Personal Care Home Placement

Article submitted by Kathy Seeman with Geriatric Care Management Services.
For more information, she can be reached at 412-491-2601 or visit their website: www.gcmspgh.com.

Americans are big on planning. We utilize financial planners, vacation planners and wedding planners as a matter of course. We plan our families and our gardens, our careers and then our retirements. But when it comes to health care and aging, most of us stick our heads in the sand and overlook the need for planning, perhaps in the hope that we will never have need of rehab, long term care or home health services.

This is naïve and potentially disastrous, according to local expert Kathy Seeman, RN, BSN, a Geriatric Care Manager and the owner of Geriatric Care management Services & Personal Care Home Placement, Ltd. (GCMS). Seeman believes that many Americans simply don't want to consider the realities of aging, for themselves or for their parents and other loved ones. "We don't anticipate our needs when it comes to our health, especially as we age, yet this is the most important aspect of our lives in terms of the impact on quality of life," she claims. "Too often, we wait until we are in the midst of a medical crisis and we are being pressured to make decisions. Then, because of the urgency of the situation, we are more likely to make the wrong decision. A little forethought and planning for this day can make an enormous difference in how you navigate the journey of growing older."

Seeman and her staff specialize in assisting families with the mind boggling decision-making tasks associated with caring for an older person. Choosing home care services versus placement in a facility is simply the beginning; there are so many levels of care, types of services and residential options that families don't know where to begin. Seeman, however, does know. With over 30 years of experience in geriatrics and home health, including ten years as a geriatric care manager, Seeman has the expertise that families need. As a registered nurse, she has the clinical skills to assess the client's medical needs and determine the level of care required. She has the ability to look objectively at the big picture and help the family to problem solve, to assess the quality of the care being provided in any setting and to develop a plan of care that will meet the individual and changing needs of the client.

"Even when a family has placed a loved one in a facility, they can call us if they have concerns about the quality of the care or the appropriateness of the setting. We can look at the situation with fresh eyes, identify aspects of the care that could be better managed and make recommendations.

"Families need to know that they are not alone," say Seeman. "Our services are available 24/7 and we have a staff of experienced registered nurses. We help families plan for future needs or we can help them immediately if they are dissatisfied with the care and services that they are presently receiving."