Winter 2005 , Vol 9 , Issue 1
Celebrating Our 15th Anniversary

Providing Professional Care Management Services in the Central New Jersey area

We are taking this opportunity to announce an enhanced consultation service that our company is providing. Senior Care Management's clinical social workers and clinical nurse specialists are offering families, guardians and residential facilities (skilled nursing, assisted living, continuing care) clinical assessments and recommendations for issues regarding difficult behavior, medical problems and family disagreements.

Many times families have asked us to consult on a plan that will best answer the many specialized problems that arise. Our enhanced consultation services will help to alleviate the fears and concerns that are often difficult for clients and family members to address. We can also provide assistance in implementing our recommendations.

How Do I Know When A Consultation Would Be Helpful?

These are indications of when an outside professional consultation would be beneficial:

• Recurring client behavior that is causing the individual and or the community stress
• Medical issues that recur and seem intractable
• Client maladjustment to placement
• Inability of client, family, and facility to agree on the appropriate level of care, medical treatment or placement
• Staff frustration and low moral in response to difficult client or family behavior

What Can You Expect From A Consultation?

• A behavioral plan/strategy for disruptive or unhappy clients
• Recommendations for medication, medical intervention or referrals to medical specialists
• Family counseling when family members and clients are in distress
• A second opinion when client and family, client and facility or other parties are unable to agree on medical care, discharge or residential options

Examples of How A Consultation Can Help

"My brother doesn't visit that often but when he does he upsets my parents and the staff at their assisted living facility. The counseling and education that Senior Care Management provided my brother seemed to increase his understanding of my parent's condition and helped him to have realistic expectations of them and the staff."

Family Member

"After advising the wife of one of our skilled nursing residents that it was not realistic for her to care for her husband at home; Senior Care Management's clinician met with her, visited the home and described his care and medical needs if he were to come home. She is now better informed and is considering her options. She knows that she will need to make some environmental accommodations and arrange for a home health aide if she wants him to come home."

Nursing Home Social Worker

"My client was repeatedly being sent to the hospital emergency room. He would be treated and sent home again. I hired Senior Care Management to review his medical records and they arranged for a complete geriatric assessment. The Senior Care Management staff member coordinated the recommended specialists and monitored him medically until he was stabilized. It was a relief to know that his health problems were being addressed in a coordinated manner."

Attorney / Guardian

Senior Care Management is affiliated with the following professional organizations:

• National Association of Professional Care Managers
• National Association of Registered Guardians
• National Association of Social Workers
• National Private Duty Association

Senior Care Management's clinical consultations costs are billed on an hourly basis. A clinical social worker or nurse is assigned according to the nature of the issue and the expertise required.

For more information or to schedule a consultation please call Senior Care Management at (609) 882-0322.