adults in every environment, there is one crystal clear fact that I have learned: No one wants to plan for the end of their lives. This is understandable. Why would we want to think about that when we are focused on making our current lives the best that it can be? But this is the elephant in the room. If we are going to be honest, no one wants to talk about the inevitable decline that comes when we get into our 80’s, 90’s and as centenarians. By not identifying your vision of your older years, and becoming educated about the options available to you, you give up control over the choices that you can proactively take so that you have the best possible quality of life and end-of-life. Actively participating now with experienced guidance in the decisions that must be made is not only going to give you tremendous peace of mind, but it will optimize your comfort and peace and is the greatest gift you can give your family.
As a Social Worker specializing in Geriatrics, whether in a low-income state funded home care, hospital discharge planning, skilled nursing facilities, senior living communities, private non-medical home care and most intensely over the past 17 years as an Aging Life Care Manager, people come to us when they are stuck, and are having a crisis and do not know what to do. They have been managing as best they can with the complexity of physical and cognitive disorders, trying to navigate in a health care system that is not designed to help them. Many people we meet have a clear goal to “Age in Place” at home but through no fault of their own, cannot find the needed quality, private care services. The post-covid world is that much more difficult to navigate with a shortage of staffing in every care environment. As client advocates, Aging Life Care Professionals jump in to “fix” the situation as best we can and help people understand their rights and options for support at home, senior living communities and skilled nursing rehabilitation facilities. We implement sophisticated plans ensuring the highest quality of care. Our Care Management clients are most often already very far down the road in aging and the opportunity for education and prevention is limited. We are often supporting their families and primary caregivers.
My mission and passion for the remainder of my career is to get to people sooner than we typically do in Care Management. Engaging in our planning process before there is decline, we can steer their ship to a much smoother course for retirement and through their end-of-life. We can avoid the reactivity that often causes disease processes to accelerate and outcomes to be poor. What does this really mean? How can I help people to age well?
We start with exercises that help our clients articulate where they see themselves in the future, what their priorities are and what will give their lives the greatest meaning. We then investigate all the data points around them including: physical health, cognitive status, all diagnoses, geographical constraints or wishes, cultural preferences, leisure activities, and medical expertise that they may need. Is the setting urban, suburban or rural? Our xpert in depth assessment flows into a detailed client centered plan that provides a complete Roadmap to their Best Retirement Life. This includes the best quality services, professional team members to add to their team, trusted agencies with contacts & pricing, and facilities/communities that would be a “fit” for their back up plan. Most importantly, this in depth education empowers our clients to make informed decisions.
If we plan our financial retirement, why would we not plan our own care and take that burden off those we love? Offering this robust continuum of aging services keeps our clients living their best lives. They will avoid getting caught off guard with the changes that aging brings.
Together, we can do this.