Indiana Estate Planning & Elder Law

Friends Of The Firm Friday - CAREByChristie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAREbyChristie has been in business since early 2020. The company mission, "Creating a Roadmap for Eldercare" was built by founder, Christie Freeze.

After Christie had served more than 4,000 family caregivers and witnessed the missing link to navigating that role, she realized that she loved connecting resources based on specific situations. 

That's why she offers a do-it-yourself (DIY) Roadmap, The CareGETTER System For Caregiving Success, and the 1:1 Strategy Session to adult children and family caregivers through CAREbyChristie. These services empower families to make the best decisions with their loved ones for preferred outcomes.

Christie's goal is to bridge the gap between caregiving resources and holistic health needs for family caregivers. She isn't bound geographically to help families with these challenges though she primarily serves clients in Indiana.

Learn more about CAREbyChristie at:

www.carebychristie.com

www.facebook.com/CAREbyChristie

www.instagram.com/ShareTheCARE_Show

Podcast (visit your favorite streaming service and search @ShareTheCare)

Next month, Christie will be launching a video course on her CareGETTER System For Caregiving Success. If you want to join the waitlist or get updates via email, send Christie a message at [email protected]

National Caregivers Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, February 19, is National Caregivers Day. 

Typically this day is reserved to honor health care professionals across the country providing long-term and hospice care. Beyond professional caregivers there are other types too: family, independent, private, informal, and volunteer caregivers. Spouses, children, and friends often care for someone near and dear to them - regardless of their caregiver type. During times like these, the challenges of caregiving are far more complicated than ever before. 

As small children we may see someone caring for or being cared for by a caregiver. By adulthood we may find ourselves in a caregiving role. The privilege that aging provides can also find us being cared for by another.

We live in an instantaneous age of where most of our needs can be met in moments. From making grocery orders from our computer screen and picking them up mere hours later, to touching a button in our pantry and reordering dog food... we have learned to forfeit waiting. That is one reason (among many) that caregiving can be complicated and stressful.

Caregivers quickly find that waiting, advocating, and staying organized are the top skills necessary to make progress for the patient. Our healthcare industry has quite a bit of catching up to do before it can anticipate our needs, help suggest solutions, and recognize patterns in care or upcoming challenges.

Thankfully there are individuals and businesses who are aware of these opportunities to improve the patient and caregiver experience. Because of their pioneering we may be better suited to support the ones who work so diligently to care for our aging loved ones.

If you are a caregiver or know someone who is, be sure to share this list of resources with them to help ease their caregiver burden!

CAREGIVER SUPPORT RESOURCES

Advocacy / Nurse Support (Local to Indiana) 

Kaybee was founded by Jean Ross, MHA / BSN / RN. She realized that caregivers needed holistic help. Her team does everything they can do help with medical billing, in-person care, patient advocacy, care plans, support groups, community resources, patient transportation and accompaniment to appointments, and more! Learn more about services and how to get the unique support needed at https://kaybee.us/ 

 

"CARE" = Creating a Roadmap for Eldercare. Christie Freeze spent a portion of her career in skilled facilities and nursing homes. She saw an opportunity to help caregivers create a path to navigate elder care by providing the caregiving resources and tools for them to succeed. Second, she helps the caregiver ... mentally and emotionally by providing resources and tools to help him/her. Learn more at http://carebychristie.com/

 

 

Caregiver Groups

Daughterhood was founded to support and build confidence in women who are managing their parents’ care. Their website is packed with resources - including local Daughterhood Circles where caregivers can seek solace. Learn more at https://www.daughterhood.org/

 

Little Red Door is a cancer agency based in Indianapolis. They offer all sorts of resources for families and patients who are managing cancer care. Whether transportation to appointments, community, or nutrition assistance is needed, they can help. For services, service area, and resources, visit Little Red Door

 

 

 

 

Podcasts / Books

Daughterhood was founded to support and build confidence in women who are managing their parents’ care. Their website is packed with resources - including podcasts, a blog, and recommended readings. Learn more at https://www.daughterhood.org/

 

This podcast was started by a Millennial caregiver who was caring for her cancer-ridden father. The mission - empower current caregivers on their journey and help them quickly gain knowledge. It's co-hosted by the founder of KayBee and features unique perspectives and resources. Listen at Hidden Patient or stream on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

 

 

Technology

True Link is a tool for caregivers who are needing to throttle spend for a patient. Budgeting cash can be challenging. This takes the guesswork out of where money is going and how it's being spent. Funds are tracked while purchase limits and types can be customized! Learn more at https://www.truelinkfinancial.com/card/

 

Caregivers may share responsibilities even when geographically they aren't close. Caring Village makes it easy to collaborate on care. Add prescriptions, log doctor's visits, and post updates to a "village." Learn more at  https://www.caringvillage.com/. 

 

Transportation (Local to Indiana) 

CICOA is tasked with empowering older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers with answers, services and support. Their services are vast and are intended to help in all aspects of care. Learn how CICOA may help ease caregiver burden at https://cicoa.org/

 

 

Little Red Door is a cancer agency based in Indianapolis. They offer all sorts of resources for families and patients who are managing cancer care. Whether transportation to appointments, community, or nutrition assistance is needed, they can help. For services, service area, and resources, visit https://www.littlereddoor.org/

 

 

 

 

As always, our firm is available to help clients with estate and elder law needs. To learn more, call 317-863-2030 or reach us at the button below.

Friends of the Firm Friday - Epilepsy Foundation Indiana

 

 

 

 

 

We recently met with Ryan Keys, Executive Director of  Epilepsy Foundation Indiana, the local chapter headquartered in Indianapolis, to learn more about the organization. The mission of the Epilepsy Foundation is to lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives. 

Laura Thrall, Epilepsy Foundation President and CEO has been guiding the organization to serve 3.4 million Americans living with epilepsy. Of those, 69,500 are living in Indiana and are actively served by Epilepsy Foundation Indiana. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo of the Evansville Walk provided by Epilepsy Foundation Indiana. 

As depicted above, Epilepsy Foundation Indiana serves the community in many ways. For families and individuals battling epilepsy, they offer support groups, trainings, camps, activities, ways to share testimonials, and local resources. The chapter offers free education, consultation and support for anyone affected by epilepsy to the best of their ability. For those seeking ways to get involved there are volunteer and advocacy opportunities.

Given COVID-19 there have been changes to the organization's event schedule and offering. Updated policies and procedures can be found on their website. 

Epilepsy Foundation Indiana can be contacted by calling 800-332-1000 or my emailing [email protected]. 

Learn more about Epilepsy Foundation Indiana at:

• www.epilepsy.com/indiana
• Facebook 
• Twitter
• Instagram

Friends of the Firm Friday - Linda's Daughter

We recently visited with Linda’s Daughter, an Indianapolis-based service offering end-to-end senior moving management and aging-in-place services.

Linda’s Daughter takes an empathetic approach while working with seniors.  Understanding the client’s goals and fears is their top priority. Once the client's goals are known, the team at Linda's Daughter works to exceed expectations.

Individual team members intentionally work with the clients to preserve, sometimes in new ways, the memories they have made over a lifetime.  

Senior move management starts by collaborating with clients to plan out a new space - be it a modification to where they currently live or a complete move. Clients have found envisioning a new space to help eliminate stressors around rearranging furniture or downsizing items.

Typically, the senior move management service begins with a home visit from an occupational therapist (OT). The OT will give expert advice on what modifications will need to be made for the client to be safe and suitable going forward.  From there, the team at Linda's Daughter will propose a complete project plan which includes the OT's recommendations. Once the plan is approved by the client, the team at Linda's Daughter will:

• Begin the search for qualified contractors;
• Manage contractor quotes; 
• Oversee the work being done;
• Declutter the space;
• Rearrange furniture.

Items not being moved will get sorted into groups:

• Sell;
• Give away (to charity or family);
• Preserve;
• Trash.

The team at Linda's Daughter will then sell designated items, make item donations, manage the physical move (or rearranging), and conduct any final cleaning. Most importantly, they get the client settled into their new or new-to-them home. From making the bed, hanging photos, stocking the fridge and more - aging in place services are wide-ranging and vary from client to client. 

Linda's Daughter serves clients throughout the metro Indianapolis area, Marion County, and surrounding Central Indiana counties.  They are a member of National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM), thus giving them a great network of senior move managers throughout the country for interstate moves. 

Linda’s Daughter can be contacted by calling 317-999-9787 or my emailing [email protected].  

Written by: Lisa Burris

Caring for Your Parents: Where Do You Begin?

There is no one right way to be a caregiver; everyone’s situation is different. You will find that, among a host of things, family dynamics, financial resources and the ability of your parent(s) to provide guidance for the support that they desire will shape your situation.

 If you've been tasked to set up care for an aging parent or loved one, where do you even begin? What is the right way to go about this important task?

Luckily a recent PBS article, titled "How to care for your aging parents from a distance," assures us that there is no one right way to be a caregiver, as everyone’s situation is different. Caregiving responsibilities can entail at least information gathering and the coordinator of services.

One step is to ask your parent(s) to provide you with information to locate their important records, phone numbers, email addresses and other essential contact information.  This includes legal documents like a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Durable Power of Attorney for financial matters. These should be created before a health condition makes it impossible.

The original article suggests that to keep things in order, long-distance caregivers will benefit from keeping a Care Notebook. This is a central place to maintain all critical information and can be digital or just a regular old three-ring binder with pocket dividers. Do not forget current info on your parent’s prescriptions. Also, if you hire professional caregivers for your loved one, keep a separate notebook to document medication administration and other basic physical and mental health status information. Instructions to paid caregivers should be in writing.

PBS provides a few other important suggestions, such as: 

Communicate. Whenever possible, include your loved one in the decision making process—especially choices on care and housing. Consider his or her expressed preferences and respect their values, even if they are not yours.

Education. Read up on the available care and services. Every region and location is unique in the types of services that are available, but some are found throughout the U.S.

Take Care of Yourself. Caregiving can be stressful, and you should have a support network for yourself.  Hire help and get other family members involved. Attempting to do it all yourself is not healthy or safe for you or your loved one.

Changing Needs. Remember that your loved one's care needs may change over time, and original article stressed that it is never too early to consider possible future needs. There are many options to be considered; making informed, well-thought-out decisions about your parent’s care are vital, and your elder law attorney can help.

The realization of your new role as a caregiver can be stressful. The good news is that you can contact a qualified elder law attorney to get more information and the answers you need.

Reference: PBS (October 9, 2014) "How to care for your aging parents from a distance"