Cathy Cress

Expert in Aging Life and Geriatric Care Management

What is a Geriatric Care Management Care Plan? Finding Interventions in Your Business Plan

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How to find intervention for your care plan? Well you can just refer to your business plan (Hopefully you started your GCM business with one).

You can review your business plan and find all the sources you listed there as target markets such as the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys web site for elder law attorneys. Most organizations serving seniors maintain a web site. Of course, you should only recommend services that you know to be competent and able to solve the particular problem you are seeking to ameliorate. For example, if you recommend a local conservator or guardian, there should be an organization in your state of conservators or guardians with a web site

You can expand your knowledge beyond your local continuum of care nationally the single point of entry  Eldercare Locator .

 

Financial Abuse as an IADL -Undue Infuence

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What is undue influence?

Undue influence is when an individual who is stronger or more powerful gets a weaker individual to do something that the weaker person would not have done otherwise.

What is undue influence? A stronger person uses various techniques or manipulations over time to gain power and compliance.

Undue influence can be wielded in one-time events. An example would be a discussion of transaction at an unusual or inappropriate time for example with a widow with recent bereavement someone says” let’s you sign your stock over to me”. There might be a consummation of a transaction in an unusual place like a funeral home. A person applying undue influence might insist or demand that business be finished at once. Multiple persuaders against a single vulnerable person might use undue influence. It might occur when there is an absence of third party advisors, Undue influence can occur when a perpetrator states that there is no time to consult financial advisor’s or attorneys

Undue influence can be used by totalitarian groups, both religious and non religious. An example of this is the mass death at Jonestown

It can be put forth by, especially, existing or cultivated, close and personal relationships. It can be used in fiduciary relationship like an executor, attorney, or accountant

It can be brought to bear in a non –fiduciary relationship like, clergy, housekeeper, gardener, and physician.

The number one villain in undue influence is family , the group most trusted by elders

There is a common denominator of financial exploitation of elders

Undue influence is most common on trusting relationships of long duration (nephew moves in the help elderly aunt and then takes over stock and changes will)

It many times is perpetrated by cultivated by people who are opportunistic

Undue influence can be exerted by someone Isolates the elder, promote dependency, or induce fear and distrust of others. This after happens with sweetheart scams – where a younger woman marries a much older man wealthier who she takes financial advantage of.

What should a GCM or aging professional do? First meet the client alone.

Few admit because afraid of caregiver abandonment or further abuse

If you work for an agency you should meet supervisor and report the abuse

Finally you should call as you are Call Adult Protective Services– In most states you are a Mandatory Reporter

The 2nd Most Dangerous IADL- Financial Management

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IADL Handling Financial Affairs

Another IADL a geriatric care manager or aging professional assess ,is handling financial affairs

Can the older person plan, budget, manage investments, pay bills, balance a checkbook, and manage day-to-day purchases without assistance? Is the person at risk for scams, undue influence, credit problems, or other financial difficulties because of functional limitations? Does the person show good judgment in regard to finances? Has the person changed lifelong habits in how he or she manages money?

On first meeting a client, often it is difficult to gain enough trust to fully assess functioning in this area. As a first step, questions about who pays the bills and manages investments open up the topic. Based on responses to earlier less threatening questions, the geriatric care manager or aging professional may detect some clues that can shed light on functional capacity here.

For example, if someone has difficulty shopping because Alzheimer’s disease has affected his or her ability to make a shopping list and go through the market independently to shop, it is expected that this person will need assistance with bookkeeping and money matters. Because the Lawton IADL scale it is important to recall that the less demanding tasks are presented first and those requiring higher cognitive functioning are presented later. Thus, difficulties performing the easier tasks indicate the likelihood of difficulties performing the higher-order functions.

When the care manager tours the house, he or she can discreetly and with permission look for unpaid bills lying about or piles of mail that need attention. Stacks of solicitations for charities and/or contests should be noted. Enlisting information from key informants, such as adult children, is important to round out the evaluation of this area. Adult children may be able to review the older person’s checkbook to make sure things are in order. They may be aware of utilities or insurances that have threatened termination for nonpayment. They may know whether the older adult participates in “contests” or gives more money than ever before to charities. Financial advisors for the older person may also be a source of information for assistance in evaluating functional performance. Because finances are a very private topic in many families, this subject needs to be handled with delicacy and discretion.

 


 


 

New Years Resolutions To Help Aging Parents

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Here are some suggestions that you might consider as New Years resolutions. It’s not “go on a diet,” but what you should do after the holiday with your parents, when you spotted red flags that made you worry about your aging mom or dad. Here is the entire list of resolutions you might make for a in a January visit to your parents, after the holiday gave you reason to worry about an aging family member:
➢ Accompany the elderly person to the doctor, and talk to the doctor in person.
➢ Gather legal financial and insurance paperwork, and meet with professionals.
➢ Have all mail forwarded to yourself or another relative who will manage it
➢ Contact and meet with old and present friends.
➢ If your older family members are in a facility, make contact with staff that cares them, and the ombudsman.
➢ Meet with your elderly relative’s support network.

➢ Meet with a geriatric care manager http://www.caremanager.org/ in the area.

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