How Preferred Lifestyle Services Helps Reduce Stress and Increase Peace of Mind

How do elder-caregivers cope in a world where less than 1% of physicians are trained in geriatric medicine? Where Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are the 4th leading cause of death annually in the U.S., yet fewer than 800 of our 224,000 pharmacists have geriatric training?

Most elder-caregivers know the drill: without orientation, training, significant assistance, “you are expected to know how, when, and how much to intervene, how to manage medications, how to evaluate a nursing home, how to cope with Alzheimer’s Disease, and how to resolve a host of other new and life altering caregiving dilemmas.”

One of the hardest tasks caregivers face is managing their loved ones’ needs while trying to maintain their own quality of life. Add the continuous decrease in services and benefits and the pitfalls of managed care, and it’s easy to see why caregivers quickly become overwhelmed. Education, planning, and professional advocacy are the keys to survival. 

Add a Geriatric Care Manager to Your Caregiving Team

Geriatric Care Managers are personal healthcare advocates who function as consultants and liaisons, advocating for clients and their families. As objective professionals working from “inside” the healthcare system to advocate for clients, care managers help eliminate obstacles and contain costs while maintaining a superior level of service delivery to maximize safety, independence and quality of life.

• Identification of need: An objective evaluation of your loved one’s condition and ability to function independently in his own environment can significantly enhance the client’s and family’s quality of life by providing the information you need to make informed decisions.
• Care Plan: The care manager identifies appropriate benefits and community and private resources; reviews existing plans and costs, and project services and costs for immediate and future needs.
• Complete Coordination & Supervision of All Services: 24 hour/7 day access to complete professional coordination and supervision provides continuity in care, helps reduce hospitalizations and accidents, increases quality of life and quality time between family and client.
• Cost Containment: Care Managers achieve significant savings by auditing medical documents and bills to increase insurance reimbursements, lower medication costs, hospital and nursing home bills, and reduce out of pocket costs. 

Options to Increase Your Quality of Life

Your care manager can manage all your loved one’s needs or focus on specific problems. You can choose from a wide array of services, including:

• Comprehensive Evaluation of your loved one’s status
• 24 hour/7day availability
• Complete Coordination & Supervision of medical & quality of life needs, including physician visits, in-home aides, nurses, and therapies
• Cost Containment
• Plan of Care
• Medication Management
• Caregiver Training
• Transportation Needs
• Home Safety Evaluation
• Long-Term Care Planning Assistance
• Nutrition & Dietary Management
• Pre- and Post- Hospitalization Care Coordination
• Benefits Coordination, Insurance and Medical Billing Assistance
• Auditing Medical, Assisted Living & Nursing Home Bills
• Crisis Intervention
• Conflict Resolution
• Expert Medical File Review
• Identify and Reduce Risk of Exploitation

If you’re looking for an advocate to help protect your loved one’s health and quality of life, increase your sense of security, help reduce out-of-pocket costs, help you navigate the health care system, and decrease your stress, your best option is a Geriatric Care Manager.