Is It Possible to “Care for Mom When You Live Far Away”? — ElderLawGuy Shows How

My friend and mentor Jeffrey Marshall, a/k/a ElderLawGuy on Twitter, once again uses practical experiences to illustrate how “planning in advance” for the possibility of emergencies makes sense, particularly as our loved ones age.  He tracks the aftermath of an always dreaded “fall,” an event in the life of an older person that too often can precipitate a downward spiral in the absence of a holistic care plan plan:  

[M]y wife and I were thousands of miles away. How could we get her the immediate help that she needed?

 

Fortunately, the help was available. My wife and I had previously hired a professional care manager, Bonnie, in the town where gramma lives. As soon as we got the call from the emergency room we contacted Bonnie and filled her in. She swung into action at once. She visited gramma and evaluated her condition. She implemented a system of caregivers to stay with gramma. She set up a Monday morning appointment with gramma’s physician, attended it with her, and reported back to the family.

 

Bonnie served as the family’s eyes and ears and local expert and was able to ensure that gramma got the care and support she needed when she needed it.  

For more details, read Jeff’s blog post, “Caring for Mom when you are far away.”  I know that in my own family, who also lives far apart, over the course of my regular visits home I probably visited 10 different care providers with my mother or sister.  This was during the year before we actually made the decision for my father.  I kept saying “we can make these decisions without an emergency.” It became my mantra. Not every emergency needs to be an emergency….