Sherry didn’t have any children but was close to her nieces and nephews and had become closer to them ever since her sister had died a few years ago. She had become like a grandmother to their children and enjoyed hosting everyone for family holidays and get-togethers.
During a recent family gathering, some of her nieces noticed that Sherry was moving slower than usual. Her house seemed more cluttered than normal, and there were a few expired food containers in the back of the fridge. The nieces brought up the situation to their siblings and they all agreed that Sherry could use some in-home help. They could all pitch in enough to hire a housekeeper to clean up and prepare some meals for Sherry. As a group, they proposed their plan to Sherry. She was touched that they would do that for her and said that she would appreciate the help.
April, the oldest niece, found a local housekeeper who also cooked and hired her to come in twice a week. Sherry lived a few hours away from her nieces and nephew, so a few months passed before April visited her aunt again. When she did, April was alarmed at what she saw. The house was even more cluttered than before. There weren’t any prepared meals, and Sherry looked like she was losing weight. April asked Sherry about the housekeeper. Sherry said that the housekeeper had come for the first month but then told Sherry that she had been told not to come back. Sherry had assumed that her nieces and nephews had decided to cancel the housekeeping service and felt uncomfortable bringing it up, so she hadn’t said anything.
April told Sherry that they hadn’t canceled the housekeeper. The housekeeper had been taking payments for the past few months, and April had assumed that Sherry was being taken care of. April tried to track down the housekeeper, but it seemed that she had moved out of town. While April still wanted to hire a housekeeper for Sherry, she knew that she needed to do more research and check on Sherry more frequently.
April came across Growing Options while researching aging services near Sherry and called to find out if we could help her situation. We were sorry to hear that Sherry and April had a bad experience with in-home help, but we assured April that she had come to the right place. We explained that, as certified Aging Life Care Managers®, our services are held to a high standard of professionalism by a national organization. Since we are also a local organization, we know the reputations of local agencies and what services would work best for Sherry. Part of our job as care managers is to protect seniors from scams and abuse like what Sherry had experienced. To do that, we make unannounced visits to client’s home when they have certain services scheduled (like housekeepers or home aides) to ensure that the client is receiving quality service.
April thought that care management sounded perfect for Sherry’s situation. We scheduled an initial assessment meeting with Sherry and April. Together, we made a care plan that would give Sherry the help she needed while allowing her to maintain her independence. We helped April and Sherry select a new housekeeper/cook with a reliable agency that we had worked with before. April appreciated the regular updates that the care manager sent over. Sherry was very happy with her new housekeeper but also knew that she could bring up any concerns to her care manager without feeling like she was bugging her family members.
In our work, we often help families and situations like Sherry’s. Whether you live far away from your aging loved one or right next door, our care managers can help bring you peace of mind about your loved one’s care.