How Senior Care Authority Franchise Owners Guide Families

It all starts with families understanding that I am going to help them walk through everything, every step of the way.

Typically, our calls come from a child or grandchild who discovers that Mom, Dad, Grandma, or Grandpa is having accidents, has fallen, or is in the hospital—and the hospital won’t send them home. It’s a crisis. We need to find a place for them to go. We’re able to quickly identify what the options are, what they can afford, and where they want to be geographically.

This is such a hard situation for a family to address. It gets into meaning-of-life issues when someone we care about—someone who helped raise us—becomes vulnerable. Usually it’s the oldest daughter in the family. She’s in her 50s or 60s, busy with work, with kids in college, and suddenly something happens with her parents and she doesn’t know what to do.

The place we start is listening. We have an active way of listening that helps us understand the salient issues the family is dealing with: the level of care required, personal preferences, social and recreational needs, and cultural background. Once we understand these elements and learn their stories, we can walk them through the different options.

Every family is completely different. I cannot treat one client like another. I take time to do a full intake. I ask a lot of questions, and then I sit back and listen.

From the very beginning, I let families know that I will be with them during the tours. I’ll help them ask the right questions and help them feel comfortable that they’re making the right decision.

I call myself an elder care strategist because every family is like a puzzle: what fits and what doesn’t? We love what we do because when we’re done, people say, “Oh my God, thank you so much for helping us. We were in a crisis. You found her a fantastic place with everything she needs. Now that she’s there, we can get back to our lives again.”

I don’t predict the outcome in advance. I allow families to discover it through the process. I call it the pursuit of dignity, because what we’re really trying to do is find the most dignified solution for the older adult.