Unless we get bad news at the next pet scan, mom will be going back home in September/October. :-D We plan to hire a geriatric care manager (GCM), and mom mostly agrees. My question is how to do this as I am 1,000 miles away from where she lives. My concern is that if she goes back without someone in place and/or a process to get someone, it won't happen. She currently has a very mild cognitive impairment, but is mostly physically healthy. She is fine to live independently, so long as there is no medical crisis.
Are my expectations reasonable? Is here something else that I should take into consideration? This is my plan:
1. Research possible GCMs on-line. See if we can find any recommendations for Tucson from anyone we know.
2. Determine what services we need now, and what our needs may be in the future.
3. Shortlist possible GCMs and do reference checks.
4. Set up in-person appointments for when mom and I (or sibling) get to Tucson.
Maybe we should do phone interviews and review contracts before returning to Tucson?
thanks in advance.
https://www.aginglifecare.org
They are now called Aging Life Care Specialists. There is formal education and certification. Request resumes, Skype interview, then a trip to Tucson for interview with mom present. If you are POA, I certainly would not delegate this choice to another.
O n another thread, just a couple of weeks ago, you state mom is living with you. What happened?
Thanks for the advice. I hadn't even thought of a skype or facetime interview.
One of the three I interviewed was less expensive per hour and would be compensated by the services she directed us to if we chose to use them. I was less comfortable with that than someone paid only by the hour.
I hope that you don't mind a couple more questions:
How did you find your specialist?
What was the hourly rate or was there a different contract structure for services?
How did you check references?
Thanks,
mb