Aging with the Experts

What is Aging Life Care™?

• Aging Life Care Association® • Season 1 • Episode 1

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What is Aging Life Care™? 
Aging Life Care Managers Lina Supnet-Zapata & Steve Barlam sit down to break down what Aging Life Care really means, and why it matters for families navigating elder care. 

Discover: 

  • Who Aging Life Care Professionals are
  • How they help overwhelmed families
  • Real-life examples of the life-changing support
  • Where to find one near you
  • For more resources, visit AgingLifeCare.org your go-to source for trusted guidance and expert support in aging life care.


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For more resources, visit AgingLifeCare.org your go-to source for trusted guidance and expert support in aging life care.

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SPEAKER_00:

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01:

Hi everyone, and welcome to the first episode of Aging with the Experts, a podcast brought to you by the Aging Life Care Association, and I'm so glad you're here. This podcast is for you, whether you're a family member caring for a loved one, a professional in the field, or just curious about aging well. Throughout this series, we'll bring you expert insights, practical tips, and real stories to help you feel confident and supported as you navigate the challenges and opportunities of aging. Have you ever felt overwhelmed trying to for a parent or a loved one, juggling doctor appointments, medications, and endless decisions, you're not alone. That's why today we're diving into aging life care, what it is, when to consider it, and how it can bring relief for families just like yours. I'm Lina Sapnitsapata, an aging life care manager, certified care manager, and a member of the board of directors of the Aging Life Care Association. Today, I'm honored and thrilled to have our very first guest, someone who has been at the heart of this profession for decades. Steve Barlam is the current president of the Aging Life Care Association, a licensed clinical social worker, and a certified care manager. He's helped countless families through complex situations with compassion and expertise. Steve, welcome to the podcast, and thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks, Lena. I'm so excited to be here and honored to kick off this Aging with Experts podcast with you.

SPEAKER_01:

So let's jump right into what is aging life care management and when might someone need it?

SPEAKER_02:

Perfect. Aging life care management is a holistic, client-centered approach to supporting older adults and their families. It's been around for over 40 years now, and it's a growing profession made up of what was formerly called geriatric care managers, but we're now calling aging life care managers. Experienced professionals who meet the education, training, and experience criteria, as well as adhere to the code of ethics and standards of practice set forth by the Aging Life Care Association. Many with backgrounds in social work, nursing, gerontology, OT, PT, and other related fields. An Aging Life Care Manager helps families really navigate the often complex and emotional journey through a comprehensive assessment to understand they develop and manage personalized care plans that address not only medical needs, but also the emotional, social, and practical aspects of life. They serve as guides and advocates, whether stepping in during a crisis, coordinating services, or ensuring a loved one's goals and values are honored. The ultimate focus is on preserving dignity, promoting independence, and improving quality of life for both the older adult and the family members who care for them.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much. in the journey to make it less turbulent, if you will, and more secure. And so aging life care managers, we use that specific title. How does that differ from, say, a case manager in a hospital or a home care agency? Is there a distinction?

SPEAKER_02:

Great question, Lena. Case managers in hospitals typically focus on immediate needs, like discharge planning, or they offer operate within the limits of their medical system, of what that will cover. Their role can sometimes feel more like a gatekeeper, influenced by who is paying for their services. And home care agencies, on the other hand, provide important services, but primarily focus their interventions on the in-home caregiver, providing oversight and ensuring that the care is running smoothly. Now, aging life care professionals take a much broader, oftentimes ongoing role because we are engaged directly by the consumer. We maintain objectivity and can truly focus on what is in the best interest of the older adult and family. Think of us like you had mentioned, you know, an air traffic controller. I think of it as a quarterback of a care team, coordinating all the moving parts, facilitating communication, creating and managing care plans, and guiding families through both everyday decisions as well as crises that might emerge. Our approach is holistic, always centered on dignity, independence, and quality of life.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks for that comparison and distinction. And so as a daughter caregiver, I wish that I had an aging life care manager in my life. And so when I was going through the care process and even in my hospice career previously before becoming an aging life care professional, so who typically hires an aging life care professional?

SPEAKER_02:

Another great question. It's really anyone can reach out to an aging life care professional. but most often it falls into three different distinct buckets. It's often families who reach out to us. That's the largest group. They're the adult children or sometimes nieces, nephews or grandchildren who are concerned about an older loved one. They may feel overwhelmed. They might live far away or be navigating a complex medical or life transition and need some guidance and coaching on what to do. A second group are professionals who hire us or who refer families or clients to us. Those could be attorneys, physicians, financial advisors, fiduciaries, and others who turn to aging life care professionals as a trusted resource to help their clients solve elder care challenges. And finally, there are some times we get calls from the older adults themselves, the solo agers. And they reach out wanting to plan ahead, get support while caring possibly for a spouse, or simply to have a guide to help them through a difficult stage of life. In short, whether it's families, professionals, or older adults themselves, people turn to us, aging life care professionals, when they need expert guidance, coordination, and support in navigating the challenges challenges of aging.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, those are a lot of different segments that can access us. And so I'm really grateful for this podcast that we are sharing our expertise and who can use us. And so what does it look like in practice? Is it a one-time thing? Is it an ongoing? How would the engagement look like?

SPEAKER_02:

You know, it really can be either. So I don't want families or consumers to be scared that this could be a lifetime commitment that could be ever so expensive and inaccessible, it's really sometimes families just need a one-time consultation to get unstuck, help sorting through options, creating a plan, or help with making a tough decision. Other times, it's ongoing relationships that really add value, where we can provide continued oversight, coordination, and support when families are so busy locally or when they're out of town and they need a professional eyes and ears on the situation.

SPEAKER_01:

So let's plant the seed and give our audience some prompts and some ideas of when it might be a good idea to hire an aging life care manager.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, let me give you the top nine or 10 sort of situations, almost

SPEAKER_01:

like a

SPEAKER_02:

David Letterman top 10. So we have when there are major transitions that are going on, like after a hospitalization or a new diagnosis, or maybe a significant loss in the client's life. Sometimes it's around frequent crises or hospital visits, when health issues keep escalating. Other times are when there are risk factors at home, such as falls, poor nutrition, unmanaged pain, depression, isolation, or possible abuse. Sometimes it's around caregiver overwhelm, or when caregivers are getting burned out, when families members are stretched too thin. We oftentimes are called in when there are complicated or chronic health needs and that require coordination across multiple providers. We get called when families are in conflict or there's uncertainty when people can't see eye to eye and they need someone to step in and help them to come together for the client's best needs. We're oftentimes called in when there are long distance caregiving challenges. If you're living at a great distance and you don't know what's really going on, you speak with a parent, what do you do? So having a care manager having an aging life care professional involved is critical. It's when difficult decisions and conversations need to take place and it's just hard to confront a parent. Oftentimes an aging life care professional can get involved around discussions of giving up driving or a move to a community or facility or accepting care in the home things like that, aging life care professionals can be of great value. For solo agers, for people who don't have family and who want to do some future planning, having somebody who has that expertise, somebody you can count on, somebody you can connect with to be able to provide you with great advice and support. And lastly, when there are advocacy needs, ensuring that someone can speak up for and coordinate all medical appointments with providers and really advocate for a client whose voice might get lost in the process aging life care can be great value in short there's ongoing stress uncertainty or risk that's involved with aging often and families will feel stuck and sometimes overwhelmed and that's a strong sign when an aging life care professional can be of help.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, because many of our families and adult children that are going through this, it's the first time that they've gone through the journey. And so we have gone through it a hundred times over our careers. And so being objective and our point of view and being able to have a client-centered approach is very helpful to kind of see through the muddiness of care because there's so many options and so many pieces of information through many different avenues that are being shared and very well intended, but we can clear all of that and really set a great path for the families and the professionals that we engage with. So given this list, can you give us some and share some real-life examples of how you or an aging life care manager has made a difference in the care?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, let me share with you. One comes to mind that I think is quite relevant. June was about 80 years old and she had been referred to me by her psychotherapist. She was bouncing from doctor to doctor, starting treatments, stopping them, and repeating the cycle for nearly 10 different conditions. All real issues. But it was so chaotic and nothing was getting done. Each time she went to an appointment, she wanted to have these long, unfocused conversations with her physicians, which left them frustrated despite having some of the best doctors in town, literally the best doctors in town. She was getting really poor care because her approach was so chaotic and people weren't taking her serious. Her family could really see that things were spiraling out of control and they were deeply worried. So as her aging life care manager, my first step was really to understand what was going wrong, I tried to get a sense of what was functional about her going from doctor to doctor, what was meeting a need for her. And it was really that she was longing for somebody to talk with, somebody who would take the time to understand what her experience was like. And once we could figure that out, I was able to create an opportunity for her to be able to do And we built in within a structured framework, a way for her to do this, help her to organize her thoughts and a way to present that to her physicians. And this is what it looked like. She funneled all her concerns to me instead of bombarding her physicians. I tracked them and prioritize the top two or three at any given time and held a standing weekly brief meeting with her physician to really just go over what were the top two, three issues. That physician helped direct who she should see. I was there at all appointments to make sure that we used the time wisely and really prepped with June to be able to have her prioritize what were the things she wanted to talk about. And we were able to do that in a very concise way and it helped the doctors immensely. They started looking forward to the appointments as opposed to dreading them whenever she would call to set the appointment. And with the right referrals that I was able to provide, we were able to address some of her underlying depression and anxiety, which was fueling her need to just the chaos that was there. The result, she stopped doctor hopping, her care became so much more coordinated and she was able to focus on activities that brought her joy instead of going from doctor to doctor. She ended up only seeing two doctors instead of 10 doctors and she was able to start to participate in activities that gave her meaning and gave her joy as opposed to just going from doctor to doctor. Ultimately, June got better care. She was far less stressed and the quality of her life improved And this is, in a way, what aging life care is all about.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I love that story, Steve, and a real world example for our audience to reference. I also appreciate the fact that June still had a voice in all of this. You were just able to advocate in such a positive way to use her time efficiently and refocus her energy on her quality of life and things that brought her joy. So thank you for sharing that. So if our audience is listening right now and thinking, I need someone like this, where do they start? We don't need to have aging life managers as the best kept secret. So how do we access aging life care managers?

SPEAKER_02:

The best place is to go on our website, aginglifecare.org. And you can simply search by clicking on find a care, an aging life care professional button. And you can search by zip code to find professionals near where the person resides. They can either be non-certified certified. We have different levels of membership, which is explained on the website. And by using an aging life care professional going through our website, it really shows that they meet high standards for education, experience. They're following our standards of practice and our codes of ethics. And don't be afraid to interview them because it's really about the gestalt. It's really about the conversation that you have with someone and your gut level feeling, do you feel they're able to understand what you're putting out there and would they be a good match for the person in need?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, and I like the fact that we encourage our families and our professionals to interview aging life care managers to see if they're a good fit. In fact, we provide questions to ask when you are considering engaging. So we do have those tools on the website as well to if you are in search of an aging life care manager. So Steve, this has been a wonderful, great introduction to the world of aging life care. And thank you so much for participating. And I'm so honored to be here with you. Do you have any final thoughts for our audience?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. You know, for family members who are facing this journey, I would say, please do not do it alone. So So often family members feel they have to don the cape of Superman or Superwoman to be able to manage their own work, life responsibilities, their own family, their spouse, their children, as well as the elder care need that's arising. I want folks to realize there are professionals out there who can help you make thoughtful, informed decisions and bring peace of mind in what can feel like overwhelming times. times. I know that when my father was dying, having an objective third party, having somebody who could help me make real life decisions was so essential that, you know, I, as somebody who has great experience in this field, I couldn't do it alone. And so while it wasn't the easiest decision to reach out, I did it with great enthusiasm and found somebody who help me make better decisions and care for my family in the best possible way. And it's really a good thing.

SPEAKER_01:

I think I can also speak to that, Steve, as a daughter caregiver. And I'm a daughter first before an aging life care manager, just like you're a son first before an aging life care manager. And seeking out our colleagues, asking for help, support, I think it's been able to Allow me to be the daughter and someone to handle the tough conversations and things that I needed clarity on, because even though I'm in the profession, you're in the profession, it can be challenging because it's so emotional. It's such an emotional time. So very well said, Steve. Thank you for sharing. And just a final thought. And for our professional listeners out there, we'll have future episodes about building a career in this field, addressing caregiver burnout and caring for loved ones with dementia. Steve, as always, I thank you so much for being our first guest on Aging with the Experts. It's been a real pleasure to be with you this morning.

SPEAKER_02:

What a treat for me, Lena. It's always great spending time with you. You're such a great professional. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for listening to the aging with the experts podcast to learn more or find an aging life care professional near you visit aging life care.org. Be sure to subscribe and share this episode with someone who might benefit.