Adding End of Life to Care Management Agency- Advanced Directives

February 7, 2021

When Does A Care Manager Begin if Terminal Diagnosis?

Once the terminal diagnosis is known with an elderly client, the care manager who has added end of life services to their agency is often the one who will initiate and guide advance care planning discussions. As difficult as these discussions may be, the burden on the family is significantly lessened if decisions about advance care planning are made before the client’s condition worsens.

Hopefully, advanced care planning has already been done but many people put it off for fear of death. A recent study found that less than 50% of severely or terminally ill patients had an advance directive in their medical record.

Advance Directives

Advance directives are legal documents that allow clients to make decisions about their health care and finances in advance of when they are not mentally or physically able to do so. These documents must be signed, dated, and witnessed naming another person to make decisions for you.

Your job as a care manager is the make sure the dying client has these documents:

• A durable power for attorney for healthcare

• A living will

• A do not resuscitate order DNR (efforts to restart the heart after it has stopped

If the client does not have these legal documents and wishes to create them, the Geriatric Care Manager will suggest that the documents be put in place with the oversight and consultation of an elder law attorney.

Deliver a Good End of Life- Add Death and Dying to Your Care Management Agency

Serve Your Client Until Death Do You Part

Join me Thursday, March 11, and learn why End of Life Services Are a perfect new service for care managers

Sign Up

If you really want to add End of Life to your care management business sign up for this webinar now

In this 1 ½ -hour webinar you will learn how to

1.Transition the patient/family through the five stages of death

2.Help clients be active participants in their care

3.Give the family/caregiver tools to manage care

4 Provide family center care to caregiver and family

5 Choose the right support services through all stages of death

6.Introduce Hospice and Palliative care and work with their team

7 Use ALCA End of Life Benefits During COVID

8.Use COVID -19 Family Coaching for GCM

Sign Up

If you really want to add End of Life to your care management business sign up for this webinar now

11 Parts of Care Manager’s Role With Family Death and Dying of COVID-19?

February 4, 2021

GCM Role is Working With Family In COVID-19

Care managers cannot be in the hospital with a patient dying of COVID-19. They can support their bereft adult children, who cannot see their parents during the hospitalization, in those last moments of goodbye’s or after the death in this deadly pandemic.

In normal times care managers play a big role in end of life issues. They are their navigators through all five stages of dying, many times long before palliative care or hospice are called. Often GCM’s can help the family and client to bring in hospice or palliative care. But is COVID -19 they can offer guidance to the family through the sometimes weeks of hospitalization, intubation, their loved one is on a ventilator and ultimately often- death separated from loved ones.

Navigation Through a COVID-19 Death

The normal final passage through life can emotionally charged. If the family is following a long labyrinth to the end, in coronavirus, the blind alleys may be blocked by a rushed hospitalization, banned from seeing their loved one in the hospital, and not understanding the disease that is killing their loved one.

Care managers can find an opening through this maze. Family dynamics and fear of dying can all explode a fraught crisis of care in dying of coronavirus. When vital end-of-life decisions need to be made, the stress of the responsibility and the seriousness of the situation can break into a mammoth wave of distress fear, and anxiety over the “ whole family system”. The geriatric care manager specializes in solving these end of life decisions for whole family system even at the end of life.

Facilitate Family talks over hospitalized COVID-19 Elder

Care Managers can facilitate terrified discussions outside the hospital, and clear the way for family members to come together to work as a functional unit around an unknown killer disease that preys on their loved one. Understanding the differing viewpoints is critical. Knowing what a parent wants and does not want during the last days and hours of life help define and simplify the role of the family. It helps the family bear the burden of having the responsibility of making decisions that their parent wants. Turning this around can also help families have some solace that they carried out their parent’s wishes after their parent’s death.

Care managers can help family members handle the stress of an elder’s hospitalization and death by:

Encouraging routines, exercise, and social connectedness with friends and family
Advocate for them with the hospital staff to get updates in this chaotic time in hospitals
Help them maintain contact with the” hospital quarterback “ to get updated medical status and give input
Find technology for the family to communicate with the hospitalized family member via text, telephone, email, or video chat
Support and mediate if necessary proactive discussions and advanced directive preparation in a rush if not done
Build a circle of care can help to reduce some of the potential conflicts,
Support them in having essential conversations, prior to needing intubation, on last wishes if health status deteriorates
Provide opportunities to say goodbye via technology
guide them in setting up rituals that can celebrate the end of life and give solace to a family during a time when there are yet no rituals for a COVID-19 death.
Work with the hospital to set up Zoom with the family to say goodbye to a loved one.
Geriatric care managers do much more with clients and families but especially now with Covid-19 elder’s and their families facing a separated, fractious end of life
Deliver a Good End of Life- Add Death and Dying to Your Care Management Agency

Join me Thursday March 11 and learn why End of Life Services Are a perfect new service for care managers

Sign Up

In this 1 ½ -hour webinar you will learn how to

1.Transition the patient/family through the five stages of death
2.Help clients be active participants in their care3.Give the family/caregiver tools to manage care
4. Provide family center care to caregiver and family

5 Choose the right support services through all stages of death

6.Introduce Hospice and Palliative care and work with their team

7. Use ALCA End of Life Benefits During COVID

8.Use COVID -19 Family Coaching for GCM

Sign Up

If you really want to add End of Life to your care management business sign up for this webinar now

See more about Cathy and her book Care Manager’s Working With The Aging Family
DyingGriefandBurial in the AgingFamily

Why You Need a Marketing Data Base Especailly Now with COVID?

September 21, 2020

COVID Has Made Marketing To Lead Sources Critical

Geriatric Care Managers Need a Marketing Database

You need a marketing or Contact Management database( CRM) to market to lead sources. An aging life or geriatric care management agency’s marketing has three key target audiences or lead sources: individual clients who need care, referral sources, and children of aging parents. Marketing databases are the key to reaching lead sources such as 3rd party referrals like elder law attorneys, upscale assisted living, trust officers, concierge physicians.

In the Deadly Fall Confluence of COVID and Seasonal Flu You Really Need the Right Marketing DataBase

The JAMA Journal tells us “The confluence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and seasonal influenza this fall and winter will result in considerable morbidity and mortality, stressing the health

system. With more than 200 000 COVID-19–related deaths already, the US could see a second wave of disease later this year. In 2018-2019 (a “moderate” year for influenza), the US experienced 35.5 million influenza cases, with 490 600 hospitalizations and 34 200 deaths related to influenza.¹ An effective COVID-19 vaccine is unlikely until 2021. Even though seasonal influenza vaccines have variable year-to-year effectiveness, they can significantly reduce morbidity and mortality, especially with high coverage.”

Here are some of the many choices ALCA or Geriatric Care Managers can check out

SalesForce For Small Business
GoldMine
Act!
Highrise is a contact management database. Easier to use than SalesForce, Basic account for 6 users, with 5 GB of storage and 5,000 contacts is $24.00 monthly.
Zoho lets you have 3 users and up to 5,000 contacts. An Excel spreadsheet of contacts can work in a start-up if the file is set up correctly to capture the necessary information.
Clear care can also be used as a contact database and a client database used by Aging Life GCM who have a home health component
WHY DO YOU NEED Customer Relationship Database FOR MARKETING?
Rolodex on Speed
Throw away all those business cards
ADD all 3rd party targets you need to market to for referrals
all contacts in the community that help you weave a care plan- can be the same as targets
all the contacts that you use as your individual prescription- which is your care plan
Will send a form elder law letter to all elder law or third party contacts o ( Att) track all calls or marketing visits to a concierge physician or any contact group C(P)Track your marketing visits, data, send Follow up letters
Adding all of your continuum of care or all contacts in the community that help you weave a care plan- physicians, elder mediators, CCRC and all housing, MFT who specialize in aging-Use all the really good contacts that you use as your individual prescription- which is your care plan-
SIGN UP For FREE WebinarMARKET LIKE YOUR BUSINESS DEPENDED ON IT DURING COVIDOctober 22 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm PST
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Understand lead generation in care management

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Get the best marketing software

Understand Public Relations Press, TV-Radio, Social Media Coverage

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Create a 5 Star Marketing Plan for the top 10% of seniors who can afford you. THIS FREE WEBINAR FROM 2 PM – 3 PM PST October 22, 2020

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Oct 22, 2020, 02:00 PM Pacific Time (the

US and Canada)
Topic: MARKET THIS Fall LIKE YOUR BUSINESS DEPENDED ON IT

Register in advance for this webinar:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Offering a COVID care plan product for Long Distance Care Providers

July 27, 2020

Initial Intake

The first step for the Long-distance family members (LDF) worried about elder exposure and hospitalization is an initial consultation and intake with the client and LDF. This consult will identify the current status of the senior in the home environment. This care management consultation can be done with a HIPAA-compliant video conferencing service

Required Legal Documents Family Long Distance Family Needs
– The first thing that the geriatric care manager works on is to find out if the older person has the required legal documents – Advanced directives, POA/HCPOA & GCM HIPAA release because of the risk of both hospitalization and death due to age-related COVID-19. If these documents are not present, have a discussion with senior/LDF regarding their wishes, explaining that older adults over 65 are at higher risk for severe illness. The care manager will discuss who is to be the health care decision-maker and consult a family attorney or elder law attorney to complete. If they choose not to use an elder law attorney, as time is of the essence in the pandemic, they can suggest accessing AARP advanced directives documents for any state which can be executed quickly.
G0-Binder
If documents are completed, locate in-home and provide explanations to the family that they must give a copy to emergency contacts and physicians as required and place in planning binder. In the planning “Go binder” list all emergency contacts with phone numbers/e-mail addresses – family, friends, physicians, pharmacy, professionals providing in-home services. Also, list all medications and prescribing physicians in “Go Binder”. Upload documents into caregiving applications like caringvillage.com so the long-distance family always has the updated documents.

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TIME- 2 PM Pacific Standard Time

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Help an Aging Family Help a loved one Recover when Discharged from a

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How Do You Detect COVID–19 Symptoms in Seniors While Living Long Distance?

July 1, 2020

COVID–19 Detecting Symptoms in your loved one from a Distance

We can not always be with our loved ones. Long-Distance Families make approximately 43.5 million caregivers who have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last 12 months. How can you keep a watchful eye on long-distance older family members for symptoms of COVID-19? First, you will need to know what symptoms to watch and listen to.

Did you know that COVID -19 is known to develop into a severe acute respiratory syndrome and may result in death? The elderly are more susceptible to this contagion simply due to their age. Your job is to become their health detective by paying acute attention to physical symptoms and asking questions when conversing with your loved one.

Symptoms to Listen & Signs to Look for

Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 may appear 2-14 days after exposure, commonly referred to as the incubation period. Common signs and symptoms can include:

Fever, cough or tiredness – If your loved one is suddenly not making sense or acting confused when you are talking with them, this could be an indication of having a fever and an infection. Listen for coughing during your conversation and don’t be afraid to ask if they are napping more often or sleeping longer than usual or if they are weaker than usual.

Other symptoms can/may include:

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Muscle Aches
Chills Sore Throat
Loss of taste or smell Headache
Chest pain

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE OF MEDICAL HISTORY

If your loved one has existing medical conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, severe obesity, chronic kidney or liver disease, or compromised immune systems they may be at greater risk for contracting COVID-19.

CALL YOUR LOVED ONE’S PCP OR ARRANGE FOR THEM TO BE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY IF MORE THAN ONE OF THESE SYMPTOMS APPEAR.

As your loved one’s health detective – Vigilantly Monitor their Physical Appearance

Call often. Listen for symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, inability to complete sentences without having to take a breath. Are they suddenly confused or confused more than usual?

Use your technology. Face time with your loved one. Look at them. Are they having a hard time breathing? Watch and count how many times their chest raises per minute. Normal breathes per minute in the elderly is 10-30. With COVID-19 the rate will be lower. Look for the appearance of lost sudden weight loss. The virus can decrease their appetite as it affects their sense of smell, making food less appetizing. Look at your loved one’s lips. Are they discolored or have a light blue tint? This is a sign of oxygen deprivation and could potentially be very serious.

If you see any of these signs call your loved one’s PCP immediately and take/arrange for them to be taken to the hospital immediately.