Find the Right Care for Your Loved One

Crisis Management is one of our specialties at the Law Office of Scott D. Bloom. We have a team ready to help you navigate through a wide range of challenges and conflicts that family members suddenly face during a crisis situation. We understand that when a crisis occurs, you need immediate assistance and solutions. We’re here to listen, educate and help you find solutions for both short and long-term issues. We know the sense of overwhelm and urgency that you’re feeling and we’re here to help you.

Seeing the Warning Signs and Being Pro-Active

Early intervention and being pro-active to avoid a crisis situation is very important. As parents and grandparents age, it is quite common to see a gradual reduction in their ability to care for themselves. They work hard to “hide” their problems for their loved ones, but over time, the warning signs become more obvious as they deteriorate both mentally and physically.

Here are just a few of the signs that your elderly relative is losing their ability to care for themselves. It’s time to provide assistance and monitor them when:

• The cabinets are empty (they can no longer go to the store or are starting to have trouble preparing their food.)
• They no longer shower or bathe, care for their hair and nails (they are struggling to take care of their physical health)
• They forget to pay bills or balance their check book (they are losing their ability to manage their finances)
• Their home is dusty, has cob webs, and is very unclean (they can no longer clean their home)
• Stacks of unopened mail are everywhere (managing their mail is no longer important)
• They cannot tell you what year it is (they are faking their mental abilities)

As with everyone in life, they want to remain independent, so they’re afraid to ask for help fearing anticipating that you’ll find out what is truly happening in their life. When the warning signs start appearing, it is wiser to get involved, before you find yourself in a crisis management situation.

A Client’s Crisis Situation

Crisis situations arrive with no notice and are highly stressful. You need assistance and we’re here to help. Here is a true example of an urgent crisis phone call we received. We’ll explain how we helped the family create a crisis management plan to resolve the situation:

“Hi Scott, I was referred to your law firm by my father’s doctor. Our family needs help!

Dad is currently at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in Hamilton with pneumonia. He’s getting better and within the next 3-4 days they’re planning on releasing him. He can’t go home because he’s still very weak and social services can’t provide my mother with enough in-home-care.

The hospital administrator gave me a list of rehabilitation facilities to contact. After explaining that dad has dementia, each one of the rehab administrators told me that we would need to hire a private caregiver service to watch my dad 24 hours around-the-clock while he is at their facility. I calculated it out and based on the going caregiver rate, it would cost over $20k a month for this service. The doctor’s also told me that we should expect it to take at a minimum 1 1/2 to 2 months for my dad to regain his strength. Mom and dad have some savings, but they can’t afford that. Before you know it my parent’s savings will be all gone.

Additionally, one of my siblings keeps yelling at my mom to take my dad home. She’s 80 years old and the doctors are telling us that bringing him home will put too much stress on her. Mom already has a heart condition and honestly she is both emotionally and physically exhausted. She just can’t take care of dad anymore at home. We need another option.

I was told that you can help our family. Can you help us, please?”

How We Handled the Crisis

With time being of the essence, we immediately met with the client and her mother. We came up with a step-by-step game plan to stabilize the crisis and designed both a short and long-term solution. Our team worked with the daughter to gather the parents complete financial information. We placed the house and car solely in the mother’s name and saved a large amount of her parent’s combined assets. After being 2 1/2 months in the rehab facility, the family collectively made the decision to place their father in a beautiful long-term nursing home that specialized in dementia care. Once the crisis was managed and their mother was protected from financial devastation, she was able start enjoying her daily visits with her husband, as a loving wife not caregiver, at his nursing home.

Develop a Crisis Prevention Plan

At the Law Office of Scott D. Bloom, we look at each situation individually. We work with you to help you with your loved one’s emotional, physical and financial crisis situation. First, we listen to your concerns. Second, we help you develop a crisis prevention plan. We understand we need to develop a plan that works not only for you but also for your loved one.

If your loved one is in a crisis management situations or if you would like to talk to us about avoiding a crisis situation, please feel free to contact us today!