50+ Lifestyles

Your Advocacy

By Jamie Long
GolderCare Solutions
Founder and Lead Patient Advocate

Ready for the New Year

Each New Year brings an opportunity to start fresh…to resolve to change and improve something in our lives. Most Americans make some form of New Year’s resolution. Most resolutions are health-related: to quit smoking, to exercise more, to lose weight. For others, it is to get their finances in order or to pay down debt. If you have an aging family
member or loved one, the stress and responsibility of being a caregiver may drive you away from your personal goals, adding unmanageable stress to your life.

At GolderCare, our New Year goal is to make the community aware of our services and find more ways to
connect seniors with education to help them with their needs as they age. We have a true desire to connect with families and find ways to alleviate stress factors and financial worries as it relates to a family member facing long term care. Having an aging loved one can bring added stress to the caregiver and can weaken quality of life, or often, even when decisions are made, you may feel the stress of wondering if you made the right decision. When we launched GolderCare ten years ago, we knew the value we could add in the lives of seniors and their caregivers. Knowledge is power and education is the key. What do you need to learn to make better decisions for you and your loved one? Are you trying to juggle too many responsibilities and only reaching your own exhaustion? Are you worried about finances and how to pay for care? Is the care you are getting for your loved one enough or what they need and want? Are you doing everything you can to get the benefits available to pay for the rising cost of care? Are you struggling with insurance or with getting approval for Veterans benefits or Medicaid?

To help with those questions and much more, we present to you our 2019 Senior Empowerment Series, offered at 10 a.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at our Bettendorf Office (1900 State Street, Bettendorf) and on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at the Moline Public Library (3200 41st Street, Moline). This is a free educational time for both seniors and those that care for them. These topics are just a snapshot of what we at GolderCare have at heart, and can assist with, should you have questions about aging or caring for a loved one.

January – Getting Your Ducks in Order (finances, legal documents, insurance, healthcare)

February – Physical Activity in Older Adults

March – Veteran’s Benefits

April – Funeral Planning is Financial Planning

May  – Leaving Home Doesn’t Have to Mean Nursing Home

June – Planning After an Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

July – Medicaid and the Spenddown

August  – The Nursing Home and You – Why You Need Someone on Your Side

September – Aging in Place: Resources to Stay Home Longer

October – Benefits: Insurance, Medicare and Public Entitlements

November – Hospice: What Does Hospice Really Mean?

December – Family and the Holidays

We hope you will join us for our Senior Empowerment Series. In addition, if you are ready to start the year with some peace of mind in a complex situation, we invite you to call for a Free Senior Service Consultation, either by phone or in person in our office. At GolderCare, we are committed to making sure people know what their options are before making mistakes in managing their long-term care. We look at the big picture and help you put the pieces together to reach your aging objectives. Hope to see you in the New Year!

Jamie Long is the Founder of GolderCare Solutions and its Lead Patient Advocate. Jamie and his team use their diverse knowledge and experience to advocate for the aging community and educate seniors and their families. You can reach Jamie at GolderCare Solutions Unlimited, LLC at (309) 764-2273.