Welcome Wisdom

Strategies for Long-Distance Caregiving

January 2, 2024 — by Felicia Juntunen, MA, CMC, Director of Care Management November and December include multiple occasions to gather, often resulting in family members traveling from a distance to spend time with aging parents and loved ones, whom they don’t see regularly because of geographic separation. These visits sometimes result in family members becoming aware of changes... Read More

The Gift of a Plan

November 3, 2023 — by Felicia Juntunen, MA, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management 2023 is drawing to a close and our year-long discussion about the challenges of aging concludes with the topic of End of Life planning. As the season of gift-giving approaches, we emphasize that having a plan and documenting end of life wishes is truly a... Read More

Care Coordination: A Care Manager’s Expertise

September 4, 2023 — by Felicia Juntunen, MA, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management The healthcare journey can be full of challenges for older adults (and their families) and further complicated by the management of chronic diseases or dementia – sometimes both. Patients often express frustration with providers who are unfamiliar with them, with the cost of care, and the... Read More

Mobility’s impact on Successful Aging

May 2, 2023 — by Felicia Juntunen, MA, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management Among the many things that change as we age is our mobility- or the ability to safely change and control the position of our bodies. Mobility directly influences a person’s ability to accomplish activities of daily living- bathing, dressing, toileting, food preparation- those essential functions which support... Read More

Aging & Mental Health: The Benefit of Care Management

April 3, 2023 — by Felicia Juntunen, MA, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management Depression is not a normal part of aging but approximately 15% of adults over the age of 65 report symptoms of depression that are clinically significant, in other words, symptoms that are disruptive to their everyday functioning. In our work as care managers, we see older... Read More

Engagement & Purpose: Essentials for Well-being

March 2, 2023 — by Felicia Juntunen, MA, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management Aging Life Care Professionals regularly observe the value of engagement and purpose in the lives of older adults, as we serve clients in various settings, at home and across all levels of care. Engagement can be defined as any activity that provides opportunity for connection with others, also... Read More

Challenges of Aging: Brain Health

February 2, 2023 — by Felicia Juntunen, MA, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management Our January article introduced the goal of this year’s series to address the challenges of aging within the scope of care management by an Aging Life Care Professional and their eight areas of knowledge. Dealing with changes in brain health and the subsequent impact on daily... Read More

Embracing the Challenges of Aging

January 3, 2023 — by Felicia Juntunen, MA, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management A 2018 Forbes article, titled, “The 8 Challenges of Aging,” referenced a collaboration between multiple groups, who identified the biggest challenges in aging. They called those engaged in service to older people to examine each challenge as an opportunity to “do good and do well.” This... Read More

Benefits of Hospice and Palliative Care

November 1, 2022 — by Felicia Juntunen, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management Among the many privileges of care management work is the opportunity to journey with clients to the end of their lives. Because we spend time developing familiarity with our clients, regularly provide advocacy for their care, and understand what their priorities are for their well-being and quality... Read More

In-Home Care as Support for Aging

August 1, 2022 — by Felicia Juntunen, CMC, ECM Director of Care Management One of the services Elder Care Management regularly interacts with is in-home care, services that provide non-medical caregiving and assistance for a client at home. Hiring in-home assistance can help extend an older adult’s ability to remain in place, often supplementing family support, and combined with home modifications and the... Read More