Topic: older adults
What is your role at Aging Wisdom? Director of Marketing and Communications
What made you want to work in the field of aging? …
What is your role at Aging Wisdom?
What made you want to work in the field of aging? …
What is your role at Aging Wisdom? Creative Engagement Specialist
What made you want to work in the field of aging?
I appreciate the accumulated wisdom and insights of older people, and I have always gravitated toward older adults, even when I was a kid. Growing up, my dad used to always point out how people were often dismissive of old people or talked to them like they were children. He helped me see that this bias was everywhere, and I didn’t want to be like that. From a young age, I sought out elders I could learn from, who I could look up to. I was drawn to the Creative Engagement position at Aging Wisdom because I wanted to be part of a team devoted to decreasing isolation and loneliness in older adults, while also encouraging the unique power and perspective that elderhood can bring.
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What is your role at Aging Wisdom?
Director of Learning Innovation
What made you want to work in the field of aging? …
Founded in 2003, Aging Wisdom was launched by Lisa Mayfield as a sole practitioner of care management. This year we are celebrating 20 years as an Aging Life Care practice and a staff of sixteen!
And it’s May, which is National Aging Life Care Month, a time for us to celebrate our profession.
Our Care Managers have all taken different career paths before finding Aging Life Care as a profession, including Lisa.
In this episode, Lisa reflects on her background and experience in community and mental health and how it lead to learning about and eventually practicing Aging Life Care.
Aging Life Care as a profession became Lisa’s focus when she saw how it had the opportunity to address the difficult and challenging issues that families often face when helping an older adult.
It was this help with the foundational challenges, such as addressing falls, cognitive changes, driving when it was no longer safe, for example, that was more effective at supporting older adults than counseling alone. Counseling, Lisa observes, still has a role once the older adults is safe and these issues have been addressed.
Families are often flummoxed by the myriad of changes and challenges, as well as navigating the complexities of healthcare systems. Our role is that of advisor, guide, facilitator, advocate, or coach, depending on the client’s needs and that of their family and supports.
Not sure what your next steps should be? We’ve helped hundreds of families navigate these changes and prepare for the future. Click here to schedule a get-acquainted call with one of our Certified Care Managers.
Additional Reading:
Many of us look forward to holiday gatherings – getting together with family and friends, sharing lively conversation and good food, exchanging gifts, treats, and merrymaking.
But for someone living with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia, all the activity, the people, and associated noise can be very unsettling. …
Making the holidays more inclusive and meaningful for those living with dementiaRead More »
Travel for many of us has been put on hold over the past couple years due to the pandemic. It’s been particularly difficult for families that live any distance from one another. However, there’s good news! The prevalence and effectiveness of COVID vaccines and boosters, COVID test kits, along with regular use of KN95 and N95 masks, bring added protection and peace of mind.
This is prompting many of us to make plans again. We are feeling more comfortable about travel, especially domestically. According to AARP’s 2022 Travel Trends report, 67 percent of people age 50+ anticipate traveling this year, many who are looking to spend time with family.
With some thoughtful planning, we can all enjoy a little time away. Certainly, there might be bumps along the way but anticipating those potential obstacles will lessen travel stress and help bring joy to the journey.
Here are some tips for planning ahead that will help ensure you or an older loved one is ready for an adventure: …
Especially for older adults living alone, the ability to summon help in the event of an emergency—such as a fall—is a very real concern. With a cell phone in your purse or pocket, it’s easy to feel well set. Think again. The bathroom is where most falls occur. Do you take your cell phone in when you are using the toilet? Or taking a shower? And what if you hit your head and are unconscious? With a brain bleed, minutes count!
But who wants to wear one of those telltale pendants? Fortunately, with the advent of smartwatches, there are stylish options that do not carry such stigma. …
May is both Older Americans Month and National Aging Life Care Month. This presents a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the things I love about the work I do as a Care Manager, celebrating our profession in Aging Life Care, and the clients we serve.
In that spirit, here are some of the reasons I love what my Aging Wisdom colleagues, my professional colleagues, and I do for a living. …
Why I Love Being an Aging Life Care Professional™Read More »
Are you tired of long waits to get an appointment? Rushed visits? Not being able to talk to your doctor by phone or communicate via email?
You aren’t alone. Doctors dislike it too. But because most physicians today are employees of a large medical group, they are required to complete 30–40 patient visits per day. Appointments are set to last no more than 15 minutes. This is necessary to manage a typical patient load of 4,000.
Some primary care doctors are moving away from this business-focused model of medicine.
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