BackElder Care Mediation
This article was submitted by Janet Koin Dampeer, LCSW CAC III who has a private practice in Mediation and Psychotherapy. She can be reached at 303-759-8980.
How can you preserve relationships, build cooperative and collaborative decision-making processes, and improve the quality of care for your elderly loved one? Elder care mediation helps caring people make better decisions, settle disputes, and solve family issues. Participants share their perspectives and needs, and work together to make responsible decisions that affect their lives.
Families face many challenges in providing continued, loving care for their elders. Many families struggle to communicate and to agree about the care of their parents or other family members. Often people don't know where to turn for help with the myriad of life-changing decisions to be made. Financial, housing, medical, care-giving, end-of-life and legal issues need to be considered. Caring families might disagree not only among themselves but also with their elderly parents, caregivers, facility administrators, and other professionals. Long-distance care-givers have their own areas of concern.
The elder care mediator responds to the challenges facing elders and their families, and is informed about current issues in the industry. Elder care mediation acknowledges the inherent rights and integrity of seniors and provides them an opportunity to express their values and standards. If the senior is cognitively impaired, the mediator will insist on an appropriate advocate. Inherent in the mediation process is the goal of preserving and improving relationships by enhancing and strengthening trust and respect between the participating parties.
Mediation is an informal process during which a neutral third party helps people negotiate mutually acceptable agreements. It is private, confidential, and voluntary, and participants control both the process and the outcome, Mediation can explore alternatives, address the needs of everyone involved, resolve obstacles to communication, and provide a model for future conflict resolution. A mediator offers new perspectives and improves problem-solving relations.
A mediator will gather background information about people's concerns, identify areas of mutual interest, and provide a forum for discussion. Interviews can be conducted via telephone, e-mail, fax, etc., and mediation sessions can be held in homes, facilities, or by teleconference.