Meet Vickie Adorno, TRS, LNHA, HCS CEO-Dignity Plus Home Care, CEO/Care Manager- Care Management Solutions and Marianne Ward, RN, CGCM. Many of us are now dealing with aging parents and find ourselves confused and worried about the next phase in healthcare, lifestyle, and living situations. This month we had a moment to sit down with Vickie and Marianne of Care Management Solutions to help us better understand these important issues.

For those of us with aging parents, what are some of the things we should look at when assessing our loved one's needs?

Some situations are obvious, such as a change in mobility or maybe there's been a recent fall. Changes may be more subtle like an increase in forgetfulness, word finding, or a change in gait or balance. A comprehensive evaluations will measure the person's physical, mental, and cognitive function. With a baseline established, further evaluations can determine if there is potential illness or disease progression that may need to be monitored. We can monitor these circumstances.

What are the most common issues people have when searching for a caregiver?

Family members don't know where to begin and are not always available to do the research and interviews once an agency or independent caregiver is found. Knowing what qualities i.e., skills and knowledge and how to properly vet adn train a new caregiver can be overwhelming. Finding a backup caregiver in case of an emergency can create issues as well. In our model, we have a "team" approach with multiple caregivers in place so that a familiar backup person can step in when possible.

Finding help for an aging loved one can be daunting. Do you have any tips or suggested resources for people starting the process?

We do not recommend doing this alone. Proper evaluation of the client and caregiver vetting for skill and knowledge is a critical factor understanding the client's' specific needs to ensure that safety and quality of life are optimized. If finances are restricted, we offer a "Start of Care" program where we do the initial client evaluation, locating, vetting, training, care plan set up, and hand the caregivers over to the client/family to manage. Otherwise, we can continue with the management of the caregivers if the idea of managing a team of caregivers is overwhelming or unattainable.