Senior Care Spotlight: Transitions for Senior Living

Senior Care: Have you been stressed about the care and safety of an aging loved one?

 

 

Not sure you understand all the care levels available or what care is needed?

Did you know there is a free, unbiased service that can personally walk you through the process? Transitions For Senior Living has been working in the St. Louis area for 10 years, helping families in your same situation, we care and can give you the peace of mind that you are making the best decision possible.

MAKE THE CALL…(it’s easy!)
Phone us, we will respond as soon as possible, we know this was a tough call to make and we don’t want you to wait. If you want to find out more about Transitions Team, check out our website: TransitionsForSeniorLiving.com and fill out our inquiry form.

⦁ PHONE CONVERSATION
Our first conversation will help us understand your family’s physical, cognitive, and social care needs, answer your questions, and set up a time to meet in person. 

⦁ PERSONAL CONSULTATION
At our meeting, we’ll discuss various care options that might be the best fit for your loved one, taking into consideration physical and social care needs, geographic preference, and budget. If placement is not an immediate need, we’ll discuss other resources, connect you with trusted care partners to ensure the safety and comfort for your loved one.

⦁ YOUR PLAN
Together we will create a plan with a clear understanding of timeline and next steps. We will be with you through every step of the process. Our services are personalized because every situation is unique.

⦁ COMMUNITY OR CARE AT HOME OPTIONS
When we identify the top 3 to 5 communities, whether independent, assisted, memory care or skilled nursing, we’ll schedule tours, accompany you to each community, ask the questions that will give you the most comprehensive understand of the care each community will provide, be an advocate, answer questions, and help make a smooth transition.

⦁ ONGOING SUPPORT
Once care has been established, we will follow up to ensure that your expectations of the care, comfort, and safety needs of your loved one are being met. We can help with connecting you to trusted partners for elder attorneys, financial planners, real estate agents, day programs, move managers, and in-home care.

So, whether in crisis-mode or planning ahead we can help, we have comprehensive knowledge, experience and connections for all facets senior care and can help you. We want to give you the education and understanding to make the best choice for your loved ones the first time.  

Transitions For Senior Living is a free, unbiased, family service that has been helping families, over the past 10 years, to personally help families with all their care needs. We have a wide range of trusted partners from financial planners, elder care attorneys, in-home care services, medical alert systems, and veteran’s benefit planning. Give one of our Senior Care Advocates a call and we will personally meet with you and your family to understand your physical, cognitive, financial, and social care needs, pare down the options and tour appropriate communities with you, Completely free of Charge.  

Guest Article Contributed by Sharon Balleau, .  

Contact us:
Sharon Balleau –
314-606-8531

Carmen Worley – 314-960-0519

TransitionsForSeniorLiving.com

 

 

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering choosing Medical Alarms in St. Louis, MO, please contact the friendly staff at Around The Clock Medical Alarms.
Call Us: 877.449.5566

 

Certified Care Management

Senior Care Spotlight: Certified Care Management

 

“My Mom called to say the power was out in her home.
It was late at night, she was frantic and I was concerned.

However, after talking with Ameren
I discovered Mom had “totally forgotten” to pay the electric bill.

While in her mind she is still fiercely independent…
I have noticed she is getting more and more forgetful.

I love my mom dearly, but I can’t always be there for her,
and I live out-of-town. I want to help her continue to live independently.”

 

Does this sound familiar?

Is a senior loved one in need of care and supportive services and you don’t know where to go for help?

Rest assured, YOU and your senior loved one are not alone.

At Certified Care Management, LLC, we understand what you’re going through.

 

 

Our team of experienced care professionals is here to help you avoid the pitfalls you may encounter and uncomplicate the dizzying maze of health and life care choices out there today.

In addition to bill pay assistance, our firm also offers services such as caregiver and family coaching, nursing, therapy, home care, insurance, and benefit qualification, hospital and community advocacy, health care agent and guardianship, legal rights, and much more. Certified Care Management has the experience you can count on when life’s journey takes you down a new road.

Consider us your personalized care consultants, providing the highest quality support for you and those you love. Contain your costs, your well-being, and your time by investing today in our professional services. Read more about Certified Care Management at www.certifiedcm.com or call 314-517-5944.

 

“When managing the difficult maze of health and life care choices, Certified Care Management has the experience you need and support you can count on! We are your Personal Care Consultants and we look forward to being of service.”

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering choosing Medical Alarms in Cape Girardeau, MO, please contact the friendly staff at Around The Clock Medical Alarms.
Call Us: 877.449.5566

Senior Spotlight: Adult Day at The J

Located within the Jewish Community Center in Creve Coeur (the J), Adult Day at the J (ADJ) is a “hidden gem.”

For more than 40 years, ADJ has been providing quality programming for seniors and younger adults with cognitive and physical impairments. Our team is dedicated to specialized programming that aims to promote cognitive, physical, and social stimulation while also encouraging individual growth in an inclusive and supportive environment.

The ADJ offers two unique tracks, IN and CONNECTIONS, which are expressly designed to assist participants with achieving individualized goals in a group setting. Offering a broad range of activities throughout the day, CONNECTIONS operates primarily within the ADJ facility, while IN programming expands throughout the J’s Staenberg Family Complex and the community. In addition to the benefits experienced by our participants, our services provide critical respite and peace of mind for caregivers and families.

 

Key Features include:

• Recreation and Therapeutic Activities (Horticulture Therapy, Music Therapy, Pet Therapy, Modified Sports, Social events, Reminiscence Activities, and so much more!)
• On-site Nurse Health Management and Care Planning Services
• Door-to-door Escorted Transportation
• Kosher, Nutritious Meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Snack)
• Licensed by the State of Missouri
• Funded by VA, Medicaid, Dept. Mental Health, Aging Ahead

 

On March 18th, ADJ temporarily suspended onsite programming due to COVID-19, but our staff remained steadfast with our commitment to continue serving our families.

 

Over the course of our 11-week closure, our ADJ team worked tirelessly to engage, connect with, and continue supporting our participants and families each and every day. Whether through direct connections, virtual programming, or case management to set up outside services we have worked tirelessly to ensure that each of our participants have received the support and services they need.

 

 

ADJ reopened its doors on June 8th and, although, in a very different environment, we have been able to bring individuals back to onsite programming here at the J. We started with a small group of 6 and have continually added more participants each week. We are now averaging around 23 participants a day. Meanwhile, we are also still providing virtual programs and support to those remaining at home. We are facilitating live streaming of our onsite programs and activities as a means for reconnecting both onsite and at-home participants with one another.

But we didn’t stop with ADJ participant-focused services, our Growing Together Horticulture Therapy project has remained active to support others in our community. Utilizing our indoor/outdoor hydroponic Tower Garden systems, our staff has harvested over 80lbs of fresh produce including lettuce, collards, spinach, kale, and herbs. A portion of this produce is incorporated into our Kitchen J home meal deliveries for homebound seniors, and the rest of each harvest is donated to the Harvey Kornblum Food Pantry each week. Our Kitchen J meal program has delivered over 4,500 meals to homebound seniors over the past 18 weeks.

The St. Louis J community has so much to offer. With 2 convenient locations, Creve Coeur and Chesterfield, the excellent programming and state-of-the-art facilities make the J the first choice in gyms and community centers for families, young adults, seniors, and more. From our amazing fitness and aquatic centers to our recreational sports programs, we aim to impress our members by providing the best selection and experience.

Guest Article submitted by: Kristen Conard
Assistant Director- Connections & IN Program
Programs of Adult Day at the J
(p) 314-442-3261
(f) 314-872-7189
kconard@jccstl.org

The J at Creve Coeur

 

 

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering choosing Medical Alarms in Cape Girardeau, MO, please contact the friendly staff at Around The Clock Medical Alarms.
Call Us: 877.449.5566

 

 

Medical Alarms in St. Louis MO: Senior Care Spotlight

Senior Care Spotlight: 360 Quality Care + Transport Services

360 Quality Care + Transport Services is, as its name suggests, more than just a transport company.

Medical Alarms in St. Louis MO: Senior Care Spotlight

“We provide the ultimate in first-class specialty transportation services for those living with mobility challenges”, says Steve Newman, the company’s co-owner. Steve and his wife Debbie started 360 just over four years ago after researching the availability and service standards of senior care transport services in the St. Louis area. “We received feedback from home care agencies, hospital case managers, social workers, senior living admissions managers, and a host of local individuals and families”, Steve said “And all of them told us horror stories. At the time, my wife had been providing care and companionship services to seniors for almost twenty years and every one of her clients absolutely loved her. She had built a thriving business based entirely on referrals, and all because her of her amazing ability to care about, and for, others. Honestly, anyone who knows Debbie will tell you she is the most caring and giving person they’ve ever met”. Steve added, “So we decided to take the plunge into starting our own business with the goal of raising the bar on transport options for the mobility challenged”. Today, the company has a fleet of fourteen ADA-compliant vehicles and has completed over 27,000 transports. “The greatest testament to the work we’ve done over the last four years is the amount of testimonial phone calls and emails we receive each week. We certainly haven’t completed our mission, but it’s a great feeling to know and hear so frequently that we have succeeded in raising the bar for so many”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passenger Service – the 360 “secret sauce”

360 Care + Transport’s service includes door-thru-door or bedside to bedside wheelchair, ambulatory or stretcher transportation. “Most transport companies only focus on curb to curb service and they fit multiple people into their vehicles at one time,” said Steve. “That requires them to pick-up and drop-off using a pre-assigned route structure that might take an hour or more for patients to get to their medical appointments, then another hour or two to get back home. And in the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter, they might be waiting outside for a long time before their ride would even arrive. It’s just not a good system, especially for those who are already vulnerable or not feeling well. So we designed our service to be one patient at a time. We’ll go into the home, or up to the hospital room with our own wheelchair. We’ll assist the patient and family in transferring the patient to the wheelchair, then we’ll gently move them out of their room or home and secure them carefully into the back of our van using a four-cornered restraint system that also includes a lap belt and shoulder harness. Our drivers are all hired for their caring and compassionate backgrounds and once the patient is comfortable in our van, we get the opportunity to get to know them a little bit.” Seventy-five percent of 360’s patients are repeat customers so they get to know both the patients and their families. “Our patients often become an extension of our own families,” says Steve, “We’ve been transporting many of them for several years on a very regular basis and it’s wonderful to have conversations with them about their children, where they used to live, the cars they drove, and the work they did”.

 

Smooth riding, ADA compliant vehicles that are ripe for conversation

While conversation is important, another key component of 360’s success is the vehicles they use. “All of our vehicles were purchased new and are now no more than four years old. They are all clean, well maintained, and sanitized after every transport. But it’s not just the appearance of our vans, it’s the practicality and suitability of them to provide the difference we want to make that makes them such a good fit for us. We utilize a fleet of Dodge Grand Caravan’s or Toyota Sienna’s, so all our vehicles are all mini-vans. With a rear-entry, fold-down ramp, we mitigate problems with cranky or jumpy hydraulic lifts especially in the winter when snow and salt can wreak havoc with the lifts that some of our competitors use. Any of the wheelchair-accessible conversion firms will tell you that the most common equipment breakdown is the hydraulic lift, so we immediately eliminated that problem with our vans”. Once inside the 360 vans, patients are secured in what before the conversion, would have been the middle row seat. “Our passengers get to sit close to us, just like our own families do when they travel with us. And being mini-vans, they ride comfortably and they are quiet, so our drivers can hear our passengers and they can hear us.” Steve goes on to say, “When we first looked into buying wheelchair accessible vehicles, we looked at the big delivery trucks but aside from the hydraulic lift, we also didn’t like the fact that the patient would ride all the way in the back and was about ten feet away from the driver. We always wanted to have conversations with our passengers and we knew that as far back as they were in those vehicles, they wouldn’t be able to hear us. So we went the minivan route instead, and we’ve never regretted it”.

 

Caring and Compassionate drivers – the heartbeat behind every 360 ride

360’s drivers undergo a rigorous hiring process. Most are former caregivers or former service professionals with experience in customer service and/or compassionate care. Steve says, “Since Covid, we’ve taken a close look at other struggling industries to see where we might be able to offer some help. For example, the hospitality industry and the foodservice industry have been decimated by Covid. Thousands of quality individuals, who have been trained at high customer service levels, have lost their jobs and can be excellent driver candidates. In addition, while many of our drivers have previously worked in-home care or at skilled nursing facilities, we also provide a great fit for retired or semi-retired professionals who are bored sitting at home, love and miss the daily interaction of the workplace, enjoy the role of being a communicator and making a difference in people’s lives, and can use the additional income. It’s the perfect part-time or full-time role for people who have a history of being reliable, caring, and compassionate”. Steve’s wife, Debbie, goes a step further, “Our drivers are the heartbeat and the face of our company and we empower them to always ‘do the right thing’ for every passenger we transport. As a result, they are proven difference makers who have the authority to make real-time decisions to make and keep our passengers and their families happy”.

 

The million-dollar difference – Employees, automation, and “Live” real-time dispatching

While quality service is paramount, so too is 360’s commitment to technology. Whereas many wheelchair transport services operate using just a “pen and a sheet of paper”, 360 drivers utilize a state-of-the-art driving app that, in addition to assigning their next transport, also scores their driving performance. Drivers earn bonuses for safe driving habits and overall driving performance, as well as for testimonials the company receives. In addition, the dispatching application shows 360’s dispatchers exactly where each vehicle is throughout the region in real-time. This allows them to dispatch “on the fly” and adjust schedules promptly to accommodate doctor’s appointments that might be running late, or hospital discharges that need immediate transport home or to rehab. Steve adds, “The fact that our drivers are employees is also very important. Unlike independent contractors who are paid by each transport leg, 360 drivers are paid by the hour. So when a driver is sitting in a lot waiting for a patient to finish their appointment, our drivers are still getting paid, and because they are being paid, we can re-assign them “on the fly” to another pick-up point quickly in order to keep our schedule on track. Contractors who are paid by the transport leg don’t want to give up a transport, so if one leg is delayed, then every ride thereafter also gets delayed, and further delays continue to add up throughout the day. It’s kind of like an airplane – when one plane is delayed early in the day, then everything after is impacted. With our system, we can adjust on the fly, in order to keep the rest of our schedule on-time.” As a result, almost 99% of 360 Care + Transport’s pick-up times operate within 15 minutes of their scheduled pick-up time – including return trips from doctor appointments.

360 Care + Transport has truly raised the bar by bringing to market a unique blend of healthcare and good old-fashioned Midwestern hospitality. For yours, or your family’s next wheelchair, ambulatory assisted, or stretcher transport, contact 360 Care + Transport at 636-735-3860 or visit their website at www.360careandtransport.com

Guest Article contributed by:  Steve Newman, Owner

If you are no longer mobile and are seeking service providers to assist with your transport needs, it may be time to consider a medic alert, as well. These systems can provide peace of mind to you, and/or your family, that you are never alone and can get help for any reason — even if you cannot speak! Regardless of your age, or medical condition, a PERS (Personal Emergency Response System) can enable you to maintain your independence and home safety at the push of a button!

You are NEVER Alone and can get HELP any day, time, or reason — Around the Clock!

 

If you or an aging loved-one are considering choosing Medical Alarms in St. Louis MO, please contact the friendly staff at Around The Clock Medical Alarms.
Call Us: 877.449.5566

Senior Care Spotlight: Care Management, Advocacy, and Support

Care Choice Care Management

“Our commitment is that everyone we serve experiences concierge-level care and attention.”

 

About Us:

Our team of experienced professionals can assist you in answering all of your questions and be your advocate as you navigate the healthcare, mental health, or legal maze for yourself or a loved one. Our team consists of Social Workers, Gerontologists, Nurses and professionals who each have 20+ years of experience. Care Choice Care Management provides care coordination through Care Management.

 

What is Care Management:

Care Choice helps families through challenging times, negotiates conflict, coordinates benefits, recommends services, advocates for those in the hospital and long-term care communities, and provides ongoing or short-term support for those we help. We will customize a plan that meets your needs. Care Choice provides a FREE information visit or call for anyone about our services and what makes us different and unique.

 

Here are some questions to ask yourself, and if you are struggling you may benefit from hiring a Care Manager:

● Are you overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for your spouse or parents?
● Do you or someone you know need an advocate in navigating the health care, mental health, and/or legal system?
● Is your family in conflict and need an objective professional to facilitate communication amongst family members while providing 24-hour care for your loved one?
● Have you been assigned as Trustee, Legal Guardian, Conservator, and/or Durable Power of Attorney for someone, but have no idea how to meet their day-to-day needs — such as getting them to take their medications, attend medical appointments, take care of personal hygiene needs, pay bills, grocery shopping, housekeeping/laundry, and prepare meals?
● Are you worried you’re taking too much time off work and need someone to attend your loved one’s medical appointments to ask questions, advocate, provide transportation, drop off/pick up any prescriptions, schedule any tests/appointments with specialists, and/or provide a summary of the visit?
● Would you like to have an experienced professional provide a thorough assessment followed by a detailed written Care Plan of you and/or loved one and then have them be available on an ongoing or PRN basis to assist with any needs that arise while aging in place at home or in a community?

 

Why We Started Care Choice:

There is a void in society and in health care of quality customer service. Our goal is to provide that level of care and support that all deserve. Health care is often fast-paced and so often things are missed, fall through the cracks, or are just forgotten. We strive to not allow those things to happen to you or your loved one. Care Choice was founded on these principles by Maria and Steve Miskovic. Both have been social workers for over 25 years and worked in various capacities at hospitals, rehab facilities, non-profits, dementia care, and case management. We have grown our team over the last 9 years to be able to support anyone at any point in their life journey, whether 18 or 108! We recognize that growing older (or living with an illness) is not easy, but it does not have to be done alone. Our commitment is that everyone we serve experiences concierge-level care and attention.

 

Please find us online at www.carechoicestl.com, call at 636-288-1764, or email us at info@carechoicestl.com


  Guest Article contributed by

Steve Miskovic, MSW, LCSW, CMC

 

 

 

As you try to navigate the overwhelming choices of services available for yourself, or an aging loved one, a care manager can assist to determine and establish the service(s) you need. Their expertise and knowledge can make life a lot easier!

At the point that you are trying to manage care (and find service providers to help), please consider a medic alert system as well.


You are NEVER Alone and can get HELP any day, time, or reason — Around the Clock!

 

  If you or an aging loved-one are considering choosing Medical Alarms in St. Louis MO, please contact the friendly staff at Around The Clock Medical Alarms.
Call Us: 877.449.5566