For the past several years I have managed a federally funded program in New York City that provides supportive services to family caregivers of older adults.
Caring for an older adult can take a significant physical, emotional and financial toll on a family caregiver. The challenges are even greater for those who provide care while also working full or part-time ("working family caregivers") and for those who care for children in addition to caring for an older adult (members of what is often called the "Sandwich Generation"). The type of illness an older adult has can make family caregiving more challenging as well. I'm thinking specifically about those who care for older adults with Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia.
I speak with family caregivers everyday so I am knowledgeable about the questions they have and the issues they face - particularly when it comes to navigating the health care system. Having worked in a medical setting for the past 5+ years and having trained in one while in graduate school 10+ years ago, I have a keen sense of the challenges around care transitions - home to hospital, hospital to rehab, rehab to home again and on and on.
This website and the consultations I offer are my effort to provide the kind of assistance I think family caregivers need most: brief, informative contact with a knowledgeable source who is accessible after (and before) normal business hours.
In addition to www.caregiverconsultant.com, I also provide free advice to family caregivers with specific questions about the fast-growing field of geriatric care management through my other site: www.geriatriccaremanagement.com. You'll also find my answers to a number of questions posed by family caregivers of older adults on the website www.caring.com.
Background:
My interest in assisting family caregivers of older adults began when I was in graduate school. While at Columbia I was awarded a one-year fellowship that was jointly sponsored by The Leslie R. Samuels and Fan Fox Foundation and the New York Academy of Medicine. It was the first of it's kind, designed to encourage social workers to pursue careers in Aging.
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Did you know?
By the year 2030, it's estimated that there will be more adults over 85 than there will be children under the age of 5. This will represent a significant shift in the population and the need for social workers will be greater than ever. Currently, less that 3% of all social workers focus on Aging. About the same number of physicians specialize in Geriatrics.
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I wasn't sure what would come of what I'd learned while participating in the fellowship program but in retrospect, the seed for a career in aging-related work had clearly been planted...
In 2004 I was hired by the outpatient medical clinic at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco where I worked exclusively with patients over 60 who had chronic diseases. Needless to say, it wasn't long before I was knee-deep in referrals that seemed to come from every direction, most often from physicians.
For the next three years I worked closely with hundreds of patients and their families and answered countless questions related to long term care planning. I truly enjoyed this work and began to realize what a need there was for someone to guide families through the dizzying maze of elder care services.
In the past several years I've continued to deepen my understanding of the unique challenges facing family caregivers and to hone my skills at helping them to navigate the health care system.
If you think I can assist you, I hope you'll contact me.
Thanks for visiting!
