Cathy Cress

Expert in Aging Life and Geriatric Care Management

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How to Assess the Caregiver and Avoid Hospital Readmission

September 6, 2019

 

Assessing the Family Caregiver is a new but crucial concept for geriatric care managers and professionals in aging.As geriatric care managers and aging professional, we are health and social services oriented. For almost 3 decades we have assessed the care receiver for problems with function, social connection, and psychological issues. If we suspect depression we have completed that screen. If our client plans to move, has cultural needs and preferences, exhibits signs of dementia, need ways to improve quality of life or a spiritual connection, we have assessed the care receiver for those problems.

All our assessments have left out the major fact – care is an exchange. To receive care, the patient/client usually needs a family caregiver to give or supervise it. That family caregiver is the glue that holds it all together and his or her inner bond begins to break with the strain of caring.

Other countries have seen what the US has yet to grasp. In the United Kingdom, a seminal law passed in 1995 called the Recognition and Services Act , which provided British caregivers a statutory right to request an assessment at the same time that a frail elder or adult with disabilities is assessed.

So developing a caregiver assessment is critical, especially in this era of penalties to hospitals for readmission. The caregiver is the key to keeping an older person in the community and not back in the hospital. If they are not trained, have physical problems that inhibit caring, find some tasks, like changing adult diapers uncomfortable, have no car to pick up meds or drive to the doctor’s follow up an appointment, you have a problem and probably a readmission.

Learn how to do a caregiver assessment along with a care receiver assessment .This will help you keep your aging client both out of the hospital and potentially out of inappropriate placement in a skilled nursing facility. Plus you will learn just not how to assess caregiver burnout but be able to create a care plan that will help your family caregiver have a better quality of life while they giver better care to their loved one. Read the chapter ” Assessing the Caregiver ” in my book Care Manager’s Working With the Aging Family, Jones and Bartlett. The price has just been cut in half to make it more affordable for the practitioner.

Filed Under: Aging, Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, Blog, care manager, caregiver, caregiver assessment, case manager, elder care manager, Families, GCM Start -Up, Geriatric Care Management Business, Geriatric Care Manager, geriatric care manager, geriatric social worker, home care, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Private Duty Home Care, Quality of Life Tagged With: aging parent, aging parent care, caregiver assessment, caregiver burnout, caregiver family meeting, caregiver overload, caregiver overload with sisters, caregiving family members, caring for a yourself as a parent, case manager, elder care crisis, geraitric assessment, geriatric care management, geriatric care managers, geritaric care manager, National Association of Geriatric Care Managers, parent care, Psychosocial assessment, red flags for a family meeting, stress and burden

How to Assess the Caregiver and Avoid Hospital Readmission

October 1, 2017

 

Assessing the Family Caregiver is a relatively new but crucial concept for geriatric care managers and professionals in aging.As geriatric care managers and aging professional, we are health and social services oriented. For almost 3 decades we have assessed the care receiver for problems with function, social connection, and psychological issues. If we suspect depression we have completed that screen. If our client plans to move, has cultural needs and preferences, exhibits signs of dementia, need ways to improve quality of life or a spiritual connection, we have assessed the care receiver for those problems.

All our assessments have left out the major fact – care is an exchange. To receive care, the patient/client usually needs a family caregiver to give or supervise it. That family caregiver is the glue that holds it all together and his or her inner bond begins to break with the strain of caring.

Other countries have seen what the US has yet to grasp. In the United Kingdom, a seminal law passed in 1995 called the Recognition and Services Act , which provided British caregivers a statutory right to request an assessment at the same time that a frail elder or adult with disabilities is assessed.

So developing a caregiver assessment is critical, especially in this era of penalties to hospitals for readmission. The caregiver is the key to keeping an older person in the community and not back in the hospital. If they are not trained, have physical problems that inhibit caring, find some tasks, like changing adult diapers uncomfortable, have no car to pick up meds or drive to the doctor’s follow-up an appointment, you have a problem and probably a readmission.

Learn how to do a caregiver assessment along with a care receiver assessment.This will help you keep your aging client both out of the hospital and potentially out of inappropriate placement in a skilled nursing facility. Plus you will learn just not how to assess caregiver burnout but be able to create a care plan that will help your family caregiver have a better quality of life while they giver better care to their loved one. Read the chapter ” Assessing the Caregiver ” in my book Care Manager’s Working With the Aging Family, Jones and Bartlett. The price has just been cut in half to make it more affordable for the practitioner.

 

Filed Under: Aging, Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, Blog, care manager, caregiver, caregiver assessment, case manager, elder care manager, Families, GCM Start -Up, Geriatric Care Management Business, Geriatric Care Manager, geriatric care manager, geriatric social worker, home care, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Private Duty Home Care, Quality of Life Tagged With: aging parent, aging parent care, caregiver assessment, caregiver burnout, caregiver family meeting, caregiver overload, caregiver overload with sisters, caregiving family members, caring for a yourself as a parent, case manager, elder care crisis, geraitric assessment, geriatric care management, geriatric care managers, geritaric care manager, National Association of Geriatric Care Managers, parent care, Psychosocial assessment, red flags for a family meeting, stress and burden

How to Assess the Caregiver and Avoid Hospital Readmission

August 30, 2017

 

Assessing the Family Caregiver is a new but crucial concept for geriatric care managers and professionals in aging.As geriatric care managers and aging professional, we are health and social services oriented. For almost 3 decades we have assessed the care receiver for problems with function, social connection, and psychological issues. If we suspect depression we have completed that screen. If our client plans to move, has cultural needs and preferences, exhibits signs of dementia, need ways to improve quality of life or a spiritual connection, we have assessed the care receiver for those problems.

All our assessments have left out the major fact – care is an exchange. To receive care, the patient/client usually needs a family caregiver to give or supervise it. That family caregiver is the glue that holds it all together and his or her inner bond begins to break with the strain of caring.

Other countries have seen what the US has yet to grasp. In the United Kingdom, a seminal law passed in 1995 called the Recognition and Services Act , which provided British caregivers a statutory right to request an assessment at the same time that a frail elder or adult with disabilities is assessed.

So developing a caregiver assessment is critical, especially in this era of penalties to hospitals for readmission. The caregiver is the key to keeping an older person in the community and not back in the hospital. If they are not trained, have physical problems that inhibit caring, find some tasks, like changing adult diapers uncomfortable, have no car to pick up meds or drive to the doctor’s follow up an appointment, you have a problem and probably a readmission.

Learn how to do a caregiver assessment along with a care receiver assessment .This will help you keep your aging client both out of the hospital and potentially out of inappropriate placement in a skilled nursing facility. Plus you will learn just not how to assess caregiver burnout but be able to create a care plan that will help your family caregiver have a better quality of life while they giver better care to their loved one. Read the chapter ” Assessing the Caregiver ” in my book Care Manager’s Working With the Aging Family, Jones and Bartlett. The price has just been cut in half to make it more affordable for the practitioner.

 

Filed Under: Aging, Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, Blog, care manager, caregiver, caregiver assessment, case manager, elder care manager, Families, GCM Start -Up, Geriatric Care Management Business, Geriatric Care Manager, geriatric care manager, geriatric social worker, home care, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Private Duty Home Care, Quality of Life Tagged With: aging parent, aging parent care, caregiver assessment, caregiver burnout, caregiver family meeting, caregiver overload, caregiver overload with sisters, caregiving family members, caring for a yourself as a parent, case manager, elder care crisis, geraitric assessment, geriatric care management, geriatric care managers, geritaric care manager, National Association of Geriatric Care Managers, parent care, Psychosocial assessment, red flags for a family meeting, stress and burden

Red Flags to Call A Geriatric Care Manager After Thanksgiving

November 30, 2014

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It’s post Thanksgiving and pre Christmas and Hanukkah- that loved and dreaded holiday season. Maybe your joy is mixed with  YIKES because you suspect your holiday visit to aging relatives could have some scary scenes. Here are some red flags to put in a checklist and share with your midlife siblings before the holiday call. If alarm bells go off it may be time to call a geriatric care manager and have a family meeting.
Perhaps you find older parents have piles of junk mail, stained dirty attire, unwrapped gifts when Mom used to shine through her color coordinated presents. All are cause for the 911 alarm- then action.

 

You can use this list to assess your parents or older family members during the holidays and compare notes on a post holiday conference call. If all midlife siblings have the same criteria, it makes easier to agree what to do and what to flag as family New Year’s resolutions.

 

Below is a list of red flags. If you see any red signals on Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or face them on Christmas- now is the time to do something about it. Use this is a checklist of some worrisome signs you may have seen.
Alarm Bells List for Visiting Long Distance Relatives During the Holidays
Unpaid bills
Missed appointments
Clutter in a home that was once always neat
Weight loss
Memory loss, change in short-term memory
Poor grooming by a person who was once meticulous
Getting lost
Wandering
Refusing to go with friends on outings or to religious services
refusing any suggestion or conversely agreeing to everything with-out consideration
Mood swings
Refusing to go to medical providers
Can’ take care of activities of daily living: cooking, bathing, dressing, housekeeping, etc.
Entering contests, credit card maxed out on shopping channels

These alarm bells mean time have the come to Jesus talk with older parents and moving or getting help.

If this is the last straw on the holidays- call a geriatric care manager to help you help your parents through 2015 and you through the dreaded season

 

Filed Under: Aging Tagged With: geriatric care manager, holidays with aging parents, red flags for a family meeting, red flags when visiting an aging parent

Warning Signs on Visiting Mother’s Day

May 7, 2013

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Take more than a gift if you visit an aging Mom on Mother’s Day. Take a check list for red flags. If you can go and see Mom in person on Mother’s Day, you can check up on your aging mother’s safety while you are there. Sometimes, during your visits, you may hear alarm bells, like piles of junk mail or consistently dirty clothes. Below is a list to take with you when you go to Mom’s house on Mother’s Day, or any holiday. If you do find worrisome signs, this is a good time to call a geriatric care manager to assess your mother. To find a great GCM go to National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers

Clutter in the house
Unpaid bills
Evidence of missed appointments, getting lost, or wandering
Weight loss
Poor grooming

Filed Under: Aging Tagged With: aging parent, aging parent care, Communication with adult siblings, eight loss in elder, elder care crisis, elder fiscal abuse, family caregivers, geraitric assessment, geraitric care manager, geriatric care management, gifts for grandmother on mothers day, grand childrens gifts mothers day, grandfather, grandmother Mothers Day gifts, grandmothers, hoarding, IADL Food preparation, junk mail of elder, Marriage and Family Therapist, MFT, Mothers Day, Mothers Day gifts for grandmother, National Assocaition of Geraitric Care Managers, National Geriatric Care Manager Month, parent care, parent care crisis, poor grooming of elder, red flags for a family meeting, red flags when visiting an aging parent, sibling family team, unpaid bills of elder, wandering of elder

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