It can be overwhelming when your senior loved one experiences a sudden or worsening health struggle that requires you to oversee their needs.
After all, most of us aren’t medical experts equipped with the resources and connections necessary to find the best answers to our complex health and care questions. Even overseeing their daily routine can be more than one person can handle — coordinating visits with several medical care professionals and social workers, as well as navigating the opinions of disagreeing family members, can all be too much to bear.
That’s where a professional senior care manager comes in, allowing you to focus on being a supportive son or daughter – not to mention being able to look after your own household, children, and job – while ensuring that your elderly parent gets the absolute best care available and advocate for their wishes and needs.
What is a Care Manager?
A professional care manager, is usually a licensed nurse, physical or occupational therapist, social worker, or other professional who is experienced in caring for elderly patients. They’re private employees who are usually hired by families whose senior loved one has an income too high to qualify for publicly funded case management. The role is becoming increasingly prominent as the American population ages. According to the Population Reference Bureau, the number of Americans aged 65 or older will rise from 58 million to 82 million by 2050.
Care managers’ primary responsibility is to get to know the needs, wishes and personality of their patient and then play matchmaker, finding the right caregivers to get them the care they need while making them feel confident and comfortable with the direction of their care. But they do so much more! For example, a care manager may visit their elderly client’s home to assess for trip hazards, ease of accessibility, and other safety needs.
Senior Care Manager services may include:
- Organizing and arranging medical appointments, including transportation
- Making referrals to medical, legal and financial professionals
- Creating care plans, both short and long-term
- Translating medical reports and assessments into terms their patient and patient’s family can understand
- Arranging for health care monitoring and in-home assistance
- Answering questions including those about resources and options available
- Taking the emotion out of healthcare decisions
- Allowing family members to get relief through arranging respite care
Bethesda offers care coordination services, knowing that while getting older can sometimes be challenging, finding help shouldn’t have to be. Whether your senior loved one has advanced medical needs that are too much for you to handle or if you just have a few questions you’d like to ask, you can call us to reach an experienced professional with the right answers for your Mom or Dad’s unique situation.
Hiring a care manager is not only the best way to ensure your senior loved one gets the care they need, it is also a great way to minimize the stress of your relationship with your elderly parent, allowing a neutral third party to do the hard work of solving problems and tending to the details of arranging care while you’re free to focus on spending quality time doing things you and your loved one enjoy doing together.
Contact Bethesda to find the senior living resources that are right for you!
