We discovered there is a whole world of eldercare with a language, practices, laws, all thrown at us while the family was facing the deeply personal challenges. In our case, my sister and I are helping my mom place her husband of 57 years in a long term care facility (dad is suffering dementia and long disability from a stroke long ago).
We suddenly became familiar with the Activities of Daily Living having never even heard the term 3 months ago. It is not that we lacked for information. Kindly advice from friends and information on resources via Google searches, yielded a blizzard of advice and resources. We even had an “insider’s perspective” since my sister moonlights in adult care as a speech therapist. The fear we had was we would make mistakes that will bankrupt the family and/or consign dad to some institutional hell (visions of American Horror Story or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest). Our fears are grounded in reality.
Via a neighbor we heard about Ariel Rosenbaum and Texas Family Services and we called. She came out to talk to us and started with practical clear sense from the get go. It was clear that 1 hour spent with Ariel was worth endless hours of floundering. “I recommend these 3.” “Here is what to ask for…” “Go here for that.” “I can research that.” Turning her loose to explore the intersection between our insurance company, Medicare and Medicaid produced useful information within a day or two. Contrast that with our floundering around with what questions to ask and whether the answers we got were right or bogus (sadly not all the staff at your insurance company, Medicare, and Medicaid are knowledgeable).
Ms. Rosenbaum is personable, diplomatic, sympathetic, empathetic and a much needed objective point of view in what is a highly emotional fraught experience. She can and will deliver truth to mom, sister and brother when needed. Help set reasonable expectations. Offers options and a likely range of options.
Bottom line: You have a choice. Do It Yourself and you risk spending lots of time and money and take the chance you will get it wrong. OR hire Texas Family Services to help you, help the ones you love and get it right.
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