“Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young,” Theodore Roosevelt once quipped, and as Indiana elder law professionals, we know how very right he was.
Despite the fact that today’s seniors are living longer and healthier lives than was true in past generations, elderly and disabled individuals face very complex health and long term care issues. Reality is that most seniors will require some form of long term care before death. Every day in our work at Geyer Law, we help our clients deal with issues including
- Medicare, Veterans Aid and Attendance, and Medicaid benefits
- Long term care insurance
- Advanced directives
Whether we are helping seniors prepare for their later years, navigating the more complex and restrictive rules in place today, or assisting in dealing with their parents’ issues, one thing is crystal clear: To make a “success” of them, families must address these issues before they arise.
It’s inevitable, as Health in Aging points out, that older people will feel loss of control when strangers are involved with their intimate daily lives. That’s why it’s so important to involve the older person as much as possible in planning their own care.
Without in any way minimizing how difficult and even awkward talking about long term care and end of life issues can be for parents, we encourage seniors to embark on what author Tim Proesch calls “The Other Talk”.
Here at Rebecca W. Geyer & Associates, we’ve adopted an empathetic and compassionate approach. Compassion is the opposite of avoidance, however. We understand the fears and family dynamics that can come into play when legal and health issues are concerned. That’s precisely why we encourage our clients to “try out the wheelchair”, facing up to even the scariest of “what if” scenarios.
– Corinne of Rebecca W. Geyer & Associates
