Geriatric care managers: They can save older adults and their families time and money

Hartford Courant (CT)

Geriatric care managers -- professionals who help older adults and their families find appropriate services relating to aging -- have long worked in Florida with its large elderly population. Now, Connecticut is seeing an uptick in hiring these very useful supervisors.

“It’s like having a skilled professional as a family member,” says Jessica Dakin, a geriatric care manager at Hartford HealthCare. “It can be trying, if you are in the hospital and you need help transitioning either back home or to assisted living; if your family lives out of town, or you are single and don’t have children. Or it’s just too much to juggle, or the situation is confusing and you don’t know what to ask for.”

Geriatric care managers oversee and organize many aspects of daily life, including doing a safety check in the home, assessing the financial circumstances and hiring someone to do bill paying and paperwork. They can manage medical care, including getting to doctor’s appointments, communication with all the doctors and providers, and making sure medication gets refilled. A care manager may also ensure that legal documents like advance directives are in order.

Dakin holds a bachelor of science in nursing degree and is certified in dementia care. Other geriatric care managers are social workers or have other degrees related to geriatrics. Hartford HealthCare is looking to expand the service throughout the state.

Dakin recently worked with a man in his 70s who was referred to her because his memory is failing and he was struggling to pay his bills. Now Dakin pays bills with him, oversees his medications and attends all medical appointments.

“He’s a recovering alcoholic and lives alone,” Dakin said. “He used to run AA meetings. We brought him to an AA meeting, and it’s opened his life up socially. His brother emailed me the other day and thanked me because he sounds positive and happy.”

Hartford HealthCare charges $125 an hour for geriatric care manager services. Mostly, clients pay out of pocket, but the service might be covered by some long-term care insurance policies.

Employing a geriatric care manger can save time, money and energy for older adults and their families, says Rupal Parekh, assistant professor of social work at University of Connecticut.

“It has several benefits if you can afford it,” Parekh says. “For folks in a crisis situation who may be moving from home to a nursing home or hospice, it can be critical to having that move go smoothly. A geriatric care manager offers an outside perspective. It’s someone who’s trained in geriatric care and management, but is not working for a facility.”

Without expert advice, families may make the wrong choice, Parekh says. For example, the family may believe a loved one needs assisted living, when that person really needs a memory care unit.

It can also save money to keep older adults in their own homes, with appropriate services, instead of placing them in a costlier nursing home or assisted living situation.

“Most want to age in place,” Parekh says. “If you hire care companions and make modifications to the home to make it safer, that could be a way to save a ton of money.”

The average cost of a nursing home in Connecticut is about $432 per day, says Kathryn Thaisz, a solo practice geriatric care manager in West Hartford whose business is called Compassionate Choice. Hiring a live-in aide to provide help around the clock costs about $300 a day.

“We can help streamline costs,” says Thaisz, who charges $150 an hour. “It’s significantly cheaper than a nursing home. Essentially their money will last twice as long, and they’ll be in a familiar environment.”

In addition to easing the financial burden of aging, care managers reduce stress for sandwich generation families who can’t be in two places at once. Thaisz holds a masters in human development and gerontology from University of St. Joseph and is a certified care manager and a member of the Aging Life Care Association.

But sometimes, people need to focus on their spirit, as well as their body. To that end, Thaisz helped a client put together a bucket list.

“She wanted to go a movie, to a Greek festival, to have lunch at certain restaurants," Thaisz says. "She couldn’t go to church, so I brought her priest to her. To see the joy on her face when she’s been able to experience these things is priceless,”

Thaisz facilitated two moves for her bucket list client, who is now 94, from a rehabilitation facility to assisted living and then to a nursing home.

“She has absolutely no family," Thaisz says, “so when people asked who I am, she said, ‘that’s Kate, she’s like my daughter.’ That was the ultimate compliment.”

Resources

Hartford HealthCare Center for Healthy Aging (hhcseniorservices.org, 877-424-4621)

Compassionate Choice, Geriatric Care Management, West Hartford (compassionatechoicect.com)

Aging Life Care Association (aginglifecare.org)

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