With the aging of the baby boomers, the size of the population 65 and older is experiencing one of the biggest increases in history: between 2010 and 2050 the number of seniors is expected to more than double, totaling 88.5 million by 2050, according to the Administration on Aging.
That demographic shift also heralds a sea change in the workforce: more and more people will be needed in senior care professions, while on the home front, more and more of us will be confronting the question of senior care head-on. When the time comes to make that decision, some families will opt for residential communities such as assisted living, but many prefer to keep their loved ones at home. However, family caregiving comes with its own unique set of stresses and challenges. Hiring a professional trained in senior care management is therefore an increasingly appealing option for many families.
What is Geriatric Care Management?
A geriatric care manager, or senior care manager, is a specialist trained to help families through the process of caring for older relatives. According to the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, the goal of care management is to decrease family stress and increase quality of life in a holistic way. Geriatric care managers provide help in a variety of ways, including:
- Coaching and advising family caregivers
- Helping families evaluate residential housing or home care options
- Assisting with management of doctors’ appointments and medications
- Providing support with legal and financial matters
- Assessing the safety and well-being of the client and family
Senior care management is a rapidly growing profession, not least because having a trained specialist on hand can help families solve difficult issues such as how to pay for senior care. An article in the New York Times suggests geriatric care management as a good option for transitions: when mom or dad’s health is starting to shift, and you want to know what choices are available to you and how to pay for them. Care managers can also relieve the stress placed on family caregivers, particularly if long-distance caregiving
is a factor, and mediate in cases of interpersonal communication issues.
What can a Geriatric Care Manager help me with?
Geriatric care managers can provide services that go beyond what a family caregiver is able to achieve. Though many informal caregivers can and do provide effective care management, the fact is, navigating the waters of senior care becomes more complicated every day, and the emotional health of the family can suffer as a result. An elder care expert may be the answer if the situation is becoming too complex to handle individually.
Naturally, as the older population grows, more and more of us will be facing this question, hence the need for trained experts to meet this demand. Many colleges are already beginning to recognize the growing need for trained specialists in geriatric care management.
Usually, an ideal candidate for a geriatric care management degree or certificate is someone who already has training in a field related to long-term care: psychology, nursing, gerontology, or case management, for instance.
Education is critical, but so is certification from a professional organization like the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers—if you are researching geriatric care managers to help your family through the senior care process, make sure they have the right credentials.