Answers For Elders Radio Network

Grief can be overwhelming, and for seniors going through it, it's a powerful effect on our bodies. Kelley Smith at CarePartners Senior Living talks to Suzanne about how to hep, buy paying attention, being available, taking action to support loved ones, honoring that they need time to work through the process. This segment talks about what a senior living community needs to know to provide the righ...

Kelley Smith at CarePartners Senior Living has talked to Suzanne about senior dynamics and what families are going through regarding grief. This segment is about things to do, steps you can take, actions. Don't offer advice unless they ask for it. They need someone to listen. It's hard to be around someone who's sad, but be nice, it's better for them to be around people. It's heartwarming to be in...

Kelley Smith at CarePartners Senior Living joins Suzanne to talk about grief. With the loss of a loved one, Kelley talks about how to support those who are in the grieving process. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kelley Smith at CarePartners Senior Living joins Suzanne to talk about grief.  How many of us have lost loved ones during the pandemic, having illnesses resulting from the pandemic, taking care of spouses or loved ones who are struggling? We turn ourselves inside out while caring for a loved one. Kelley shares insights about grief, how people process grief, and how we can be better at supporting a...

Rebecca Bomann, CEO and founder of SASH Services, summarizes her eight tips to make your home sale more successful in a changing real estate market. See her previous segments in this hour for details about each of the tips. People have seen price reductions and seeing a 45-day period to sell their home after the crazy seller's market. Recently in the Pacific northwest, about 1,900 homes were new l...

Rebecca Bomann, CEO and founder of SASH Services, provides more tips to make your home sale more successful. Sellers should expect these things in a changing real estate market. 6) It's OK for buyers to ask for concessions such as help with closing costs now that interest rates are rising. Buyers can ask for inspections and for repairs to be made prior to closing. Appraisal work orders are being s...

Continuing from part 1, SASH Services founder Rebecca Bomann provides more tips to make your home sale more successful in a changing real estate market. 2) Study your competition. Look at who is listing their home now, how are they priced, how do they compare to your home. Swipe through photos on real estate apps. 3) Price your home in the sweet spot: not so high that nobody comes to see it, not s...

The real estate has shifted since May. You can still enjoy a successful change in your home sale, but a few expectations have changed. Since the pandemic in March 2020, it's been a frenzied seller's market with high sale prices and multiple offers. You can always count on the market changing, and now the market is leveling to become less lopsided. 18% yearly appreciation, having to make offers on...

Elder law attorney Jim Koewler joins Suzanne to talk about what to do when a care facility threatens to discharge or evict a senior loved one. There are specific federal rules that apply when the reason for the discharge is failure to pay: * No "failure to pay" if Medicaid application is pending - If not first application, there must be difference from first * Maybe no "failure to pay" if state he...

We sign all sorts of paperwork when a senior loved one is admitted to a nursing home, assisted living, or memory care community. But often we don't know what we're signing. Elder law attorney Jim Koewler joins Suzanne to explain exactly what we're signing, and helps us spot legal red flags in the paperwork. This segment focuses on a care facility's threats to discharge or evict a loved one. These...

Elder law attorney Jim Koewler joins Suzanne to talk about the admissions paperwork we have to sign when a senior love one comes into a skilled nursing facility. Most nursing home and assisting living agreements now have a spot where they want someone else from the family to sign as "resident representative." Subject to federal rules: Resident Representative: Promise to pay from resident's money H...

Elder law attorney Jim Koewler joins Suzanne to talk about the admissions paperwork we have to sign when a senior love one comes into a skilled nursing facility. In part one, they talked about how the agreement should document what services are available that meet your loved one's needs. This segment focuses on aspects of the agreement that are subject to federal rules. Under CMS rules, a place th...

This hour addresses all the paperwork — legal contracts — involved in a loved one's transition to senior living. Sometimes you're electronically signing your name and initialing a few signature blocks on an iPad, but you aren't shown the 50 related pages that are on the document you just signed. You're under the gun in an emergency and need to arrange for a care now, and you just assume you'll sig...

Amy Schenk, community engagement lead at the Neuropsychiatric Research Center of Southwest Florida, joins Suzanne courtesy of Athira Pharma to talk about handling caregiver anxiety and stress, and provides advice for caregivers. We have to focus on caregivers – if you were still working and your employer has a program assistance number, call the number. Another thing: if you're an only child, you'...

Certified Dementia Practitioner Amy Schenk joins Suzanne from Cape Coral, Florida, courtesy of Athira Pharma to talk about the difference between normal memory issues as a result of aging and abnormal issues, and indicators to watch for. What happens to our brains as we age normally, as well as what happens when it's not so normal. If you are seeing things that are different in the person you're c...

Amy Schenk, community engagement lead at the Neuropsychiatric Research Center of Southwest Florida, joins Suzanne courtesy of Athira Pharma to talk about cutting-edge clinical trials. She educates, represents, supports and encourages people to take care of their brains. They talk about the stress of caregiving and risks for Alzheimer's disease. Preventative measures that are good for your heart ar...

Certified Dementia Practitioner Amy Schenk joins Suzanne from Cape Coral, Florida, courtesy of Athira Pharma to talk about the impacts of the pandemic on families and people with Alzheimer’s disease. Amy also educates in both Assisted Living and Long Term Care environments. Learn more about the LIFT-AD Trial , a Phase 2 Study of an investigational drug for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheim...

This hour focuses on the major ways that senior homeowners can be taken advantage of through the process of selling their home. This final segment may surprise some listeners — one of the biggest sources of folks to take advantage of seniors are their own family members. The family should be there, advocating and having a loved one's best interests in mind, but that's not always the case. Some of...

This segment elaborates on ways that seniors can be taken advantage of by unscrupulous real estate agents. Rebecca Bomann , CEO and founder of SASH Services , joins Suzanne to discuss this topic. Rebecca has a lot of respect for her fellow agents, and there are a lot of really good real estate professionals in this industry. But like any industry, there are a few who are incompetent, insensitive,...

This segment describes ways that unscrupulous house flippers and investors can take advantage of seniors. They're looking to get deals, to purchase a property for less than market value. But if you're 80 years old, hard of hearing, with family living out of town, and a flipper visits you using some of these strategies, it's disgraceful. Rebecca Bomann , CEO and founder of SASH Services , joins Suz...

This hour focuses on ways that senior homeowners can be taken advantage of during the process of selling their home. This is the sale of their biggest asset to be able to pay for their care for the rest of their life, which they may have lived in for many decades, and the biggest financial transaction of their retirement years. Rebecca Bomann , CEO and founder of SASH Services , joins Suzanne to d...

Suzanne talks with Tracey Harvey at at Cadence Kent-Meridian in Kent, Washington. Everything they do from a life engagement perspective, they have some wonderful signature programs. Life engagement team members customize a program to meet the needs of residents. Learn more about Cadence Kent-Meridian and Tracey Harvey . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suzanne talks with Tracey Harvey and Chef Ray Canos, Culinary Director at Cadence Kent-Meridian in Kent, Washington. Ray runs the dining program and provides an overview of meals at the community. For example, on the day the interview was recorded, breakfast was Eggs Benedict and the soup of the day was bean and bacon. Lunch was chicken quesadillas with homemade guacamole, homemade fresh corn sals...

Suzanne talks with Tracey Harvey and Resident Services Director Navdeep K. at  Cadence Kent-Meridian in Kent, Washington. Navdeep oversees the health and wellness and assisted living at the community. Learn more about Cadence Kent-Meridian and Tracey Harvey . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From studios, to one bedrooms and two bedroom apartments, Cadence Kent-Meridian in Kent, Washington is now open for residents. Suzanne talks with Tracey Harvey , Regional Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Planning, Northwest, about this shift in senior living. People want to have control, pursue their passions, and if they can, downsizing and making retirement plans. Learn more about Cad...