50+ Lifestyles

Your Advocacy – We Solve Long Term Care Problems

By Julie Arndt
GolderCare Solutions

An Ode to Bill and Miss Lou

Every day we all grow a bit older and join the myriad of those we associate with the “age wave.”

This fall, marks for me 30 years working professionally in the senior industry starting out as a hospital social worker in 1986. As a teen, in the early 1980s I worked part time at a small rural pharmacy in Dysart, Iowa delivering medication to local nursing homes. Occasionally, Bill, my boss would have me make home deliveries. Miss Lou was one of the customers to whom we’d routinely provide such visits. On those days, Bill would be sure that I had extra time to not only do the delivery, but to stop by the grocery and allow plenty of in-person “visit” time to relieve Miss Lou of her loneliness. Miss Lou lived alone in a trailer home situated on the property next to her decaying family home in the middle of rural Benton County. I suspected she had health issues, as she was always bundled up head to toe, regardless of the weather. She appeared to welcome these visits with gusto as she would come out and greet me with a smile. She would talk of her pleurisy, the weather, politics and just anything else to prolong the visit. As a 16 year old, I had no idea how invaluable these visits would be to my future, providing first hand insight to the loneliness, physical limitations and financial hardships many of our elderly face.

Zip forward to 2016. This summer we had a social work student from the University of Northern Iowa work as a Care Advocate Intern two days a week. I was inspired by her fresh spirit and youthful enthusiasm associated in trying to make a difference…not only by researching and coordinating resources, but by bringing her “person” to the job, finding pleasure in just “being” with frail elderly. A friendly face can make a difference in the day of someone who doesn’t feel well, is isolated and alone. Sometimes in the helping profession – whether medical or community service based, we get too caught up in “doing” and miss the opportunity and privilege to “just be” making a difference in the life of a Miss Lou.

As I write this, I’m awestruck at the plethora of resources we have nowadays to help the Miss Lou(s) of the world. Today she would be provided homemaker services through Elderly Medicaid Waiver and would have a routine visit by an outreach social worker. That being said, I don’t
think one can discount the humanitarian efforts of one neighbor/businessman reaching out to another in need. I didn’t understand it as a 16 year old, but it was the inherent goodness and giving nature of my boss, Bill, who not only made the difference to Miss Lou, but also served to be a huge influence in my future work.

At GolderCare Solutions we offer our clients the ultimate long term care solutions. It’s a pleasure and privilege to assist our clients as they navigate one the most critical and often the most treacherous leg of their aging journey.

Julie Arndt is a licensed social worker working in the field of geriatrics for over twenty five years with expertise in medical case management and community based services. You can reach Julie at GolderCare Solutions Unlimited, LLC (309) 764-2273.