I love watching how the faces of my clients and their family caregivers change during an initial meeting. If you’ve not experienced an initial meeting with the Flammia Elder Law Firm, this is the time where the client and his or her family sit down with me and my team for the first time to share their fears, their hopes, their concerns about caring for an elderly loved one. It is where we get to hear about the day-to-day experiences of family caregivers. Often, there has been a crisis. Maybe the elder can’t live at home anymore. Maybe he or she needs nursing home care. Maybe the primary caregiver is sick. Maybe the family doesn’t know where to turn.
There are a million possible scenarios, and each family comes in with its own unique set of circumstances. It all comes out in the initial meeting. Emotions run high. Fear is especially common along with deep sadness and a sense of loss. And it’s no surprise. Things are changing. These are changes that nobody wants.
It’s when the family hears our plan of action when the mood in the room shifts. The relief is palpable as we explain to the family how we will deal with the legal and financial problems that getting old can create—problems like qualifying for Medicaid and finding the right care.
The plans we devise and share in those initial meetings can be life-changing for our clients and their family caregivers. Getting legal and financial affairs in order is just the beginning. Getting documents in order, qualifying a loved one for benefits, and managing the crisis is often just the starting point in a much longer journey, one that can last years or even decades.
It’s what we can do for the family after they leave the conference room that is most powerful. We help family caregivers deal with the personal challenges that estate plans don’t address. This is the help that families typically value the most.
That help can be any number of things. It can be performing in-home assessments to help an elderly loved one age safely at home. It can be helping the family find the right residential arrangement for an elder if living at home is no longer possible. It can be attending care planning meetings with the family at an elder’s long-term care facility in order to address issues about his or her care. It can be showing the family what quality care looks like and teaching the family how to advocate for their loved one.
Why is this kind of support so important? It’s simple. Things change. Your loved one’s elder care journey will have many twists and turns. There will be dozens—maybe hundreds—of decision points. How will you know what your next move should be the next time things change?
The Flammia Elder Law Firm can give you that support. When you leave our conference room after your initial meeting, know that it’s possible to have someone walking along side you during every step of your loved one’s long-term care journey. Know that it’s possible to have a compassionate guide who will help you with every decision, answer every question, and teach you what you need to know. If you want that kind of support as you care for your elderly loved ones—or as your family cares for you as you age, we are here to help. Just give us a call.
