Age @ Home Elder Care Management San Diego

Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)

2010-07-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST), a standardized medical order form printed on brightly colored paper, indicates which types of life-sustaining treatment a seriously ill patient wants or doesn't want if his or her condition worsens. Too often, necessary conversations about end-of-life medical interventions and intensity of care don't occur. The POLST form, signed by both the physician and the patient, becomes a tool to capture these discussions and make them part of the patient's medical record. The form moves with the patient and must be honored across all settings of care. POLST is intended to avoid unwanted or medically ineffective care, reduce patient and family suffering, and ensure that patients' wishes are honored at the end of life.
Since January 2009, California law requires that POLST be honored across all settings of care and provides immunity to providers who honor a POLST document in good faith.
POLST is a vehicle to bring clarity around the difficult decisions for end of life care. When used with an advance directive that names a proxy decisionmaker, it would reduce the initiation of unwanted or medically ineffective care, reduce patient and family suffering, and ensure that patients' wishes are honored at the end of life.

Geriatric Assessment and Management: Finding the Right Care Manager

2010-04-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

Geriatric Assessment and Management: Finding the Right Care Manager

Trends in Dementia Care

2010-04-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

Did you know that exercise, prayer and a nutritious diet can help maintain brain health? Those are cutting edge trends in dementia care according to Dr Lena Smith from the National Association of Geriatric Care Managers Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Not only that but utilizing those positive lifestyle attributes can help a person with dementia cope better with the behavioral affects of the diagnosis.

Slow Medicine: conference topic

2010-04-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

The topic of Slow Medicine really captures the essence of my care manangement practice. Dr. Dennis McCullough one of our keynote speakers the significance of the latter part of the lifespan through the mind body and spirit and the benefit of 'slow medicine'. Aggressive medicine dominates our healthcare system but is it really a good thing to 'capture' an older person and put them through the paces of the USA agressive medical system?

National Conference

2010-04-14T12:48:00.001-07:00

Here I am in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the National Association of Geriatric Care Managers conference. Weather:warm, dry. Chile: hot. Love both green and red and good news is you can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner(which I plan to do). I see California leads with the most GCMs in attendance followed by Florida. Tonight will be an opening reception always a nice time to get together and reaquaint with colleagues from accross the country. We will also get together will the planning committee for a toast to our efforts. Kuddos to Marty Brown and Jeff Pine our intrepid leaders.

Renoir:Portrait of an Artist as an Aging Man

2010-04-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

Just returned from viewing: "Renoir in the 20th Century" exhibit at the LACMA. In 1913, at the age of 72 Renoir declared, "I am just learning how to paint". Some reviews of the exhibit had pooh pooed the fact that these were later works of the genius, beyond his peak Impressionist period. I found them all to be superb. His use of color and radiance are stunning. Luminescent and glorious are the way I describe them. It certainly doesn't hurt that his models have womanly curves and can even be described as fleshy with colors that radiate life. Part of the exhibit explained that Renoir was crippled by rheumatoid arthritis and in order to continue painting had to have the paint brushes strapped to his hand. Photographs showed him in a wheelchair with gnarly balled up fists, deformed and decrepit. But there he is at his easel with his palette painting each stroke. One picture had someone holding the clay as he molded his sculpture painstakingly. One of his last paintings completed before he died at the age of 78 is The Concert, glorious in hues of pink, orange, yellow and green. "A narrow range of harmonious colors to fuse the pictorial elements into a single effect." Glorious!

Concierge Pharmacist

2010-02-20T22:49:00.000-08:00

Concierge Pharmacist
Led Medication Management Services
Age @ Home Home Elder Care Management is pleased to announce a value added service to our clients: Concierge Pharmacist led Medication management

Noelle Randall is originally from St. Louis, MO and went to college at the University of Iowa. At Iowa’s College of Pharmacy, she developed an interest in the special medication needs of seniors. She graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy in 2008 and went to work as a pharmacist for Target in Chicago. In 2009, she married and with her husband Tim moved to San Diego.
Noelle, says, “As a pharmacist, I really enjoy reviewing patients’ medications, answering their questions, and making sure they are comfortable with their drug therapy plan. I am thrilled to get the opportunity to work for the clients of Age @ Home to assist with their medication management.”

Elderly in Emergency Room: Not good!

2010-02-17T20:11:00.000-08:00

Age @ Home Elder Care Managers Advocate
in the Emergency Room

Older adults are going to the emergency room at alarming rates. Frankly the ER is the last place you'd want your older loved one to be. It is not uncommon to spend 5-6 hours in an emergency room setting. Good consistent medical care and taking medications as prescribed should cut down on unnecessary trips to the ER. Your elder care manager (ECM)is the go to person to help navigate the need for an emergency room trip. Prevention of and reducing the number of trips to the ER is a top careplan goal for the Age @ Home ECM.

No question that 911 is called for in “real” emergencies such as stroke, heart attack or stopping breathing. Other situations may include falls, change of consciousness, acute pain. When there is room for doubt, the ECM will make a quick call to the primary care physician to see if an office visit or urgent care trip is a better response. Once the need to go to the ER is established, 911 is called and paramedics respond to the scene. Do Not Resuscitate forms as well as a Vial of Life are helpful to the paramedics.

Families are the number one ER advocate for their loved ones. However when their work, family or long distance prevents them from being there the GCM becomes the profession advocate with master's level training and medical advocacy experience in dealing with many, many emergency room situations.

The purpose of the ECM advocate is to:
Facilitate communication between the ER staff and the patient
Improve the quality of care received.
Decrease the level stress of our client

Communicating to ER Staff
The ECM has written permission to advocate and speak to the doctors and nurses in the ER.
The ECM knows the medical history and who the clients primary care provider is, as well as other specialists involved with care.
The ECM knows who holds the durable power of attorney for health care (DPOA) and can communicate with that person in real time.
Age @ Home ECMs all use Blackberrys for real time communication with family including phone, e mail and texting.
Age @ Home provides all our clients with a mini medical file
The Age @ Home ECM can provide a baseline of functioning and describe the acute exasperation of symptoms to the triage nurse and ER physician.
The ECM has the current medication list an knows the clients allergies.
The ECM will check her client in and handle the Medicare/insurance questions.

Facilitating communication from ER staff to Age @ Home client
Help our client understand what is happening.
Help our client to make informed decisions

Decrease the level of stress of our client
The ECM is a friendly face and calming influence.
The ECM will advocate for speedy results
The ECM will advocate for pain management

Advocating in the ER with dementia clients
Minimize distress and confusion
Communicate the clients baseline cognitive functioning to the ER staff.
Interpret information to the dementia clients such as any testing, labs, x rays, blood draws, CT scans and finally the need for admission.

After the ER
The Age @ Home ECM stays until the client is admitted or sent home.
When admitted to the hospital, the ECM accompanies the client to the floor and completes the hospital admission process.
If discharged the ECM takes the client home, making sure the discharge instructions are followed and any prescriptions are picked up.
The ECM coordinates any follow up caregiver needs
The ECM coordinates the follow up medical care such as doctor appointments.

For more information about this topic contact your Age @ Home Elder Care Manager or Krandall@ageathome.net.

Happy New Year

2010-01-26T09:42:00.000-08:00

2010 has started out slow. After a busy holiday season and nice getaway vacation in December I am raring to go. Have sent out lots of e mails, scheduled many meetings and am eager to start solving all those age related problems that affect so many older adults out there. FOr instance:trips to the emergency room. Older adults constitute up to 60% of the ER visits overall. Yet sometimes this population is so vulnerable that the ER experience itself can be debilitating. We always reccommend going with an advocate, hopefully a family member who knows your situation, is aware of the event that precipitated the ER trip, knows your medications, can ask for pain control or even something as simple as a drink of water. If a family member isn't availabe a paid caregiver should accompany and the best case scenario is a geriatric care manager who by definition is a professional advocate. Never let your aging loved one langer in an ER alone.

It's a small caregiving world

2009-04-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt like synchronicity was at work in your life? I found a little bit of synchronicity today. As I have mentioned in blogs past I spend 1 afternoon a week at the Center for Memory and Aging neurology practice in Poway, CA. My job there is geriatric care manager/ clinical social worker and I see the patients and their families after they receive a diagnosis. I help them cope with the news and provide community resources such as the new caregiver support group I am starting over at Sunshine Care Assisted living homes across the street. Well, anyway Adrienne from Sunshine Care came by and said, "Kathy you need to contact Melanie, the social worker next door at the Poway Health Care Center". SO I call Melanie and it turns out she is not only my neighbor for work but also lives in Scripps Ranch. She has been reading about the Scripps Ranch Elder Care Alliance for the past few months and even recommended another colleague to come to one of our meetings. I then shared with her the story of Fran the Age @ Home client (and my Scripps Ranch neighbor) I took care of for over a year. Fran had also been a resident of The Poway Health Care Center for a time. We now have an appointment to meet in person later this month. I will also tell her about the Center for memory and Aging and the good work being done right next door. It sure is turning out to be a small caregiving world.

Tax time and care management

2009-04-07T13:19:00.000-07:00

I finally went to my tax guy today. I know, I know it is getting late and not much time left until that famous April 15 deadline. The good news is he praised me for being so organized and keeping sound records. The bad news is of course I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. As it turns out care management has proven to be somewhat recession proof. People continue to age. Older adults prefer to remain in their own homes, now more than ever. Top 5 reasons for aging @ home
1) Decreased home values discourages selling the 'family nest egg'
2) Moving to retirement community is costly when you add up all the monthly fees and services
3) National movement to bring services into communities: 'virtual assisted living' services
4) Independence equals living in your own home
5) Friends and family nearby

Funniest line yet: The tax guy said my job is like tax season for him, only year round.

On being a "surrogate daughter"

2009-03-30T09:14:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks several of my clients have referred to me as their "surrogate daughter". Their real daughters have echoed this sentiment by calling me their "surrogate sister". I can't tell you how honored I am to claim that title. To me it connotes trust, responsibility and love all key ingredients in caring for an aging parent. My job is to assist adult children in the care of their aging parents when their work, family or long distance prevents them from being there. So not only do I perform neccesary tasks, I do it with compassion and care. You see my 'job' is more than that. It is a calling. This is what I do, but more important this is who I am.

Hospice care

2009-03-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

What an eventful day. My client just graduated off hospice care. She was on for about six weeks, coming home with a failure to thrive diagnosis. With the loving care of her family and the round the clock caregivers she has gained weight, is sleeping better, her heart disease is stable and she has fully recovered from a stroke. In other words she is ALIVE! I have been in this business a long time and have placed many many people on end of life palliative care, but this is a first and it feels great.

Elder Care San Diego

2009-02-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

My own experience-not good

2009-02-18T09:10:00.000-08:00

Last week I had to have a dental implant. I have been going to the same oral surgeon for years and had several procedures which led up to this major one. Since this was after all surgery I had my daughter Nora drive me and I went pretty much empty handed. When I go there I discovered that of course I needed my credit card to pay for the $3300 plus surgery ( no insurance doesn't cover it). However I was stunned with the office worker said, to me, no credit card no surgery. So I asked Nora to return home for my pruse and credit card, thinking that cleared up any problem. Well no it didn't. You can not have the surgery until you have paid for it." After all this is a business. Come again? I thought it was a doctors office. We will not operate on you you until your daughter returns with the credit card. Excuse me you are holding my surgery up? I asked to speak to the office manager. Another office worker came out and told me she had spoken to the office manager and yes indeed this is the office policy, Not only that but how could I possibly come for surgery not prepared to pay for it? ( I don't know maybe I was thinking of the titanium screw going into my jaw and being laid up all weekend on Vicodin?)
Again I asked to speak to the office manager and they called her on the phone after conferring with each other: what should we do? (Should we let this irresponsible person talk to our manager?) I think the crowning insult was when I asked to speak to the doctor and they said, "He has nothing to do with it". Well the manager gave her permission for me to go forward with my surgery, my daughter brought the credit card and all ended well. One last note: I over heard them scedhuling a patient for surgery telling the person about no eating before hand, get there 15 minutes ahead of schedule etc, but no mention to bring payment in full.

Hiring professional caregivers

2009-02-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hiring professional caregivers can be an overwhelming task for adult children of aging parents. Most of the time you only have a list of companies given by the hospital discharge planner. Not only that but you need the caregivers yesterday! Your parent wants to go home and usually her doctor wants her to go to a nursing home. Mom will say anything to get out of the hospital, including agreeing to caregivers. You start calling names on the list and whoever costs the least and gets out there the quickest wins the job. It may not matter anyway because mom's plan is to fire the caregivers after a day or so anyway. So you have done all that work, gone through all that stress for basically nothing. And the icing on the cake is mom still needs help so she doesn't repeat the trip to the hospital. Guess who is left holding the caregiving bag? That's right, you.

If this sounds familiar write me and tell me your caregiving stories.

Helping a Senior Move

2009-02-01T20:03:00.000-08:00

This week I helped a 79 year old client move. As a geriatric care manager I know that what can seem straight forward and easy to accomplish for a younger person is incredibly difficult for the elderly. In this case I supervised Mrs. M in finding a senior community to move to and hired the movers and packers. The movers are Help U Move and have a fine reputation for working with seniors. Their office number is 760 721 4357.
Mrs. M recently lost her driver's license due to a dementia diagnosis. Any move can be stressful but when you have a mild to moderate case of dementia the stress and forgetfulness combine to cause a huge amount of confusion, so I became, as she likes to say, "her memory". I also became her driver and we shuttled about town doing the things that need to be done for a move. One important thing is I made sure she got some breakfast and lunch the day we packed. I also supervised her taking her medicine so that would not get lost in the shuffle. She is now safely in a senior community where she already knows many of the residents. The senior center is across the street and the library is up the road. I will continue to visit with her regularly as I have done for the past two years.

"Yes we can!"

2009-01-23T16:09:00.001-08:00

Our new president has asked us to give back to our community, to volunteer and help one another in any way we can. We had our first meeting for the Scripps Ranch Elder Care Alliance last night. More that 30 people came to my house to talk about this important subject. I brought out the kitchen, dining room and folding chairs. People were sitting on the floor and on the stairs. We went around the room and introduced ourselves and told why we wanted to help launch this initiative. We had spirited discussions about transportation, in home services, community resources and how to go about building our coalition. We set up a volunteer committee as all agreed this is the place to start. Our next meeting is Thursday February 26, 2009. Yes we can!

Aging in place in Scripps Ranch

2009-01-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

I am fielding daily calls from volunteers wishing to join the Elder Care Alliance here in Scripps Ranch. Just as I suspected this is an unmet need which once posted is bring out both care providers and elders wishing to know how to access in home services. I have identified transportation, in home care services and home safety issues as top priorities. We will need a census of the number of elders in our community of 32,000. It is exciting and I can't wait to get started.

Dancing With Doris

2009-01-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

I love my clients dearly. Yesterday I met with Doris (name changed to protect confidentiality) a 89 year old with some memory impairment. Doris was telling me about the New Year's Eve party she attended at her retirement community. She lamented the lack of dancing partners. "When I was a girl I went to an all girl's school and we thought nothing of dancing with each other. At this party they had a lovely big band yet all the women sat around and only the couples danced." So right then I jumped up and grabbed her hands and we spontaneously started to dance. She was humming the Charleston and showed me a couple of moves. We danced together on the tile floor of the kitchen for a couple of beautiful minutes.
How great is that? From now on I will incorporate dancing with Doris into every home visit we have.

movie looks at aging through unique lense

2009-01-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

Just returned for seeing the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. What a life affirming movie. This movie radiates love and honors the elderly no matter how old they are!! This is key to the plot which is about a boy who is born old and as he grows he ages in reverse. Love is presnt throughout the movie, love between Benjamin and his adopted mother who runs an "old folks" home. Love between the elders living in the home and Benjamin, who grows up loving and losing those very residents. Caring is another huge part of the story. Being cared for, later taking careof and once more needing care. One funny line said is" We all begin and end in diapers". Please go see this movie and enjoy those you love at any age.

elderly coupled committed murder/suicide

2009-01-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

I am so sad to read this story in today's UT. A 90 year old man shot and killed his 88 year old wife them killed himself. Apparantly he decided they had both reached the end of their "productive' lives. No note was found and no surviving family members were listed. So many questions come to mind. What was their health status? Did the wife have Alzheimer's disease? Perhaps their home was being forclosed. One thing for sure, He was feeling helpless and hopeless about their situation. What can our community do to reach out to aging people in dire straights? Please write and share your thoughts.
Kathy R

Age @ Home on Internetvoicesradio.com

2009-01-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

Last night I had my 15 minutes of fame on internetvoicesradio.com I used a prepared script but quickly deviated in order to respond to Lillian Cauldwell, the moderator's questions. I love answering questions, something I do as a big part of my job, and Lillian asked questions in order to learn what a care manager is and also general questions about aging. Quickly, I own Age @ Home Elder Care Management a company that provides licensed experts and reliable resources to elders facing physical and cognitive challenges. One common question is does Medicare pay for care management? No Medicare does not pay for ongoing care management nor caregivers. Medicare is reserved for acute short term health issues and hospitalization. Care management is a fee for service just like your attorney. Another common question is what is a durable power of attorney? DPOA is for healthcare and or finances and is a legal document that names a person to act on your behalf when you are incapacitated, usually a spouse or adult child. If anybody out there would like to ask other questions about this field please post a comment.

Happy New Year from Age @ Home Elder Care Management

2009-01-01T12:00:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year. I have been under the weather this holiday season but feeling much better now. 2009 is poised to be a fantastic year. My work at the Center for Memory and Aging starts immediately ( my Medicare status is now good). I just started 2 new cases with my company Age @ Home Elder Care Management, and my dear hubby Gary surprised me with a getaway weekend to Cabo San Lucas as a Christmas present. All these good things have come to me by virtue of hardwork and being open to receiving from the universe. Tonight at 7:00pm I have a 15 minute time slot on http://internetvoicesradio.com I will be talking about Age @ Home Elder Care Management. My best to everyone out there in bloggerland.
Kathy R

Baby Boomers in Denial regarding Parents aging

2008-12-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

To be clear the case in point in the previous post is a fictionalized account of what I experience on a regular basis. Parents are in deep doo doo and their kids just can't face the music. How the Baby Boomer faces the decline and death of their parents leads them to their own mortality. My training and experience tells me this is a deep fear. The bad news is your parents will die even worse news you' re next in line. Not tomorrow or even next week but time does march on. So let's back up to the ailing folks. Yes they are aging and yes they are ailing. They deserve to live fully until they die and at that time deserve a good death.

Baby Boomers in denial regarding parents

2008-12-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

We have all heard alot about Baby Boomers who deny their own aging process, 60 is the new 40 and so on. But what I am running in to is Baby Boomers are also denying their PARENTS aging process. Case in point. Son, a lawyer from Washington DC got an emergency call from his father in San Diego. Dad was taken to the hospital and needs son to come out. By the time son got here Dad had been rehydrated and sent home. In Son's eyes things were back to 'normal'. Thank goddness he followed through with the call to Age @ Home and I went out the next day for an assessment. When we sat down to do the assessment Son wanted to excuse himself from the prosess, to 'protect' his parents confidentiality. The folks actually wanted him to stay and hear their story. Through the assessment process I collected info regarding the medical conditions, including names of doctors and prescriptions, dates of hospitalizations, monthly income, eating habits, legal tools such as davanced health care directives and power of attorney, burial plans. insurance such as Medicare. Another important area is Activities of Daily Living such as bathing, dressing, meal prep. Well to make a long story short, turns out that dad has cancer and mom has Alzheimers! more later!

To live until you die

2008-12-16T19:33:00.000-08:00

I have been intrigues with this statement for quite a while. Since I help so many elders at the end of their life it is important to preserve, maintain or even invent a quality of life as life comes to a close. Humor is a wonderful life force and one that can be tapped into all along the continuum. Another good method is what my uncle Tom calls 'sharing and caring'. Hugs and kisses and even statements of 'I love you' can infuse life into withered bodies. The point of all this is to reach out, especially to old people and share your lifeforce.

Dementia Care Planning

2008-12-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

I have recently been invited to join the Center for Memory and Aging, a neurology practice in Poway, CA. Their focus is evaluation and treatment of memory impairment and cognitive deficits. My role as Geriatric Care Manager will be to along with the team, develop Individualized Dementia Care Plans. The IDCP includes educational material, community resources and caregiver support all customed tailored to each family's needs. I am honored to be working with Dr Ho and his team. For more information go to www.pcndneurology.com

Internet

2008-12-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

It's been a couple of days since I last posted. My laptop wireless router is down and am waiting for my 17 year old daughter Nora's boyfriend Stevie, my tech guy, to come over and advise me if I need a new linksys router. I fixed it last time it was on the blink by speaking to a great guy in Mumbai, about a month before the horrible terrorist attacks. At that time he said if the router goes down again I should just get a new one. So I may be off to Best Buys in a few minutes.
In the mean time some fun news: I am speaking on Internet Voice Radio:http://internetvoicesradio.com at 10pm Eastern 7pm Western time on New Years Day. I have been offered 15 minutes free air time to talk about Age @ Home Elder Care Management. The company I own that assists adult children in the care of their aging parents when their work, family or long distance prevents them from being there. It has been years since I have done any radio and then only to be interviewed. With this 'gig' I will be filling the time myself. Who knows if it goes well I may add internet radio host to list of accomplishments, LOL.

Adult kids home for the holidays

2008-12-11T18:42:00.001-08:00

Adult kids home for the holidays to visit their aging folks can be in for a shock. Papers piling up, unopened bills, no food in the fridge all these are signs of serious cognitive decline. Sure mom can sound fine over the phone but a visit home reveals the extent of her deterioration. But whats a busy working daughter or son with a family to do? In today' s hard pressed economy, employers may not be willing to grant the extended leave necessary to get mom squared away. First off is finding out what is really going on, the repeat trips to doctors to determine a diagnosis (Alzheimer's disease?), talking about the driving issue, deciding on when and if a move is in the near future? Adult kids need a 21st century solution. Hire a professional geriatric care manager. Get on your computer and surf the web. Look for someone who is a licensed expert and knows local reliable resources. Here in San Diego Age at Home Elder Care Management offers licensed clinical social worker and certified care managers to cut through the red tape and help stabilize a cognitive crisis. If you dread going home because of what you may find, be proactive, go to http://www.ageathome.net/ or http://www.caremanager.org/ and line up a care management assessment now.

timely articles, missed opportunity

2008-12-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

I have ben reading some good, timely articles in my local newspapers this week about what to do about mom and dad and also what to do about discharge planning from a hospital. I am sure the reporters research these subjects yet they have failed to mention using a geriatric care manager in either article. I know we are an emerging 21st century professional,but really this is ridiculous. Come on it is soon to be 2009 and reporters need to get with the program. People need 21st century solutions to their problems. For example in the article about helping mom and dad for a long distance adult daughter caregiver, the reporter should have talked about care managers being the local expert on the scene to help mom and advocate for her medical care. For the article on discharges from the hospital with about 24 hour notices, the reporter was remiss in not mentioning the licensed expertise of a care manager to cut through the red tape and advocate for the patient.

Get to speak at meeting

2008-12-07T19:10:00.000-08:00

More good news, I am on the agenda to speak at the Scripps Ranch Community Organization this coming Tuesday night at the Scripps Ranch library. I will speak about the Scripps Ranch Elder Care Alliance. I have flyers about the meeting January 22, 2009 to distribute. I was at cousin Gwen's today and she had seen the article in the newsletter and is going to join. She is big in St Gregory' s parish and will put the word out there. One thing that is emerging as an area of concern is that Scripps Ranch has no senior center. Nearby Poway and Mira Mesa do but that involves driving out of the neighborhood. So I am putting this on the list for SRECA.

Scripps Ranch coming together

2008-12-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

Getting more response for the Elder Care Alliance. Going to the community meeting on Tuesday night. Hope I can present. I worked up a great flyer that I can copy and distribute and e mail as people start to RSVP. What is striking to me is that after 7 years living here now all of a sudden I am seeing my elderly neighbors, maybe for the first time, really. I know how difficult it can be to stay in your own home and resist the move to assisted living. Our SRECA will help people do just that.

2008-12-05T12:28:00.001-08:00

Well, another slow day. I don't like slow days. I like to kep busy, solving problems helping people. Instead I am sitting in front of the TV watching Martha Stewart. I wish the phone would ring. I went to an open house for a law firm that specializes in estate planning yesterday hoping to meet people and connect. Instead it was quiet with a few folks talking one to one. I want so much to be of service and guess it will all work out in the long run.

Alls quiet on the Western Front

2008-12-04T15:37:00.000-08:00

Things are quiet today. I went to my office and called a potential client on the phone. Then went to an open house at SCI. The lady I wanted to meet ewas not there so left my card and came home. It has been really slow. I haven't gotten any phone calls lately and I wish I had a new case to start. New cases are great, many issues and many problems to solve. The familes ae grateful to have an advocate for their loved ones and stabilizing an urgent or emergent crisis feels wonderful.

Scripps Ranch Elder Care Alliance

2008-12-03T13:36:00.001-08:00

Today I met an enthusiastic young woman named Krstina who saw my article in the Scripps Ranch Newsletter. So now there are 2 members of our group. The good news is she is an entrepreneur and has experience starting up 401K charities, hurray. Bad news is she knows nothing about geriatrics. She is starting up some board and cares in Scripps Ranch though so wants to learn. Also her mother who is 79 lives in Scripps ranch. We will join forces and start this jpourney together.

Entering the blog o sphere

2008-12-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

This is my very first blog and I am so excited. Just think I can write about my passion to create circles of trust which provide care to the aging community of San Diego. One of my first projects is to launch the Scripps Ranch Elder Care Alliance. This will bring together those of us who live and work in Scripps Ranch that want to age in place. Many of us grew up in Scripps Ranch, have raised our family here and want nothing more than to remain in our homes as we age. The Scripps Ranch Elder Care Coalition or SRECC welcomes professionals who work with seniors as well as our neighbors over the age of fifty. Our first meeting will be January 22, 2009 7pm at Kathy Randall's Scripps ranch home. please e mail krandallmsw@aim.com for more information.