As our society ages, the question of senior care becomes increasingly relevant to more and more families. I recently had the honor of hosting a presentation for a local networking group. The presentation allowed me to share my journey, extensive experience, and professional insights as a Senior Care Advisor.
I’ll recap the highlights of this event, discussing the essential role that a Senior Care Advisor plays in providing tailored solutions for elderly care. I’ll delve into my background and the journey to this profession. Also, discuss the importance of consulting with a knowledgeable professional when making decisions regarding senior care.
My Personal Journey
My path to becoming a Senior Care Advisor was both personal and professional. Born and raised in Kuwait, I moved to the United States in 1985, embarking on a series of career shifts that ultimately led me to the world of senior care. My diverse background, from microbiology to the restaurant business, has imbued me with a unique perspective on life and human needs. All my past experiences have prepared me for the most fulfilling role yet – becoming a trusted advisor to seniors and their families.
Experience as a Senior Care Advisor
In my role with CarePatrol, one of the nation’s most extensive senior living advisor networks, I’ve gained extensive experience assisting families in making informed decisions about senior care. I’ve become a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA), equipped with knowledge about aging and the critical health, social, and financial factors affecting most older adults. My experiences have ranged from helping individuals transition into assisted living communities to working closely with memory care units and residential care homes.
The Importance of Working with a Senior Care Advisor
The complexities of senior care can be overwhelming for families. Understanding the diverse options available, from independent living to residential care homes, can be daunting. This is where a Senior Care Advisor comes in. An advisor possesses a deep understanding of the different forms of care and the skills to comprehensively assess an individual’s needs. This assessment allows families to find a community that fits their loved one’s needs and provides the required level of care.
The Growing Concern of Elder Orphans
Much of my presentation was dedicated to the rising public health concern of “Elder Orphans” – older adults without strong relationship connections to family, friends, or any social services. This growing issue highlights the importance of ensuring our aging population is adequately cared for and supported, particularly when they lack a traditional support network. As a Senior Care Advisor, part of my role is to provide that network and ensure that all seniors, regardless of their situation, have the support and care they need.
Contact me, Mike Awadalla, at CarePatrol of Walnut Creek, to plan for your loved one and to learn more about how I can ensure they will love their new home.
Transcript: hey, hello, if you want, good morning so I am the chapter Senior Living advisor with carepatrol I help people find Senior Living Community is a little bit about me I was born and raised in Kuwait the US in 1985 been married about 37 years and I have we have five children and two granddaughters we live in Walnut Creek I’ve been through three career started as a microbiologist then I got into the restaurant business and now I am with kidbits role as a senior living advisor my hobbies and interests that I love listening to audiobooks I collect stamps collect coins I’m a really good skier left his key. All my kids have to ski lately I picked up a new sport pickleball and I love playing pickleball and I also love to do all outdoor activities these are my two beautiful granddaughters Sarah and Xena I’m so lucky they live very close to my home my wife and I we babysit them twice a week and you know having a big family for me it’s all about family I love spending time with my kids all right so carepatrol is a franchise system we have about 175 offices all over the nation so we could help seniors anywhere all over the country I made the top 40 in 2019 to 2021 and 2022 and thanks to CC Belle most likely I will make the 2023 also thank you guys I also I won the 2017 Rising Star Award of KB Ross all right so I’m working with kibbutz for when I started I went through a training to become a CSA so a certified senior advisor is a professional who has knowledge about aging and the important Health social and financial issues that affect a majority of older adults as they always say I do help people find senior living communities and I work with all senior living communities all levels like independent living assisted living memory care and residential care home so I work with all communities except communities that accept medical I cannot place in communities that accept Medi-Cal so only privates Bay communities sorry so the process always start as an assessment with an elderly person and the main idea is to help the family choose the best fit Community for the elderly loved one example if they’re healthy and independent most likely will go to an independent living community if they have some health issues and they need care so depends on the kids they need so if they need a custodial help with daily activities like shouting dressing medication management most likely they’ll go to a assisted living community if you have a dementia diagnosis there’s a good chance they will go to a Memory Care community and if they need one-on-one care like a bitter than person or a hospice they probably will go aboard and kid home and for some reason I didn’t want to talk about loneliness and isolation the doctor Mercy the US Surgeon General release and 85 mph advisory declaring loneliness and a new is a new Public Health pandemic in the United States He said our pandemic Florence and isolation has been an underappreciated Public Health crisis that has harmed individual and social health so the evidence revealed that social isolation and loneliness hinder good help putting older adult at risk for high blood pressure heart disease anxiety depression cognition and decline has a disease and even death and you term that has been used a lot lately is Orphan other orphans so the definition of an outer often is any older adult that is without strong relationship connection to any family friends or any Social Serve I thought that was trying to share that video with you to konop highlight this issue and tell me if you seen elderly man pick up the phone last week and play so heartbreaking call to 911 unnoticed so probably we couldn’t see it but we can hear it last week and a heartbreaking call 911 turns out it was a wake-up call about a growing problem that has gone unnoticed is dr. Jon LaPook Clarence Blackmon is in 81 year old army veteran battling prostate cancer but cancer wasn’t the reason he called 911 store and I got to have that 911 respond very quickly 2011 black man came home from the hospital last week to an empty fridge and had no one to help him in a recent report dr. Maria Carney of North Shore-LIJ Health System says a quarter of Americans over 65 are at risk of becoming so-called Elder orphans have a good support system so you can only imagine if you don’t have anybody with you to help you to 63 or single a 50% increase since 1980 the report says Elder orphans not only combat loneliness and depression they lacked assistance for their basic needs 911 dispatcher Maryland Henson was so struck by Blackman’s call she took a detailed list of his food requests and personally delivered them days with donations and offers to help get me six cans of spam isn’t that cute so who do you know that has an elderly loved one that’s still living alone isolated and may benefit from moving into a senior living community that would be a great referral for me thank you everyone
