Chicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence – Since 1991 • crisis managementChicago's Geriatric Care Manager Center of Excellence

What’s Your Complaint?
If you grew up in a family as I did we were taught not to, or shown role models...
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June 11, 2024
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Another Side Effect of COVID: SCAMS
Just when you thought you’d heard everything about COVID! We early on learned how to be vaccinated, and most...
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March 12, 2024
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A Live Well Retirement is Not Just About Money You’ve Saved
Last week I talked about Ice Cream, Lunch and Light Bulbs as part of a retirement plan. Those three...
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December 12, 2023
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Questions and Answers to Live Well
Many of you have heard me talk about having a Live Well Blueprint as an anchor component to being...
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December 5, 2023
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Ask the Doctor
Don’t ask just any doctor…and don’t just ask your primary care provider (although they may have some insight)…ask a...
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October 31, 2023
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I Miss the Scams That Used to Be Easier to Spot
It was probably ten years ago that my husband’s mother was caught up in a telephone scam on her...
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September 26, 2023
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Three Words Are the Cure
Some have called it an epidemic. And it’s particularly virulent within the senior population. The epidemic leads to even...
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July 16, 2023
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Update on Dementia – part 2
I had left you last week with what may have seemed to be an optimistic note regarding the latest...
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June 26, 2023
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How (NOT) to Worry, Stress or Be Anxious
It’s not so much whether you’ll have worries, be stressed or feel anxious…it’s how you’ll manage your worries, your...
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March 21, 2023
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Scammer v. 23.1
Call it Ocean’s 65+…instead of Ocean’s 8 or Ocean’s 11…but it doesn’t have a caste of Hollywood stars, and...
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March 7, 2023
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In the Caregiver's Words

Recent Client Praise

Associate Care Manager Gregory is a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) and Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP) whose work focuses on helping aging adults and folks with limited independence by providing resources and support to help them discover and lead their best life. Gregory has been a part of CCM, Inc. for over a decade. – Charlotte Caregivers often have incredibly stressful, non-stop lives. That kind of tension builds up over time and needs an outlet if we want to maintain the health and stability needed to continue to do all that’s asked of us. There’s no shortage of advice columns on ways to combat the stress of caregiving, but my problem with most of those methods is that they almost always seem like another obligation to me, and when my time isn’t being spent in the necessities of caregiving, I want my life to be as fun as it can be. Singing, either by oneself, or with a group, is an incredible pressure release-valve for anyone struggling to cope. Singing for comfort is an act as old as humanity. Mothers sing to calm their children. We “whistle in the dark” when we’re feeling spooked. In times of cultural grief, we come together and lend our voices to the songs that mean the most to us. And it helps. Music helps a lot. It’s one of the easiest things to forget that when times are tough, any situation can be transformed by music into deep feeling, or even into play. A wonderful singer herself, Julie Andrews, as Mary Poppins, provided us all with a “life hack” by reminding us what we knew as children: “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and snap! The job’s a game.” Whistling while we work (as it were) is an incredibly useful trick to help caregivers maintain balance, but some find singing helpful enough that they take it another step and join a church choir, or community, barbershop, or symphonic chorus—whichever type of music best suits them. The benefits of singing by oneself are vast, but when we get together to sing, the benefits get boosted even more! I can think of these major benefits without trying too hard:
- Increased oxygenation - You gotta breathe deep to sing. When we’re stressed, deep breathing is one of the first things to go. Singing helps remind our bodies to breathe, re-establishes mood stability, and even releases endorphins.
- Physical coordination – Singing is a total body experience, using virtually every muscle group, and the vibrations act as a massage for the whole body. Singing also keeps the body acting as a unified organism.
- Decreased isolation – Showing up for a group effort of singing, or offering our singing to others, connects us to our communities and lowers the risk of depression. A sense of belonging has an almost immeasurable psychological health benefit.
- Brain Fitness – Besides possibly singing in more languages than English, participating in music helps the brain maintain its plasticity by learning new coordination skills. This staves off cognitive decline and keeps verbal, spatial, and temporal centers in the brain active and connected to each other.
- Longevity – Singing promotes overall mental and physical health which in turn increases life expectancy.
If you’re a caregiver, find your tune, or your group, and you will have found something to hold on to through the tough times. Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia .
Barbara Bush, wife and mother to presidents, has taught us another lesson this past week, and it is about how she chose to die. She taught us that palliative care and hospice care are different concepts, but she also taught us about the importance of an end of life plan. Let me start with the first. Let me clarify that hospice care is reserved for patients who will face an end to treatment and wish to be comfortable. Palliative care is simply the “comfort care” we saw requested for Ms. Bush, but it can be for any patient about to embark on a difficult or painful treatment regimen. We deal with a lot of families of older loved ones who are faced with difficult diagnoses. If the diagnosis has a treatment option that may prove difficult or painful, doctors may suggest palliative care. And that is when some family members may freak out just a bit… not an exaggeration. Yes, they may freak out because there is an association between palliative care and end of life, or hospice care. So what we saw for the former first lady was a care plan that included anything she needed to simply die comfortably, hospice care, but they did refer to it as comfort care. Ms. Bush was able to make her own decision at the point when a choice needed to be made, but so many people will not get that chance. This is also why it is important for families to have a discussion about the “what if scenarios” that families may face. What if there is no hope for recovery? What if the patient will not regain consciousness to make a decision about how to cope with a potentially painful end of life? As an Aging Life Care professional, we talk about the importance of a care plan. A key element of a comprehensive care plan will be what to do if. ….If mom cannot make the choice for ending treatment…If dad’s dementia precludes dad’s own decision for comfort care. We were told in Ms. Bush’s eulogies that she ended life pretty much on her terms. I would encourage us all in this country to make plans with family members that will assure the same level of comfort…that we should all end life on our own terms. If you have not already, it may be time to speak with your older loved one about what “their terms” are. You and they will be very gratified that you were sufficiently bold to start the conversation. Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
I’ve been hearing it from my clients, from my friends, from my family and from virtually every channel on my screen. Virtually everyone has been exposed to it, but no one has yet to call it a public health crisis. And it already has a name with which we’re all familiar. When the right professionals are asked, they will recommend ways to address this pandemic like getting sufficient sleep, engaging in more exercise, shoring up your connections with friends and relatives, meditating, watching a fun movie or reading a good book. This scourge is the 24-hour news cycle. Not that we should avoid being well-informed so that we can be prepared for the concomitant rise of dumpsters full of disinformation, but it’s taking a toll on us all. Clients call me for counsel, because I am an LCPC. My prescription is simple. Titrate your dose…manage the amount of stressful information that you take in. It doesn’t mean you don’t care, but it does mean that you value your own metal health. Prolonged exposure to the news sources creates stress and potentially feelings of helplessness and ultimately depression. We don’t need a vaccine for this pandemic, but we do have to embrace the cure. Other professionals whom I respect make this a bit more granular when they talk about titrating our dose:
- Set a time limit on news
- ALSO set a limit on social media
- Create boundaries about when and how often you follow these
- Learn to just switch off the source when you feel your anxiety rise
- In quiet moments sort out why certain news affects you adversely
- Plan “no news” times for dinner or games or listening to music.
The list can go on as you look for creative ways to escape what can be almost a cycle of addiction. Talk with your partner about what can be “your time” instead of news time. It can be your new groove, and it can help your relationship grow even stronger. Take time for fun. Give yourself permission to just enjoy. You’ll still come back to pressing world issues to give your support, but it will be from a much better place that you have created for yourself. Isn’t this picture a nice bit of therapy and a reminder of the beauty of fall… Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Geriatric Care Manager and founder of, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.
It is the "crime of the century" and you have heard of it, but you may be having a rough time remembering it right now. That is, in part, because it has gone largely under-reported, and the bad guys may not have been prosecuted. If you are thinking this is the story about the financial institutions who were responsible for the crisis that fueled the "Great Recession," you are wrong, but it is a financial crisis. Those who are 65 years of age or older in this country represent only 13% of the population, but they get a disproportionately large share of the attention from scammers. And it is not just the affluent and older population; it is the relatively poor as well as the rich among those who are of an age. The National Council on Aging warns of some of the more common scams that occur. 1. Medicare/Insurance Fraud: A federal grand jury just this month indicted a Florida physician for up-charging Medicare for over $2.1 million; since Medicare is funded by you and me, all of us pay for that one. 2. Fake Drugs: Even with the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, medications can cost a lot. The internet and phone callers have been targeting older adults by selling "cheaper medicine," but the drugs are counterfeit. 3. Funeral Crashers: A scammer can follow the obit column and show up at the funeral to present the grieving family with a false debt allegedly owed by the deceased. 4. Looking Marvelous: In search of the eternal youth elixir, consumers at any age who want to look younger than their years can find a whole host of scammers with fake goods that make big promises and cost big dollars. 5. Phone Fakes: It is not bad enough that an older person can be duped by a fake telemarketer, but it often happens that an accomplice of the first scammer will call later to secure even more dollars offering to help reclaim the first loss. 6. Going Phishing: Older web surfers may not recognize the difference between a legitimate request for updated personal information and one that is stealing their identity and their dollars. 7. Too Good: Yes, if the investment is too good to be true, please appreciate that it is just that. Does the name Bernie Madoff ring a bell? And he built his pyramid scheme with money from friends. 8. Candy Grams: Beware of any callers who request that the money - ostensibly for a family member in trouble or a worthy charitable cause - be sent via Western Union or MoneyGram. These don't require ID at the receiving end. If this does not scare you on behalf of your older loved one, what should scare you is that all these scammers are incredibly creative. Today's scam always has the potential to transform into a new version that will surprise someone tomorrow. Beware of the Nigerian prince who offers to share his inheritance... Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. Please email your questions to info@creativecaremanagement.com.
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How about a free genetic test to learn more about your ancestors? Free… And finding out about the people who no longer are alive to tell their stories? And your older mom or dad figure why not... Well, identity theft is why not. How many of you have taken the test to find out more about your ancestors? You know, the one where you offer a sample of your saliva in a tube, mail it off and they return a “report” to you that details what they know about where other people with similar genetic profiles call “home.” Most people find they have ancestral roots that go back to a lot of places, not just the family homeland they heard about as children. So, of course, scammers would be finding a way to use this test which is supposed to put us all on the map in order to defraud unsuspecting elders. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has sent out an alert. Scammers are offering people qualified for Medicare to get the same test that you or I may have paid for on-line. You may have thought your older parents were pretty insulated from this kind of scam, but here is how it works. We’ve all been to the public health or “aging well” events where a roomful of professionals are giving away books on senior residential options, refrigerator magnets, sticky note pads and a cool bag for carrying home the haul of freebies. There are other ways like telemarketing and door to door calls, but scammers are offering the unsuspecting older individuals a free cheek swab by simply providing their Medicare identity, and the target who does not recall that they no longer need to provide their social security number don’t hesitate to offer that in exchange for an ancestral map. Well, it becomes an access point to a different kind of map, your loved one’s financial map. And with the address and social information, scammers can begin the kind of work they do all too well. So, prepare your older loved one to be vigilant about:
- If a testing kit arrives at your loved one’s home, tell them to not do a thing if their physician did not request a test. Better yet, take note of the address of return and report it to the authorities.
- If a stranger offers a genetic test and…by the way…asks for a Social Security or Medicare number, stop. In fact, anyone other than a physician’s office or lab should not be given any of these pieces of identification.
- If anyone asks for Medicare information, and they are not a medical provider to your loved one, beware. So, this is more than saliva in a test tube. If you suspect Medicare fraud, depart the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Charlotte Bishop is an Aging Life Care Advisor, Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified professionals who are geriatric advocates, resources, counselors and friends to older adults and their families in metropolitan Chicago. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.