Cathy Cress

Expert in Aging Life and Geriatric Care Management

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My Dad’s Move To My House with The Wonder of VA GRECC

November 11, 2020

HV-Cress.jpg

 

I moved my own Dad so let me tell you our story on Veterans Day.

It is key to his move. My father was a World War II navigator shot down in Poland and transferred to Stalag-VII-A Moosburg Bavaria.  He returned home a broken man with PTSD, never took a bus, drove, or flew on a plane again. His disability, like so many vets was untreated for 50 years. He worked as an advertising agent ala Mad Men and drank like Don Draper. Our family crumbled into a dysfunctional maelstrom, as most families do.

VA GRECC PROGRAM SAVES THE DAY

Finally, after my mother died, I talked him into going to the VA where he did get treatment through the GRECC program. My brother who lived with him died, my Dad found his body and the house caught fire, I then moved my Dad out to a board and care HVC-85th_20130525-233904_1.jpgand had the house rebuilt. However, it was Edgar Alan Poe’s House of Usher. The perfect storm of 91 flooded the whole house again just like Hurricane Sandy. We lived on the bay off the Jersey Coast, since devastated by the rising ocean.

On Christmas Eve I got him an emergency flight to California with only his clothes and he moved in with us for 20 years, until his death. Was it a good move-?

Yes, it was a great move.

We compensated by moving into our attic, which, had been renovated with a bedroom, bath office, etc. So my Dad had privacy, although he was on the floor with his 8th-grade granddaughter now 40. They both had their own bathrooms. He became the center of the family when he had been a distant removed father. His great-grandchildren my brother’s son Chris my grandchildren  Julia and Joseph and my children Jill and Kali adored him and he loved them. He was “ Pop”.

The VA GRECC program was superb.

I got him enrolled in the VA GRECC program in Menlo Park near us, and they took care of his heath for 20 years with the unmatched expertise that the VA is capable of bringing. I cannot say enough about what a great service GRECC rendered him. After 50 years of no help, they showered him with great preventative care, top-notch geriatricians, transportation, and financial support, and at the end home care until he died.

So on Veterans Dad, I would like to give you my own moving store and remind you of the horrible struggle veterans go through, especially PTSD Vets like my Dad,  salted by the Dec-Xmas-all-of-us-.jpganguish visited on their families. But there is a great part of the VA and its GRECC. So happy Memorial Day Dad and so glad you moved in with us, died among his family, and was so well served by the VA GRECC PROGRAM

Filed Under: Aging, aging family crisis, Dysfunctional aging family, Perfect Storm 91, PTSD Vets, Retired Veterans, VA benefits, VA Benefits & geriatric care managementt, VA benefits and geriatric care management, VA Benefits PTSD, VA GRECC Program, VA GRECCProgram, VA Home Care, VA PTSD, Veteran's Day, Veterans Administration Tagged With: Dysfunctional PTSD VA Family, elder relocation, finding VA military services, finding VA services, moving parent, PTSD in family caregivers, PTSD in Vets World War II, Stalag-VII-A Moosburg Bavaria, VA, VA Aide and Attendace, VA disability Claims, VA Geriatric Care, VA GRECC Program, VA World War II Vets, Veterans Day

How Care Managers Can Serve Veterans on Memorial Day-

May 24, 2020

Veterans have not been well treated by the VA during this huge pandemic. The VA gave hydroxychloroquine, debunked as a treatment for COVID_19, to 1300 veterans. The number of COVID-19 deaths in VA facilities has soared to 10,000 to the very veterans who risked their lives and we celebrate on Memorial Day.

In spite of this VA Memorial day travesty, Geriatric care managers can be a huge help to older veterans to get VA benefits. With nearly 10 million veterans in the U.S. who over the age of 65, older vets are usually good candidates for geriatric care management services both now and in the future.

Unfortunately, navigating the services, supports, and benefits available to older veterans can be a challenge for geriatric care managers and clients alike. Services and supports for this population are available at the federal, state, and local level in addition to the service navigation complexity. The configuration of services received by veterans and their families is likely to consist of federal services provided by the Veterans Administration in addition to more localized services for older adults in general like those provided by senior centers, area agencies on aging, etc.

 Benefits available to veterans and their families range from federal VA home improvement grants, burial benefits, medical care, respite, housing programs, pension, and even local benefits like business loans and discount programs.

 Like most clients served by geriatric care managers, this population will need personalized assistance in meeting their care needs. For this reason, it is important to note that services and supports designed for older adults, in general, are also key resources for veterans.

While the VA is a great resource, don’t overlook the value and expertise offered by local organizations like local healthcare centers, senior centers, and Area Agencies on Aging, among others.

Find the many ways care managers can access hard to find VA services and serve retired vets.

HV-Cress.jpg

Handbook of Geriatric Care Management 4th edition includes a new chapter that will help you help vets  Maximizing the Health and Wells-Being of Older Veterans by Dr. Lenard Kaye, director of the Center for Aging at the University of Maine and Glenn Osbourne, director of the National Veterans Legal Aid Group . As an aging life or geriatric care manager, or senior advocate, learn how to to get an elder veteran the benefits he or she so deserves.

On Memorial Day, while abiding California’s Stay at Home Order, I celebrate my Dad, Harry V. Cress, in this photo, who was shot down in World War II and was in Stalag 17 when I was born. His lifelong struggle with PTSD inspired my respect for the VA GRECC program, who served him so well. But I am left now with disdain for the VA now especially allowing these Vets who gave so much and suffered grievously, like my Dad to die in VA facilities without adequate PPE   -especially on Memorial Day- a day set aside to honor these men and women.

 

 

Filed Under: Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, Blog, elder care manager, geriatric care manager, nurse care manager Tagged With: aging life care manager, aging professional, care manager, case manager, geriatric social worker, nurse care manager, VA

How Care Managers Can Serve Veterans on Memorial Day- Not Just Hamburgers

May 23, 2017

Geriatric care managers can be a huge help to older veterans to get VA benefits. With nearly 10 million veterans in the U.S. who over the age of 65, older vets are usually good candidates for geriatric care management services both now and in the future.

Unfortunately, navigating the services, supports, and benefits available to older veterans can be a challenge for geriatric care managers and clients alike. Services and supports for this population are available at the federal, state and local level addition to the service navigation complexity. The configuration of services received by veterans and their families is likely to consist of federal services provided by the Veterans Administration in addition to more localized services for older adults in general like those provided by senior centers, area agencies on aging, etc.

 Benefits available to veterans and their families range from federal VA home improvement grants, burial benefits, medical care, respite, housing programs, pension, and even local benefits like business loans and discount programs.

 Like most clients served by geriatric care managers, this population will need personalized assistance in meeting their care needs. For this reason, it is important to note that services and supports designed for older adults, in general, are also key resources for veterans.

While the VA is a great resource, don’t overlook the value and expertise offered by local organizations like local healthcare centers, senior centers, and Area Agencies on Aging, among others.

Find the many ways care managers can access hard to find VA services and serve retired vets.

HV-Cress.jpg

Handbook of Geriatric Care Management 4th edition includes a new chapter that will help you help vets  Maximizing the Health and Wells-Being of Older Veterans by Dr. Lenard Kaye, director of the Center for Aging at the University of Maine and Glenn Osbourne, director of the National Veterans Legal Aid Group . As an aging life or geriatric care manager, or senior advocate, learn how to to get an elder veteran’s the benefits they so deserve.

 

 

Filed Under: Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, Blog, elder care manager, geriatric care manager, nurse care manager Tagged With: aging life care manager, aging professional, care manager, case manager, geriatric social worker, nurse care manager, PTSD in Vets World War II, VA, Veterans Day

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