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

Getting the Facts on Parkinson’s Disease
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, and I thought it might be helpful to share some of the facts on...
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April 22, 2013
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Giving to the Caregiver
There may be as many as 50 million caregivers in the United States today, so the odds are that...
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January 17, 2013
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Dealing with the Stuff of a Senior Move
In a posting last week, I shared some advice from a Senior Relocation Expert on how to help an...
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December 10, 2012
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4 Tips to Reduce Caregiver Stress through the Holidays
Yesterday, we talked about dealing with stress and melancholy during the holidays. Here are even more tips that you...
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November 30, 2012
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May is National Geriatric Care Manager Month
May is National Geriatric Care Manager Month, but I am thinking that most of you probably did not get...
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May 2, 2012
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Advice from the Perspective of 100
This marks the 100th posting on our blog since its inception October, 2010, and it gave me pause to stop and...
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April 16, 2012
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Are You Getting Older or Better?
With this posting, I am introducing a colleague and guest blogger, Pamela Holtzman, who is a therapist I know...
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January 27, 2012
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Caregiving to Older Workers
It may surprise you to learn that as many as one in five caregivers are lending their help to...
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December 28, 2011
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Making Home Safer for the Holidays
If you will be heading home for any of these seasonal holidays you will find that it can be...
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December 23, 2011
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Senior Scams Spike During the Holidays
We are fortunate to have a new contribution from a good friend and colleague, Julie Northcutt of Caregiverlist.com. Julie...
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December 14, 2011
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In the Caregiver's Words

Recent Client Praise

About one in ten American adults, or approximately 44 million people who provide unpaid care to another adult, are caregivers to a loved one. Some of that care is episodic, some of it is around the clock and the rest is at all the points in between. The Family Caregiver Alliance estimates that this work force of volunteers provides about 80 percent of the long term geriatric care management in America today. So, the vast majority of Americans who are receiving long term care support are doing so with the help of a family member or friend. But these 44 million people are not an "industry," so the result is one potential crisis at a time while all of these volunteers cope with the stresses of finding time in their days and the resources to care for a loved one. Unlike the professionals in long term care facilities, the family or friends who volunteer for caregiving typically do not have the professional education or experience on which to draw. Here are nine strategies that will help make for a successful effort for all concerned:
1. Start with normal. If the caregiver has not been in the loved one's inner circle, it will be important to establish a baseline of "this is what mom is like/needs."
2. Get a complete physical. This is a medical way to understand where you are starting and what care or treatment is appropriate.
3. Be informed. Once you have the baseline and any diagnoses learn as much as you can about the conditions, their prognoses and treatments.
4. Make a plan. This should cover the activities of daily living and more: hygiene, housekeeping, medical care, emotional support and ongoing supervision.
5. Revise and evolve. A plan is not a static set of instructions like a recipe; it is a work in progress that you will revisit regularly as conditions change.
6. Talk to an attorney. You need to be aware of a loved one's financial resources as well as any legal paperwork in place or needed.
7. Elder-proof the home. An older adult as well as an aging household can pose a safety hazard; search this blog for key words like safe home, safety, etc.
8. It takes a village. You are one of 44 million caregivers, and you will benefit from the group support and understanding that will come from talking to others.
9. Care for the caregiver. You deserve caring every bit as much as your older loved one, and you cannot care for another if you neglect yourself.
For more information and resources, I strongly recommend the Family Caregiver Alliance website, or do a keyword search of our blog here using the word "caregiver." Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Care Management, certified elder care management 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.
I had the good fortune to speak to a local Rotary chapter this morning. The question they had put to me was simply how does one plan with an older loved one for that moment that no one wants to plan? The answer is simple ... because for any conversation, you just need a place to begin. Here are five tips to BEGIN the work for your older loved one’s (or your own) future... Break the ice. Start the conversation with your older loved one…ask questions about their ideas regarding the ‘What ifs’ of life…ex: if you had to go to a hospital, which one would you like to go to? Does your doctor have my contact information if there were an emergency? Make a list of what those choices are; include them in a Living Will or POLST “Practitioner Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment”. Make sure that your family and your health care providers are aware of the choices. Evaluate the whole person. Use your powers of observation to assess your loved one’s situation and make notes. Think about what they have told you over time regarding their wishes, finances, housing situation, health. Plan follow up conversations to learn more about what they would want in the event of an emergency. Guard against abuse. Begin to gather legal documents including mortgage information, insurance information, bank account locations, account numbers, etc. Ask about finances, investments. Investigate the possible utility of Powers of Attorney. If there are any gaps or documents such as wills that are out of date or non-existent, get new ones drawn up. You don’t have to have everything perfect, but you will benefit if you start the conversations or the personal reflection needed to begin the process. Inside out. Make a list of you or your loved ones health history, get a medical release so that providers can talk to you about your loved one, consult current physicians and create a list of medications, dosing, etc. Nest. Think about the home as safe from the inside out, not just safe from the outside in...If they are living in the house you grew up in evaluate all the years of wear and tear on the infrastructure: stair railing, worn carpet. Take a look around the home for any obvious safety issues that can be easily addressed: since the majority of falls occur at home scatter rugs, poor lighting, expired food in the fridge, extension cords stretched under rugs or in walkways. Also, expired medication or medications that resemble each other…Safety first. 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.
Last week I talked about Ice Cream, Lunch and Light Bulbs as part of a retirement plan. Those three and more help us to make it tangible what we want to support us logistically, socially and physically as we retire and ultimately face some diminishing of what we have been able to do. And it’s a plan that can evolve over time; Living Well does not happen without really thinking about it all the way until…until we can’t. But there also is some paperwork and concept work you should be prepared to do as you look to living well in your next stage of life. I’m a list person when it comes to travel; I make the list, I check everything off and we head to the airport. Here’s your Big Picture list:
- Legalese: You may have prepared a Power of Attorney for both healthcare and finance, but reread what you have to be sure this includes people you trust. This is particularly true if the documents are time stamped with a date you don’t remember. A lawyer whom I respect puts it this way: “Make sure these are people who love you more than they love your money.” Also, add a Trust document, and make sure your life insurance is titled properly.
- Medical: Keep a current list of your providers, your medicines and dosages and emergency contacts. Add a Physician’s Order for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST is more comprehensive than a Do Not Resuscitate order). And First responders suggest that copies of all of these be kept in a plastic bag in your freezer…labeled…or some other easily found location.
- Finance: Most of us will at some age have access to Social Security benefits, but that’s still a bit tight as one’s sole income in retirement. Set aside money in an IRA (or ROTH IRA), or 401K or consider yourself fortunate if you have a pension. Get professional advice early and each year meet with your financial advisor to review. Think of it as Save – Spend – Review…rinse, repeat.
- Dream: What would you like to do? Where would you like to go? I am often a facilitator of this part, but it’s never my dream…it’s yours. All of this makes for your next year’s plans, and it also makes it a bit easier to get through the doldrums of winter as you anticipate your next adventure…I refuse to call these bucket lists. Call it a Live Well Blueprint…and when you follow your (not anyone else’s) blueprint, you will live well.
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.
Recently, I had the good fortune to speak with the chief executive of a national specialty, Monarch Specialty Pharmacy, who has advice for caregivers who may be trying to help manage the prescription drug costs of an older parent or other loved one who has Alzheimer's Disease. Stephen Cichy's advice distills down to four tips, one of which is to take advantage of a new discount prescription offering from his company. He talks about Alzheimer's Disease specifically, but you can see that this can apply to a lot of the chronic medical conditions older adults face. Please give it a read.

"I was recently browsing the internet and came across a published report regarding the problem of medication compliance with persons living with AD. Turns out that when persons living with AD get their prescriptions filled, they take their pills as prescribed only about half the time*. (*Curr Med Res Opin. 2010 Aug;26(8):1957-65).

In addition to the challenge of dealing with multiple daily pills and the persistent problem of memory loss, an important factor contributing to the problem of medication use for persons with AD is the high cost of drugs themselves.   Let’s face it, the price of prescriptions continues to soar. In fact, drug prices are the fastest growing chunk of consumers' healthcare expenses, according to the non-profit Families USA.

If you have health insurance, your plan may or may not pay for prescription medicine. It depends on what kind of insurance you have. For example, if you have private health insurance through your employer, some or all of the cost of your medicine may be covered. If you have the traditional Medicare plan (sometimes called fee-for-service), you'll need Medicare Part D to make sure your medicine is covered. If you have Medicaid, the Medicaid plan in your state may cover the cost of prescription medicines with certain restrictions.

As someone who cares for a loved one living with AD, you may know first-hand the complexities of dealing with the high cost of medication. What might not be so evident is the risk of not taking medication as prescribed. When a person’s AD goes untreated, they run the risk of their medical symptoms becoming exacerbated and may end up in the hospital emergency room, or worse, get admitted for conditions that could have been avoided had medications been more readily available earlier.

This problem is vexing, although I’ve learned several tactics that are helping persons living with AD pay for their medications, and that may be useful for you:

1.             Look Beyond Brand Names

Generic drugs can cost as much as 70% less than brand name prescription. Always ask your doctor or pharmacist if there is a generic equivalent for your prescribed medication!

2.            Leverage State and Community Programs

Some state governments offer affordable medicine programs for seniors, people who are disabled and people who have low incomes. Community health centers, Area Agencies on Aging, free health clinics and other community programs may also offer help. Some social agencies, such as the Salvation Army and some private hospitals, offer financial help for people who cannot afford prescription medicines. To use these services, you may need to show that you don't qualify for private health insurance or that you don't make enough money to pay for your own medicine.

3.             Maximize Prescription Assistance Programs

Patient-assistance programs (also called PAPs) are sponsored by companies that make prescription medicine. Each company has its own rules about who qualifies for its PAP. In many cases, you will need to show that you don't qualify for private or public health insurance (such as Medicare or Medicaid). You may also need to prove that your income is below a certain level.

Each PAP has its own application process. In many cases, your doctor, nurse or social worker will need to apply for you. For some programs, your doctor or nurse can submit an application online. For others, the application must be mailed in. It's important to keep in mind that applying for a PAP does not guarantee that you will get your medicine for free or at a lower price.

4.             Tap the GoRx Prescription Savings Program

Prescription savings programs are an innovative new approach to access to free savings on prescription drugs for persons without prescription coverage or for persons with prescription coverage who may require significant out-of-pocket expenses for their medications.

One such program is GoRx™ (www.GetGoRx.com). The GoRx prescription savings program is free and available to every person and family living with AD, with no age, income or health restriction. All commonly prescribed prescription medications are eligible for a discount. The discounts are available to consumers who do not have prescription drug insurance or the particular drug they need is not covered by their insurance. The average savings is 32 percent off the regular retail price the consumer would otherwise pay at the pharmacy. A majority of participating retail pharmacies will honor the GoRx Prescription Discount Card.

Simply put, GoRx™ is a simple and easy way to reduce your cost of prescription medication. The program covers practically any drug, including vitamins and supplements, so you don’t have to worry about checking if their prescription medication is part of the program. "

Charlotte Bishop is a Geriatric Care Manager and founder of Creative Case 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 ccbishop@creativecasemanagement.com.
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You have probably put off a vacation or most any travel for more than a year with the threat of the pandemic making taking a flight seem about as safe as jumping into a tank of alligators. But with the majority of adults in America vaccinated and you with your own vax card you can now make plans…and so can almost every other American including your older loved one. Your mom or dad will be anticipating the crowds at the airport, so they are looking to bring their TSA precheck clearance current. They also will perhaps be receiving all manner of solicitations from hotels, resorts, cruise companies and more. But there is cyber danger out there. One of the principal rules of cyber security is the cyber criminals know to go where the people are, and the more people the better the odds of scamming more of them. It’s not unlike fishing where your chances of catching more than one fish are much better if you can find where the fish are gathering. One of the folks in our orbit went on line to renew their TSA status which had lapsed during the pandemic. After all, who needed that when no one was flying anywhere? Having entered “renew TSA” in the search bar they were offered a number of links from which they chose the one that told them what they wanted to see. They proceeded to fill out the tedious government reapplication form and got to the end where credit card information was requested, and they provided that as well only to get an alarm that the information could not be processed. Frustrated, they entered the card information again and received the alert again. They tried another credit card with the same result. The next day both credit card companies called and emailed fraud alerts, both helped them close the cards and both issued replacements. Story over? This is where the story can be just beginning, because the scammers still retained name and birth date and address information. Scammers compile many thousands of such identities so that even when their charges don’t get processed they can merge the data with other scammed data available on the dark web. The size of these data bases gives new meaning to “mega data.” A cyber security expert, Bryant Wallace, CEO of WallScott Solutions, tells us that the first sting of this scam may be just the beginning. Scammers will continue with mail sent to the prey’s home address, to their email address, or they may call. The credit card may have been neutralized, but the scammers are now laying siege to their targets. If you have an older loved one who is starting up their post-pandemic travel plans, Mr. Scott offers these warnings:
- Beware of sites that do not have the right domain suffix (government sites are .gov)
- Beware of unsolicited email offers that seem awkward in their language or logos (English may not be the first language of the scammers)
- Beware of solicitations that know more about you than they should (Because you have shared it with someone in their orbit)
- Beware that the address begins with https:// (It means it’s a secured link)
- Beware of the same issues with mailed correspondence.
Notice that we have not even talked about hacking. These hazards to which older individuals are particularly vulnerable are traps into which they easily fall. Hacking is fraud gone nuclear, and Mr. Wallace can explain the steps that need to be taken to avoid being taken for a ride…and we’re not talking a flight to your older loved one’s paradise vacation. Take care of mom or dad, and travel safely. Charlotte Bishop is a Caregiver Coach, an Aging Life Care Advisor, 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. She also is the co-author of How Do I Know You? A Caregiver’s Lifesaver for Dealing with Dementia.