In this issue, Ron answers two frequently asked questions about geriatric care management. You can read his answers below or listen to his answers in audio form at the bottom of each section.
A Brief Message From Ron Goldman
What Is a Geriatric Care Manager?
Lots of people ask me what is a Geriatric Care Manager and what do we do. A Geriatric Care Manager is somebody who can advocate for your loved one when you’re not available and can do anything that you would do for your parents if you lived right next door. We provide all kinds of services that include daily bill paying, continuity of care with doctors, dealing with insurance companies, benefits planning, and power of attorney, really anything that would be necessary to make sure that our clients are being looked after from their perspective. What is in their best interest? Whether that is what medications they are taking, what sorts of tests their doctors are ordering, what types of treatments are being used? Are they getting their full benefits from the VA? Are they safe in their home? If they end up in the emergency room in the middle of the night, who shows up? Making sure that people throughout the community are on the up-and-up in dealing with your loved ones in an honest and honorable way.
We take care of our clients the way we want our parents to be taken care of.
Thanks for the question and if you have any other questions or want to talk further, we’d be happy to talk to you. Just go ahead and give us a call.
What’s the Difference Between a Geriatric Care Management Agency and Non-Medical Home Care Agencies?
So the question comes up often about what’s the difference between a Geriatric Care Management Agency and these non-medical home care agencies. To a lot of people, it sounds like that they provide the same types of services. The reality is that a lot of times these non-medical home care agencies are run by people who really don’t have any social services background at all. Their main objective is to supply support to people in their homes in a way that makes them dependent. Our goal is to keep people as independent as safely possible with the minimum amount of support necessary to ensure our clients safety and well-being.
I think that it’s important for people to realize that the people that are helping to advocate for their family and loved ones needs to have critical thinking skills that you don’t often find in a lot of the non-medical home care agencies. A new trend is a certification called a “CSA” a “Certified Senior Advisor”. This is a new certification that’s been created to generate a sense of credibility. It is an on-line course where you read seventeen chapters of material, take a test and become a Certified Senior Advisor. There’s a huge difference between that and someone who has a graduate degree or a professional certification either from the National Association of Social Workers or the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. I think it’s invaluable to have somebody who is looking out for your loved ones or yourself even, that really looks at the whole system, looks at the whole situation and can really make critical decisions on your behalf.
One thing that we are really proud of is that we are a team of professionals with applicable experience and education who strive to take good care of people. You’ll find in other non-medical home care agencies they tend to be run by business people who really don’t have any social services background. Taking care of people is about social services. It’s about people and that is one thing that we can say that we excel at.
[audio:https://arizonaeldercare.com/downloads/aecrgcm2.mp3]