It is beneficial to be able to utilize the knowledge from eldercare experts from all different fields.  We work closely with attorneys all over Northern Virginia and are pleased to have a guest writer, Joshua, E. Hummer, Esq. share about the support he and his team provide to elders.  For 11 years, the Law Office of Joshua E. Hummer, PLC has assisted individuals with elder care, estate planning, and estate administration, including wills and trusts, the appointment of guardians and conservators, and the probate process.  This is why we are looking to him to share recommendations for how to prevent financial abuse.

 

 

Whether you have an elderly family member or close friend, or you are growing older yourself, it is critical to know how to watch for and find ways to prevent elder abuse and neglect. For the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus primarily on protection against financial abuse, although some of these principles relate to other forms of abuse as well.

4 Ways to Prevent Elder Abuse When It Comes to You or a Loved One’s Finances:

Make a Relational Elder Care Plan:

Make a plan ahead of time to ensure you or your loved one is cared for and provided for as the years pass. Your plan should consist of two parts: a financial piece and a practical piece.

The financial side should include how your assets are going to be used, while the practical side should cover how and by whom you or your loved ones are going to be cared for. This is one reason why creating an estate plan, with all the necessary end-of-life documents, is so important.

(Related: 7 End-of-Life Documents You Need to Create)

Choose Your Agents Carefully:

Your agents are individuals you appoint to make choices and act for you when you can no longer speak for yourself.  From a financial aspect, your agent is typically your appointed Financial Power of Attorney. Whoever you choose should be (a) financially stable; (b) a good money manager; and (c) trustworthy.

(Related: Want to learn more about different types of agents and how to choose them? Click here.)

Establish a Community of Relationships:

A vast majority of abuse occurs when one person alone is trusted with everything, and they end up taking advantage of the situation. Forming relationships with professionals like a financial advisor, banker, attorney, and accountant creates a network of people who are working on your behalf, and is one way to keep just one individual from being in control. It’s also a good idea to make sure your agent(s) knows these people as well.

Recognize Loss of Capacity:

It’s unpleasant to think about, but if we live long enough, we are all likely to begin losing our capacities, whether mentally or physically. Educate yourself now so that you will understand the symptoms of loss in capacity in yourself and others as much as possible. Once you begin recognizing those signs, you can implement the appropriate portion of your plan, so that your agents and professionals can step in to ensure your care.

Start Forming Your Elder Advocacy Plan

It’s tragic to think about the number of elders who are abused or neglected each year in the U.S.; don’t let yourself or a loved one be one of them.

Contact the Law Office of Joshua E. Hummer, PLC today and let us help you find and implement ways to prevent elder abuse in your life.

All of us have been transformed by caregiving. Now we have an opportunity to go deeper, to share our hard-earned wisdom and to map out a new way of practical caring without desperation or burnout. And the best way to achieve this new perspective is face to face, together with others who understand – in The Caregiving Transformation Retreat.

My life of caregiving began in 1988 when our son Nicholas was born with severe cerebral palsy. During the first years of his life, Nick was often ill and in pain. They were sleepless years, infused with desperate worry.  Of course, all this happened before the internet became a lifeline for caregiver support. What we did have though, were parent retreats, sponsored by our local Easter Seal Society. 

Those parent retreats were my annual opportunity to learn about new therapies, strategize about the sibling experience and compare notes about ways and means of keeping my marriage intact. But perhaps the best thing about the retreats was the bonding with other parents. Here suddenly, were others who understood. And there were older, wiser parents who took on a natural mentoring role. There was a palpable sense of safety and soothing in those retreats. We all felt it. 

Fast forward to 2016. My sister Karen and I found ourselves in the thick of caring for our Mom, a loving but willful 94 year old with dementia. Mom was in denial about her needs and living independently with insufficient support. “Muddling through” was a good descriptor for how we were doing.  When we could, my sister and I retreated to our family cabin by the lake. On forest walks, we wondered what might happen if Mom broke one more rule. We laughed at the outrageous imaginings of telling Mom what we really thought about her bad behavior. At the end of the weekend, we went back to being good daughters, diffusing crises and brokering deals to ensure Mom’s stability for another week or month. 

Looking back on the caregiving retreats in my life, I feel deeply grateful. I appreciate the cyber friendships of other caregivers, but the face-to-face retreats have been something very special to me. They were energizing, hopeful, knowledge-filled and inspiring. In short, they were transformational. 

Now, together with Aaron Blight, Zachary White and Amanda LaRose, 

I am honoured and excited to be a co-creator of the new Caregiver Transformational Retreat. Our team has come together with a clear vision of what is helpful to caregivers, wherever they are in their journey of caring. Our retreat is tailored to every group we serve, whether participants are medical professionals or family caregivers. Resilience, personal transformation and a changed perspective on the well of human kindness are the by-products of our retreats. Participants will leave energized, with a new sense of purpose and fulfillment in their caring roles – outcomes only achievable in the magical moments of face to face retreats.  –Written By Donna Thomson

Michelle Parker, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, partners with We Care Management to provide counseling services to adolescents, young adults, and couples who may be experiencing life transitions or grief due to loss of a loved one. Michelle has worked with military families across the United States, who have experienced challenges related to relocating, separation, and loss due to military duties.

Michelle’s work with military families provides her with the experience they need to develop positive coping skills to overcome challenges with these losses. Grief is a natural experience, it becomes a challenge when it lasts too long or the person experiences many losses in a short period of time. Michelle incorporates art therapy, journaling, and body awareness to help people overcome their challenges.

Michelle is passionate to help others become happier and more successful in their daily lives. Her focus has been on adolescents and adults who have lost someone due to divorce, moving, or death. Michelle has experience working with people who may have a recent life transition, such as parents moving back into the house, or elders moving into assisted living. Michelle utilizes her education and experience to provide hope, relief, and connection to family members to all of her clients. Michelle helps changing families become closer during life changes.

 

 

Independent Contractor Mental Health Therapist

$72,000-$125,000/year 

We Care Management, Northern Virginia

 

Part-time or Full-time position providing mental health services and care coordination in Assisted Living Communities of Northern Virginia to individuals, couples, and/or families.  Overall responsibilities include supporting clients with emotional, behavioral, mental health disorders, and difficulties in aging through psychotherapy and care coordination.

 

Job Responsibilities

• Provide individual, couple, family and/or group therapy
• Encourages clients to express their feelings and help them develop insight into themselves and their relationships
• Guides clients in the development and use of coping skills to improve their problems
• Prepares and maintains confidential records
• Ensures treatment plans are created and updated
• Provides resource referrals and oversight of resources as necessary to ensure clients needs are being met
• Advises families/responsible parties on condition and treatment plan, as needed
• Evaluates effectiveness of counseling and client’s progress toward goals
• Keeps Licensure up to date, follows ethical standards by Licensing body

 

Job Context

 

The majority of the responsibilities will take place in the Client’s home, within Assisted Living Communities, in Northern Virginia.  Flexible work schedule.

 

Job Competencies 

 

Upon hire Independent Contractor must hold:

• A Master’s degree from an accredited university in the field of Counseling, Psychology, Social Work or related field
• Hold licensure as an LCSW, LMFT, LPC, in Virginia.
• Have comprehensive liability insurance
• Have a National Providers Identify (NPI) number
• Have at least 2 years experience working with adults and elders
• Have the ability to recognize one’s own limitations and respond to difficult situations
• Have the ability to apply academic and knowledge to problems
• Critically and analytically work in a self-motivated and independent manner
• Have excellent communication and interpersonal skills to interact with clients.

Preferred qualification:

• Be an existing in-network provider with Medicare

SEND RESUME TO CONTACT@WECAREMANAGEMENT.COM

<!–

–>

Winter blues and depression are a common occurrence this time of year. Especially this year with the frigid temperatures and snow that keeps us inside. With the warmer weather coming over the next couple of days, make sure you and your loved ones find a way to spend some time out in the fresh air and sunlight. Research shows that being outside and soaking in the rays of sunlight improve your mood and decrease stress. Whether you take a walk in your neighborhood or at a park, ride a bike, or even just find a comfortable seat outside, you will find a sense of peace and joy in that moment. However, it’s not only in the moment, that feeling you get will make biological changes in your body that will improve your overall well-being and mood for days, maybe even weeks or more. It’s the simple things in life that make it greater, so take advantage of them!

Our Care Managers are members of the Aging Life Care Association which ensures the members are credentialed to be able to provide aging services at an expert level. The Aging Life Care Association is now sponsoring this twice a week radio cast called Aging Matters. It will discuss important topics and new updates related to the field of elder care. We recommend following this radio cast and listen to it on your way to work or during your lunch. You can find it here at https://m.mixcloud.com/AgingMatters/.

Here are some helpful tips for ways of boosting your mood! This reinforces what we tell people all the time, that by balancing eating healthy foods with exercise, water, smiles and laughter brings a life of wellness.

Image from Food Is Medicine

Do you have an elder in your life that you sometimes worry about? If you do, then you know how difficult it can be supporting them in accepting senior care, coordinating it, and overseeing the care. Do you know that Care Managers help with all of this? Aging Life Care Managers are trained professionals who are governed by an association called The Aging Life Care Association. Our staff are Advanced Professionals in this association because we have the highest credentials for our field, showing we are experts. We Care Management, LLC will work with you to support the elder in your life. There is an additional benefit to the services We Care Management, LLC offers. We provide licensed counseling services and help you find ways of relieving your emotional distress and overall stress! For adult children who live far away from their parents, we provide Teletherapy counseling via a secure video chat. Let us support you in supporting the elder in your life!

Does the unkown make you nervous or maybe make you feel anxious? This is a common response to feeling that you don’t know what will happen in the future, because you don’t have a sense of having control over the situation. As therapists, we often encourage people to develop coping skills to help them stay in the present moment, because what is the sense in worrying about something that may happen in the future when it may never happen? Here’s another approach, think of the unknown as adding spice to life. If we didn’t have suspense or spice, we wouldn’t have the greater appreciation for the many flavors of life.