I love Senior’s so much! So much so that I could not tolerate seeing them struggle because they did not have a plan for aging, nor had they shared their last wishes with their adult children "just in case of a medical event".
I am a senior myself and it can truly be a great adventure when you plan ahead, which in turn gives you and your family peace of mind! You would not go on a trip without a plan of where you are going or what you need to pack, right? So, why take a chance with your future in aging?
As a previous Sales and Marketing Director in the senior living industry, I would ask a lot of questions to find out what my client needed. On occasion a Senior themselves would be thinking ahead and come in for a tour of the community. There were three options for retirement communities, Independent Living (IL), Assisted Living (AL) and Memory Care (MC).
Once I understood the need, I explained the process and told them about what we offered.
That was when I heard those four words, I had no idea! I had no idea, I needed all this information, that you cost that much money, that you need to do an assessment to make sure it is the right fit.
So often, I would have to redirect the families to somewhere else because they did not qualify for the community I was serving.
I had a huge file of people I could not help and a small file of people I could take to the next step.
Truly, this bothered me! I had been through this process with my own aging mother and my siblings, and we would call around for whatever my mother needed at the time only to find out we did not have some information, or we did not quality for that particular facility, and we said the same thing, “I had no idea”! My own family experience adds to my expertise in assisting Seniors and their families through this process.
One day, I decided to write down everything anyone would need in case of a medical event which required rehab or care. People were hungry for this information, BEFORE they needed it!
I created a system for Seniors and Adult Children to have in place, so they were prepared if they were faced with a medical event or situation where they needed to decide on care for their loved ones.
This system also includes important questions that we do not normally think about until “we have to.” For example, many elderly people claim they want to age in place. Yet do they know what they need to do to prepare their home for aging? Or who to call for help with chores they can no longer do as they get older? And on and on!
So, my system grew and the information that I include when I am coaching my clients who want to be prepared “just in case” often tell me “They had no idea,” and how thankful they are that they called me.
