Topic: well being
Our work as Care Managers may be focused on the well-being and quality of life of one person, our client, but it requires understanding and looking at the whole picture.
What is the whole picture? It includes everything in the client’s life: health (and disability), family systems and dynamics, goals, preferences, personal history, finances, values, legal, housing, services & supports, and what brings joy and meaning.
Knowing the whole person, the whole picture, helps us to better guide families as they navigate options for aging well, caring well, and living well.
Additional Reading
- What is Aging Life Care?
- Get in the Lifeboat: Don’t Float Alone! Key Supports You’ll Want in Your Boat
- Alzheimer’s and the Family Caregiver
- Medical Emergencies: Are you prepared?
Could you benefit from the guidance of a Care Manager who looks at the whole picture? Click here to schedule a get-acquainted call and to determine together whether our services are a good fit for your needs.
This is an excerpt of a longer conversation between Lisa Mayfield, Aging Wisdom’s founder and principal, and Laura Vaillancourt on her Life on Repeat podcast.
Every client has a rich personal history. As an Aging Life Care practice, our Care Managers understand the value of learning about each client as an individual. It aids us as we help clients and their families navigate the best options for aging, caring, and living well.
Whenever there’s an opportunity to return to what brings a client joy, we’ll go there in some capacity. …
Each seed is a story: Care Managers get to know each client as an individualRead More »
When you were a kid, did you find joy in spending time outdoors? For me, embracing activities outside was as natural as breathing.
Today, my out-of-doors pursuits are more intentional but nonetheless enjoyable. And necessary. One positive outcome of the pandemic has had me looking at ways to weave more outdoor activities and meetings into my schedule. …
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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Does this sound familiar? It’s a new year. You sit down and thoughtfully write a list of resolutions: Lose 20 pounds by June. Go vegan. Take yoga classes twice a week. Organize your living space. Reserve one hour each day for reading. Stop cussing!
I love lists
Lists keep me focused. Lists help me prioritize projects and meet deadlines. They keep me on budget when I go grocery shopping. My lists are lifesavers, especially in this somewhat chaotic, unpredictable, pandemic-challenged world.
The one list that doesn’t help, however, is my annual list of New Year’s resolutions. Sigh … this is the list by which I can no longer abide. …
Study after study reveals that older adults with a sense of purpose, a sense of meaning in their lives, enjoy greater well-being and live longer than those without a life focus. They also have better cognitive and physical health and suffer less from depression, suggesting that purpose is an important component of a healthy and satisfying elderhood.
To explore possibilities for yourself, try this simple two-step process. …
Self-care is essential to the well-being of family caregivers, yet it is often overlooked.
While it’s natural to focus fully on the older adult who needs support and services, we also need to remind ourselves to pay attention to their support system, be it you, family and/or friends. …
Self-Care is Not Selfish: It’s Essential for Family Caregiver Well-BeingRead More »
“Gathering again is going to be complicated and possibly uncomfortable. Naming the elephant in the room is the most powerful tool we have. We need to make the implicit explicit. Even if the elephant is just awkwardness, naming what’s happening and making it explicit allows everybody to take a breath.” ~Priya Parker, author, The Art of Gathering and guest on the Dare to Lead podcast with Brené Brown
If there was a prescription with the following benefits, would you want it?
- Strengthens your immune system
- Challenges you intellectually
- Sharpens your memory
- Helps you heal more quickly from illness and injury
- Boosts your mood
- Motivates you to engage in physical activity, social and creative engagement, and eating well
- Provides a space for tears and laughter
…
The Value of Friendships and Reconnecting in the ‘Now’ NormalRead More »
On September 6, 2019, my mother turned 76. As was our birthday tradition, I invited her to lunch and suggested an outing to a local craft store she loved. For the first time ever, she refused to budge from her home. This was new behavior and it really worried me because her world was shrinking. She seemed to prefer solitary activities like beading, knitting, and weaving intricate pine needle baskets, only venturing out when she absolutely had to.
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by Jullie Gray, MSW, LICSW, CMC.
Ask anyone for their top advice about living a long, healthy life and you’ll probably hear tips about the importance of eating well, stopping smoking, exercising and getting regular medical checkups. Don’t throw those good habits out the window; but, it may come as a shock to learn that connecting with others may be the single most important ingredient for aging well.
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