Integrated Eldercare

Article submitted by Donna Cella, RN, BSN, CMC, of SeniorBridge Family.
For more information, she can be reached at 239-594-5004.

Let's face it: aging affects entire families. Deciding how to care for your elderly loved one is often fraught with emotion, guilt and confusion. When looking into eldercare options, it's important to keep in mind your older relative's wishes; in particular, your loved one's desire to remain in the comfort, familiarity and security of his or her own "home," whether home is an assisted living facility, an apartment or the house they've live in for the past 40 years.

A new approach to eldercare that integrates ongoing care coordination with home care may be the single-source solution for which you are looking.

What is Integrated Eldercare?
This new concept differs from traditional home care in that it consists of a multi-disciplinary team of health and human services experts, all employed by the same company, dedicated to helping your elderly loved one remain and thrive at "home," through a mix of services geared toward the entire family. The range of services goes beyond your older relative's medical condition to encompass everything from care management, companionship, household maintenance, nutrition and fitness to patient advocacy, financial/pre-legal services and counseling and support for family members.

How Integrated Eldercare Works
An integrated team of nurses, social workers, certified home health aids, companions and other trained caregivers, who specialize in the field of aging and chronic care, work together to develop and provide your elderly relative with a single, customized care plan. All employed by the same company, all working toward the same goal, the team is overseen by a Care Manager, who monitors the care plan and becomes an ongoing partner in the care and quality of life of everyone concerned.

The Role of a Dedicated Care Manager
Your carefully matched Care Manager may be a nurse, social worker or other eldercare expert from the team, depending on your loved one's situation and individual needs. He or she performs a thorough initial assessment, covering your elderly loved one's physical and emotional health, socialization, mobility and self-care capacity. The Care Manager stays involved with your loved one's case, after the assessment phase has been completed and the caregiver team has been assigned and oriented to the case. Most important, your dedicated Care Manager is always available to you and your loved one, he or she knows, in real time, what's going on with your family member's case.

Benefits of Integrated Eldercare
Integrated eldercare addresses the entire well-being, comfort and functionality of your older relative and the family. What, however, are the advantages of selecting this kind of eldercare for your loved one?

• For Your Older Relative
  Studies have shown that by integrating care management and multi-disciplinary care teams with a comprehensive mix of services that address the emotional, physical and social aspects of aging and long-term care, your elderly loved one will feel better, heal faster and live longer.
   
• For You and Your Family
  In addition to dramatically improving the overall quality of life for your elderly loved one, this new approach to eldercare will also result in greater peace of mind for you and your family. You will enjoy:
   
• One Care Plan; One Bill
  With an integrated eldercare program, one provider meets all your eldercare needs; so there's one bill, one plan of care.
   
• Greater Customization
  Because services are all under one roof, this "one stop" source for eldercare offers you a greater level of customization than if contract workers were brought in with contradictory methods and standards.

Donna Cella, RN, BSN, CMC is the Director of Client Services in the Naples, FL office of SeniorBridge Family, a national provider of integrated, private-pay eldercare services. Ms. Cella joined SeniorBridge in October 2004 when SeniorBridge acquired her private geriatric care management practice, Eldercare Consultants, Inc. She has more than 19 years of professional nursing experience in hospital, surgical, intensive care and emergency room settings. Previous clinical experience includes serving as an RN at Naples Community Hospital and as a member of the surgical and clinical research teams at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. President of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the National Association of Professional Care Managers and a graduate of Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois with a B.S. in Nursing, Ms. Cella has had articles published on a variety of topics in journals such as Annals of Surgery, American Journal of Physiology and Nursing 90.