April 9, 2001
BY
JULIE EDGAR
FREE
PRESS STAFF WRITER
Baby boomers tending to aging parents are nothing if not resourceful.
More and more of them are hiring others to do the job for them or starting
their own companies to help their peers navigate the maze of services for Mom
and Dad.
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WHAT TO CONSIDER The
National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, based in
Arizona, can be reached at 520-881-8008, but it does not provide referrals.
Its Web site has state-by-state listings of geriatric care managers. See www.caremanager.org. What to look for in a
geriatric care manager · Experience. Has the person worked with other
older adults as a care manager? ·
Background in human services. The person should have a degree
in social work, nursing, psychology or gerontology, or have worked in public
health or health service administration. ·
Availability. Care managers should be accessible 24 hours a day
or be able to provide an associate to fill in when they are not available. ·
Services provided directly. Get a clear picture of what
services the care manager provides directly and which ones the care manager
will refer. A nurse, for example, should be able to tend to limited medical
needs and to access for the client the best services out of his or her scope
of ability. Source: Connie
Rosenberg, president of the National Association of Professional Geriatric
Care Managers. |
Richard Poyle of West Bloomfield, for one, had no idea where
to go after his mother fractured her pelvis and could not get around her
apartment so well anymore. He is 55, an only child and, like most people,
ignorant of his options.
"This is something we don't learn when we grow up," he said.
Luckily, Poyle said, a friend mentioned Laurel Felsenfeld, who is part of a relatively
new breed of professional called the geriatric care manager.
She met with his 88-year-old mother to gather enough information to make
recommendations. As a result, Poyle's mother will move into an assisted living
residence where she will still have her own place but will not have to cook for
herself.
"It was probably as beneficial for me and my wife because we had
someone who at least knew the jargon and had the background in practitioners,
expectation levels and information on a subject we didn't know anything
about," Poyle said.
Geriatric care management has been around for 15 years. But it has taken off
in the past few years as baby boomers find themselves squeezed between their
aging parents and their children. About a quarter of all U.S. households have
at least one caregiver whose average age is 46 and likely works full time,
according to a 1997 survey by the National Alliance for Caregiving, the most
recent data available.
"Our membership grows every year," said Connie Rosenberg, president
of the 1,400-member National Association of Professional Geriatric Care
Managers. The association, founded in 1988, is based in Arizona.
Home-care companies are starting to offer the service, although the field is
still dominated by lone practitioners, many of them social workers and nurses.
There is no certification process, but the association offers training to
members.
The real value of a geriatric care manager is who and what they know,
Rosenberg said. At fees that range from $25 to $100 per hour, however, the
service is not cheap, and it is not covered by Medicare.
Typically, the care manager starts with a broad assessment of the person's
social, medical, emotional or legal needs. It may be that the older person
simply needs a support bar in the shower.
And sometimes, the care manager stays on, developing relationships that call
on his or her skills as a friend.
Sue Fabian of Elderwise Advisor/Advocate in Royal Oak works with a former
college professor who has late-stage Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. She
sparked an interest in him when she brought him a pile of books and he chose
one in particular that the two of them now read and reread.
"I'm cutting through the fog of dementia," said Fabian, 46, who
has degrees in counseling and psychology. She was attracted to elder-care
management after helping her mother get through the aftershocks of a stroke and
learning firsthand how exhausting it is to locate the right services.
"Usually, the family just needs to know where to go," she said.
"Or, sometimes the family just doesn't have the energy to do it."
Like Lynn Ott of Canton. She would do more for her parents if she could, but
she is coping with her own burdens: a weak heart and a child with special
needs. So she was thrilled when a home-care nurse referred them to Mike
Flannery, a geriatric care manager in Livonia.
"People my age want to do what they can, but they can't always be
there," said Ott, 54.
About a month ago, Flannery, 42, set up Leo and June Elderkin with an
occupational therapist who is helping Leo Elderkin regain the use of a bad
hand. An aide helps him bathe and does the housework in the couple's Farmington
home.
"Without Mike, I wouldn't have known where to get help," said Leo
Elderkin, 79. "See, the government isn't in a rush to help you."
Because of the soaring number of people edging into the over-65 category,
caregiving is becoming a central part of many more lives. Some companies, such
as Ford Motor Co., are offering employees a benefit for elder-care management,
recognizing that taking care of an older relative cuts into productivity.
Another 1997 survey on caregiving showed that a quarter of U.S. employees
missed at least one day of work every month caring for an older relative.
Eldergap, a 1 1/2-year-old national geriatric-care management company based
in Southfield, is working with the Wellness Group, an employee assistance
company, also in Southfield, to offer the benefit to companies for their
workers.
"We think it's necessary," said Sandra Schiff, Eldergap's executive
vice president. "We're telling human resources people to be progressive.
It was like child care: it was taking people away from work. As a country, we
have to face this."
Contact JULIE EDGAR at 248-586-2605 or edgar@freepress.com.