Transition services valuable for aging population

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What do you need to stay safe in your family home, even if your home is getting to be too much? If it’s not possible to stay there, where do you want to live?

Who can help you decide where to go and what level of care you need? Who can help you work out the details and help with the move? How will making and carrying out this decision not overwhelm you?

Until right now, have you thought about any of this?

Figuring out where an elder can live safely is just part of the field of senior care known as transition services.

“It would absolutely be a very positive thing to be educating yourself and considering these options ahead of time because most of what we do is in crisis mode,” said Mike Kearney, co-owner of Senior Care Authority, which helps families navigate the different choices.

Transition services help an older person determine how much care they need and the type of living arrangement that is best suited to their physical and social needs.

“What I call transition services is elder care planning,” said Gregory Piede, an elder law attorney and managing partner of Piede Law. “A lot more people can fit under that umbrella.”

Transition services can range from having a geriatric care manager develop a plan to keep an elder safe in their own home to hiring experts that help sort out living options and then handle the move.

These duties typically fall to adult children, but they’re not always in a position to help.

“There’s an understanding that this is hard for families to do themselves,” said Karen Menachof, co-owner of Caring Transitions, which provides professional solutions for senior relocation, downsizing, estate sales and online auctions. “You might love your parents, but this is not a role they want you in or you want to be in.”

The different aspect of transition services can help with the emotional aspect of the actual tasks involved as the elder – and the family – adjust to a different stage of life.

Ideally, the services take a team approach that includes a financial planner, elder law attorney and care manager. Menachof described the roles are complementary rather than competitive. “We’re all coming in and out at the appropriate time to play our part.”

The different specialties — such as nurses who are geriatric care mangers, real estate professionals, elder law attorneys — may be licensed or certified in their profession. But overall, the field of transition services is unregulated, Kearney said.

Often, the business was born of personal experience.

Kearney said he and his partner each had cared for their own parents during difficult transitions. “We realized how challenging it is and how helpful it would be to have a guide along the way that’s been there and knows the ins and outs of the situation.”

Kearney, 64, is practicing what he preaches. “I know that even though I love living in a 100-year-old home in the village of Fairport, eventually I need to move to one-floor living. As I plan my retirement years, I’ll absolutely make changes based on what I’ve learned.”

Transition services can be within the financial reach of middle-income families. The cost of hiring the professional can be offset by the time saved in letting them navigate what can be a confusing system.

“It’s growing, but the practical knowledge isn’t prevalent,” said Piede. “Denial is the biggest barrier we see. Parents don’t recognize that things can change … Doing things beforehand with finances and mentally getting yourself to walk down that road. Hope for the best but plan for the worst is what makes this successful.”

While some may think of transition services as helping elders move from one place to another, the services also can help them and their family shift from one phase of aging to another.

Laurie Miraglia, a geriatric care manager and owner of Senior’s Choice Care Management, said she develops plans that keep the elder safe at home for as long as he or she wants to live there, or until space is available at assisted living or other type of facility.

“Sometimes it’s a one-time consultation to let them know their options.”

Miraglia’s services can extend to regular check-ins with clients to monitor for changes that require an adjustment to the home care plan. She also can develop a crisis plan. “We can be that project manager that oversees everything and pulls everyone together.”

A placement and referral specialist such as Kearney comes in when it’s evident that the elder needs a higher level of care. Often the referral comes from a social worker or discharge planner at a rehabilitation center.

Kearney said he helps families understand the levels of care provided by independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing homes. He said elders may think that all facilities are like the nursing homes where their own parents lived.

“They don’t understand that assisted living is a completely different animal and it will help them to thrive … and in most cases and people would be better off going there sooner than they do,” he said.

Once the elder decides on a physical move, other services can streamline the process.

“Now you’re moving, how can I make this the least stressful experience, knowing full well you are overwhelmed and it’s stressful?” said Menachof. “By having a plan and a process and doing it in steps, that brings down the heat a lot and people are able to see this is doable, this is going to be OK.”

A senior relocation specialist such as Menachof helps the elder through all aspects of a move – from helping select items and where they will go in the new home to making the beds and plugging in the computer and TV so everything is ready when they step through the doorway.

Depending on their expertise, scope of practice and any licenses required, they can list your house and run estate sales.

“Our intent is to meet people where they are,” Menachof said of her colleagues in transition services. “Figure out what they’re thinking about and they need, what they’re afraid of and what they’re excited about and craft a plan that’s going to make that happen in most seamless way we can.”

Patti Singer is a Rochester-area freelance writer. Contact her at [email protected]