The Value of Working with an Aging Life Care Professional®

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ALCA is excited to release new findings from research conducted by the Florida Chapter of the Aging Life Care Association. Florida researchers first studied how care recipients valued the services provided by Aging Life Care Professionals. The results from the second phase considered the value of services as viewed by the “responsible party” authorized to pay for Aging Life Care™ services on behalf of an individual.

Findings:

%

of Responsible Party respondents felt that engaging an Aging Life Care Manager had a positive overall effect on the client.

%

said that engaging Aging Life Care Manager Services had a positive effect on their own lives.

Responsible Parties cited keeping them informed about the client’s status as the most common Care Manager function, followed by emergency management and medical management. All these services work together to set the Responsible Parties’ minds at ease.

Overwhelmingly, the survey indicated that engaging Aging Life Care Professionals had positive effects for the responsible parties and the clients served. Among the most common benefits cited were:

Getting an objective assessment of a client’s needs,

Knowing the client has a medical advocate,

Simply contributing to peace of mind.

While 7 out of 10 adults are expected to need assistance as they age, scholars in the aging field perceive it is unrealistic to continue to rely so heavily on family caregivers because of their declining future numbers, the complexity of the healthcare system, and competing responsibilities for modern families (Bragg, 2015; Redfoot, 2013).

The value of Aging Life Care Professional services is evident. With the increasing aging population and the emphasis on continuity of care, Aging Life Care Professionals are poised to play a larger role in coming years.

“Aging Life Care Professionals” (sometimes called “Aging Life Care Managers™”, “Aging Life Care Specialists™”, “geriatric care managers” or “GCMs”) – have emerged as resources for families – they are able to relieve the caregiver burden, are often engaged by families separated by distance, and understand the complexity of the healthcare system.

Phase Two study results – How responsible parties value Aging Life Care Professionals’ services by Mary Ann Horne, MHA & Judith Ortiz, PhD, MBA – were published in the Journal of Aging Life Care, Vol. 27, Special Edition, March 2017.

Phase One study results – The Role and Contributions of Geriatric Care Managers: Care Recipients’ Views – were published in Professional Case Management, Vol. 18, No. 6, pages 286-292, in November/ December 2013.