[00:00:03] Speaker A: What a wonderful girl
[00:00:08] Speaker B: in the morning.
And we are back.
That's usually when from a section to another section within the podcast. But I'm shaking it up and I'm saying we are back in the sense that this is the beginning of the next episode. Since you last heard us on the previous episode, what do you think?
[00:00:39] Speaker C: Okay, I. I mean, I guess it works. I wonder if people listening will say, oh, did I not rewind at the beginning?
[00:00:46] Speaker B: Well, if you're paying attention, you know that it's fine and you haven't missed anything. And we're just raring to go here because you know why we're raring to go? I'll tell you why.
[00:00:55] Speaker C: Why? Why are we raring to go?
[00:00:57] Speaker B: Because if it's not one thing, it's Joanna.
[00:00:59] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, that's why. There you go. I like it. We haven't been saying that name enough in our intros.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: So yeah, you don't get it every single time, but we sprinkle it in every so often when necessary.
Today it felt necessary, especially because the topic we're talking about, which is coming back to resources.
I know we did a little series on resources and I'm going to kind of spoil alert a little of my post comments here. But like, resources are something that are not a one time thing to check out. You have to continually be checking them out because there's so much information that's out there and so many things that are available that you don't even know about. And we're going to find out about another organization today that we haven't even really had on our radar.
And I'm very excited to have Julie come on and talk about that.
[00:01:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: Which is the Area on Aging.
[00:01:57] Speaker C: I'm gonna give a little backstory on this. Cause you know, I'm constantly talking about the dog park. But several Sundays ago, I was at the dog park with Mom Barkside in Southfield, Michigan, and we spotted this really sweet little. Well, not little, a relatively large black dog. And it wasn't really coming over to us right away, which is kind of, you know, sometimes that happens.
Often dogs just, they gather around mom. So this one was being a little trepidatious, if you will. And eventually the dog's owner, Julie, came over and sat with me. I hadn't met her before we started chatting.
She said that she could obviously see that mom, you know, probably had some dementia issues. And then of course discovered that expertise because she told me that she works for the Area Agency on Aging. And I've heard about the Area Agency on Aging. But I really hadn't dug into them as a resource because honestly, I guess I just didn't know enough about them. And I also wonder sometimes. We've got different organizations that we're involved with and I don't wanna be greedy about what we're using for mom when there are so many people in need. But the beauty of this pod is this isn't just about what we're using. It's about what other people could be using or could be considering. Or maybe there are pieces that different organizations might.
That combined will create a pretty cohesive situation for caregivers and their loved ones who are struggling in lots of different ways.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: Indeed. There's so much out there to explore and I suggest we just get right into it.
[00:03:40] Speaker C: All right.
[00:03:41] Speaker B: With Julie, the name has changed to Ageways, I believe.
[00:03:46] Speaker C: Oh, yes, right, right, right. She went through that.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: But she's going to tell you all about what she does. And a shout out before we go to that Julie to another Julie, Julie Halpert, who has been like an absolute bloodhound over the years researching relevant resources. I know you love an alliteration, Karen.
[00:04:04] Speaker C: Oh, nice.
[00:04:05] Speaker D: I do.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: And you know, we wouldn't be where we're at with some of the resources that we have coming into the house and helping mom without some of her dogged pursuit of those resources. And you need someone like that in a family.
[00:04:18] Speaker C: Well, listen, we are lucky that we have a reporter in the family who really has a.
She has a great instinct for figuring things out that really make a difference for us. So we are grateful for our Julie, Julie Halpert, our sister. And we are grateful for Julie Lowenthal from Ageways, who is going to come on right after we hear some tunage from our mom, Joanna, and we'll be right back.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: Okay? Okay. Okay.
[00:04:50] Speaker C: It's better if we have like maybe five seconds where we say nothing. And that way when I go to GarageBand, I can see the space.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: Was that five seconds?
[00:05:01] Speaker C: That's fine. Yes.
[00:05:02] Speaker B: I'd like you to keep that in. I think you might want to keep. That's one you could maybe keep.
[00:05:07] Speaker C: Maybe. We'll see.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: By the way, if you did keep this just as. As info for everyone, we have a when in doubt keep approach to editing.
[00:05:17] Speaker C: I think they've noticed that based on what they're listening to, I really like the authentic conversations. I think they're great.
[00:05:24] Speaker D: And I don't want to edit out
[00:05:25] Speaker C: a ton of it, nor am I really that capable of editing out a ton of It. So it's definitely making my life easier, but I also think it's giving us some nice chats that are.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And any. Anything that can shave off at least a couple minutes to your incredible work you're doing on the editing side. Very happy to do that.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows they're pretty trick
[00:05:58] Speaker B: today
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Somewhere over the rainbows skies are blue.
[00:06:15] Speaker D: Julie. Well, we covered in the intro that you and I met at Barkside Dog park when you were there with your sweet dog. What is your dog's name? Ryder.
And how he and my mom spotted each other across a crowded room, so to speak. And it was kismet. And then the fact that you came and sat with us and I learned about what you did, just it felt like such a really cool full circle moment for us.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: Well, and Julie, isn't it true that dogs can. I mean, I heard you guys mentioning that Ryder just kind of sensed that mom was someone who could use some affection.
And can't they sense that someone. I don't want to say something's wrong, but like someone needs comfort or is a little bit ill or a little bit diminished. And dogs just know that without even knowing the person.
[00:07:03] Speaker E: Yeah. So I think dogs naturally have that ability. I mean, some dogs don't. Some dogs, you know, don't care whatsoever. And then other dogs are more.
And I just so happen to get a dog that is very in tune to it.
[00:07:15] Speaker D: It's amazing. And then you. Did you go through a training with him in order for him to visit nursing homes, et cetera?
[00:07:22] Speaker E: Yeah. So he's a registered therapy animal through Alliance Therapy Dogs.
[00:07:26] Speaker D: He is a love.
A love. It was just the sweetest interaction and I loved it. And so it's what brought you to us today.
And so we really appreciate you taking your time to be with us.
So, Julie, you work for the Area Agency on Aging.
Can you just tell us a little bit about the area agency and also your background, your role in it?
[00:07:51] Speaker E: Yeah, of course. So we're actually known as Ageways now. We changed our name back two years ago now, but we're part of a national network of over 600 area agencies on aging across the United States. So we were actually founded back in 72 by an act of Congress called the Older Americans act, which was basically established to build that aging network in the United States. So what I always tell people is what we are is basically the old fashioned phone book for the aging network. Best way to explain it. And we do offer a lot of services and supports you know, Meals on Wheels is one of our funding sources that comes through the Older Americans Act. But if there's a service that people need, I always say, come to us first. Have that conversation with one of our resource specialists first, because we are the connection between all of the different groups around us. And I came to this. My mom will tell you that I was destined to be an older adult service since I was 6 years old. I fought against it my entire life. All of my siblings are actually working with kids, except for my brother, but the rest of them all work with children.
And I thought that's what I was gonna go to. And I actually got this job, funny enough, at a dog park.
[00:08:57] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh. That's amazing.
[00:08:59] Speaker E: Very interesting. You know, my dog was playing with another. Another gentleman's dog. And turns out me and the other gentleman's dad had been in a couple of meetings together for another group that I was working with. So he hunted me down on LinkedIn, said, My dad was offering you a job. Call him. And I said, okay, fine. So I started off with Area Agency on aging back in 2021, only working on a program called Caregiver Coaching. So I really came in as, like, the caregiver expert for the agency, and then slowly have worked my way over to the more of the advocacy and public public affairs and legislative affairs realm, because I saw that there was a need to really work with our legislators to build on those policies, because if funding runs out, like, we need that funding in order to keep these services alive, especially here in the state of Michigan, where we are the fastest aging growing population, or one of. I think we're like, number three now, or somewhere around that. Yeah, we're like three or four in terms of the fastest growing. And we haven't even seen the Silver Tsunami hit yet. So that's the boomer generation that's about to age out, and we don't have the funding or all of the services to serve all of them.
[00:10:12] Speaker D: Never heard that term Silver Tsunami, but it's such an amazing way to describe it is that based on the fact that people tend to stay here. You know, they grow up here, they live here, they raise their family here, and they don't move. Is. Is that why we have such a large aging population?
[00:10:30] Speaker E: I don't have an answer for you. Although, that being said, I did read recently that Michigan is becoming a retirement destination. So people are really starting to recognize Michigan as this, like, utopia of, like, you know, we have the mountains in the north and some waterfalls up there, and the trees and you know, a really like, our weather is generally pretty good. And so people are actually moving here to retire in the state of Michigan, which is just going to make our silver tsunami even worse for sure.
[00:10:57] Speaker D: Without especially. We've talked a lot about in this podcast the idea that there's this gap in care from younger generations who will potentially be taking care of that older generation.
And so I would imagine that makes ageways even more important because that caregiving gap is going to be enormous.
[00:11:15] Speaker E: Yes, very much so.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: So just so I get it right, it sounds like you guys are a mix of a gatekeeper for all types of aging services that someone might need and you can kind of steer them in the right direction to other organizations, but you also have your own actual services that you execute as well.
First of all, is that the right understanding of the approach or why are you.
[00:11:37] Speaker E: Yeah, so I would. So when I give presentations, that's what I say. But we also, we do in home services. So we do offer two separate in home services, the community living program as well as the My Choice Medicaid waiver program. We offer a bunch of evidence based programming, caregiver support programming. The funding for Meals on Wheels comes through us and then goes out to our various community groups that we contract with. We have options counseling, we fund adult day programming, we do safety programming. So like fall prevention, we do caregiver counseling. We're starting to now work our way into more behavioral health work for caregivers and we're starting to build out that a little bit more. So we really do a lot of services for older adults and adults with disabilities. So it, you know, it could be someone with a disability that doesn't. It isn't considered an older adult yet that we do also serve.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: So like, for example, we use a lot of. We've never. It's fascinating that I'm so happy to get to know everything you guys do because we really haven't been exposed to your group with what we've been dealing with with our mom. And we lean on Jewish, like a group called Jewish Family Services, which executes a lot of the, you know, supportive work that we do for her. So is that somebody that might be just in your network that you say, hey, you should contact these GU guys because they have those type of services or do your service maybe overlap with someone like that? How do you guys all coordinate within the community?
[00:13:05] Speaker E: So we overlap and we'll refer people over to them. It just depends on, you know, the types of services. You know, if it's Something that we don't offer, we'll say, hey, reach out to them. Or they might say, hey, you need Medicare counseling. So we also have a program called SHIP program. So it's the Met. It used to be called map. So Medicare Medicaid Assistance Program. So it was during open enrollment time, people could go to volunteer counselors and learn about like what their benefits are. Because that whole system is obviously very confusing as well. So I know that. I don't think Jewish families offers that. So they might send people over to us for that reason and say, hey, go and get a SHIP counselor. Cause you have questions about this. And these people are very knowledgeable on that service.
[00:13:44] Speaker B: Absolutely. And so of all of the aging services that you provide, what, we're a little bit biased because our mom has dementia. But like, how much of it is Alzheimer's dementia related versus other aging stuff that you have to deal with? Would you guess?
[00:13:59] Speaker E: Great question. So we don't do anything. I wouldn't say, like, anything is specific. Like here is an Alzheimer's based program, you know, because we specialize in all of it. But we do offer really like one of our. Really. I really like the service is called True Alta.
Have either of you guys heard of Tipa Snow?
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Nope.
[00:14:17] Speaker C: I have.
[00:14:18] Speaker E: Okay, so Tipa Snow is. She's like the Alzheimer's communication.
[00:14:23] Speaker D: I think you told me about Tipa Snow. And then I did a little deep dive after we met.
[00:14:29] Speaker E: Yeah, and she did a.
[00:14:31] Speaker D: Sorry, go ahead.
[00:14:31] Speaker E: Yeah, no, and she did a. She actually a couple years ago did a thing like a workshop at Temple Israel that I went to. So she. And so we have a program called True Alto. It's an online based platform for caregivers.
I actually, Karen, I believe I mentioned that to you too at the dog park. And it offers 10 minutes, maximum 10 minute, like resources for caregivers.
Because we know that caregivers in general do not have more than necessarily 10 minutes at a time to watch, you know, a 15, 30 minute video on how to communicate with mom if she refuses to take her medication.
And so it offers, you know, two minutes all the way up to 10 minutes, very short videos of like, hey, mom's not taking her medication. What can I do? And you could like, come on, Tip of Snow. You can like look at a teepa Snow video or read an article about someone else who's had that same situation on how best effectively to communicate with someone who does have Alzheimer's and dementia and have that difficult conversation with them.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: And what's like the first, like when do you advise someone, okay, you're qualified and you're in the range, it's time to contact Ageways to check in and see what next steps might be for their aging process.
[00:15:40] Speaker E: I recommend as soon as possible. So a lot of people, do they
[00:15:43] Speaker B: have to exhibit some specific problem or symptom of old age yet or just preventatively do it?
[00:15:48] Speaker E: For most of our services, you just have to be successful. 60 plus, actually, for almost all of our services now, we do have some programs that are open more broadly with no income requirements or no age requirements necessarily, but 60 plus, and you are considered an older adult. It can access any of these resources that you want. So I strongly recommend that people start getting access sooner, especially because a lot of times, especially when I was working more deeply in the caregiver realm, I noticed caregivers were waiting until they were in crisis mode before getting the help that they need. And the problem with that is that we do have a lot of great programs. Some of them, unfortunately, do have WA wait lists, so you might qualify for it, but, you know, you might end up on the wait list. And so if you wait until you're in crisis mode, you know, then you're not getting that service immediately where if you did it a little bit before then, or well before then, you can get on those wait lists to get, you know, some of that in home care that you needed. Now, mind you, not all programs are like that. Meals on Wheels, you can get that almost immediately if you're. I think it's actually 55 and older or Meals on Wheels, so you can get that immediately. I tell all caregivers, get your parent on Meals on Wheels if they're living alone, because it's really just a friendly reassurance type program too. So they show up every single day and they have to put eyes on that older adult. So even if the person's not eating the meal, it gives that caregiver the peace of mind that someone's putting eyes on mom every single day and they're using their senses. So mom's opening up the door. The house doesn't smell bad. Okay, we're good on that front. You know, I can peek into the house. I can't physically walk in, but it looks clean and tidy. But if they didn't open the door or the house smells funny, or, you know, they peeked in and it looks like a hoarding situation and it's not safe, or they'll let their supervisors know and the supervisor will let the caregiver know and say, hey, there's something going on here. You gotta get over there now.
[00:17:30] Speaker B: Buddy is a Meals on Wills delivery guy in la and it's really. He's been doing it for a few years. And like you say, it's amazing how important it is just to get those eyes there because at a glance you can see if something is wrong. I mean, just, just if they're able to go to the door and greet you and say hi and take the meal. That's a hugely positive step right there. And not everyone is able to do that. A quick question on the funding for that because I recall that there was a little bit of a. I don't want, I don't know if it's crisis. He says that things are still going okay for now, but there was some threat to the funding specifically for Meals on Wheels. Was that true? Okay. And stable for now. Is there anything you know about that?
[00:18:05] Speaker E: Yes. So, okay, so Older Americans act funding every five years needs to be reauthorized. So we are currently not reauthorized. That being said, reauthorization does not mean appropriation. Reauthorization is just kind of the credit card limit. So Congress, so the federal government creates like essentially the credit card limit for all of these services and programs underneath the Older Americans Act. And there's some issues going on there in terms of some in house fighting on what some of that reauthorization looks like. However, we do get appropriated every year, so they're appropriating us at the same amount that we had from five years ago. So the funding still exists and it's still good funding. But we do offer, and actually I run a program in the state of Michigan called the Silver Key Coalition, which is through that funding source and to make Michigan a no wait state. So currently in the state of Michigan we have over 6,000 older adults and adults with disabilities that are waiting to either get, are on wait list to get either in home services or home delivered meals. And each area agency on aging group that, you know, disperses out those funds does it differently. So some people might, you know, put more money towards meals and wheels and get everyone off of those wait lists where other people might not do it that way. And we each have our own discretion on how we handle that.
Um, but in order to fund just getting 6, the 6,000 off that wait list, we need an additional $10 million. Now they did put $2 million into the state budget. And so we're hoping that that will go through and then that will go towards home delivered meals. So no the funding is safe and I want to reassure everybody the funding is safe. So anyone 60 years or older or caregivers or adults with disabilities, so both of you guys could use those services. We have a great service for caregivers called Powerful Tools for Caregiving.
Every caregiver I've ever talked to that has gone through that class, it's a six week hour and a half each week course on how, like how to be an effective caregiver and also take care of yourself in the process because that's something we do notice is that as you're, as you kind of transition from this like independent to caregiving role and if you're in that caregiving role for a really long time, you sometimes forget to take care of yourself in the process. And I know you guys are very lucky to have, I know there's, I think Karen, you told me there's three of you. So you guys are very lucky. But not everyone is as lucky as you guys are. And so that's a great class that you guys qualify for. And you know, any caregiver of any
[00:20:26] Speaker D: age would actually qualify for somebody find these services.
[00:20:29] Speaker E: Go to our website hwaze.org and then you can look up all of our different services and programs on our website.
It's pretty user friendly. We actually just updated it. I plugged to our communications team that was a year and a half in the making to update our website.
And you can find the different events and stuff that we put on as well. And now we'll show where the different health classes and et cetera are going to be.
[00:20:51] Speaker D: Put a link to that in our notes for the show when we publish so that people will have access to that as well.
[00:20:58] Speaker B: We also heard something about respite care for caregivers.
And is that first of all, what is that exactly? Is that like if caregivers need a break, there's some funding that allows them to take that break and get some money for other caregivers to come and give them that break. And is that something you guys deal with at all?
[00:21:16] Speaker E: Yes. And you explained it just right. So it we offer in home respite as well as out of home respite. So out of home respite would be adult day programs.
So basically day camp for older adults, you know, Brown center and there's one in most communities we do work specifically with a couple of them to lower that funding.
So like if you can't financially afford it, we do offer some voucher type styles to help lower that funding a little bit for Some people.
We also have a respite voucher program that I ran for two years that was in a grant and we just moved it over as a permanent part of the agency.
And that program will offer, once we relaunch it, which we should be doing soon, we'll offer caregivers $575 to bring in caregivers to take care of their loved ones so that they could take that much needed break. Or if they would like, they can also pay a friend's family or neighbor. So we also know there's a direct care workforce shortage going on right now. And so you can also pay a friend's family or neighbor to provide that service for you and hire them to do that. And then it was something I was very insistent on because that's where like people wanted to use their own networks. You do have to go through a little bit of training.
It's not much. It's just how to use this platform that we're utilizing for it. But it was very successful for the caregivers that came through the program and then through the community living program, which is Older Americans act, that's like the non Medicaid eligible older adults funding source we do have in home respite care through there. And then I do know that the, my choice of the Medicaid eligible also has some form of respite care in there as well.
[00:22:52] Speaker D: You know, that's been an interesting conversation because I think I might have even mentioned this to you that, you know, our mom is, she has a pension, my dad has a pension, she collects Social Security. And as a result, when I go to look for certain things, I wonder, well, does she really qualify? Because, you know, she's not, she's not on Medicaid. But I, I feel like there are so many underutilized resources. I mean, now I'm listening to everything that you are talking about and thinking we haven't been talking to you guys at all. And you seem to provide so much that we need. And we're just a small sliver of the population who does. So what you're saying is that someone doesn't necessarily have to be low income or even, I mean technically Medicaid, Medicare doesn't start until 65, but there may be people who are under 65 who need that.
[00:23:41] Speaker E: Yeah, and that's correct. I mean, there are income limits for certain programs, like I said, but we do a lot of, especially within the Older Americans act pot of funding. And so I'd like to reiterate, there's two Pots of funding. There's like the Medicare, like the Medicare Medicaid pot for some programs. But again we're specifically contracted for those specific programs where it's just where that pot of funding comes from. The bulk of our funding really is Older Americans act funding. And part of that is we need to serve anyone who needs support and services. And so how we do that is through some of it is through a ranking system. So we look at not just financials, but we look at, you know, need where they're at. There's a whole slew of things that we're going to assess on a person when we do a full in home assessment, especially for community living program. So you might not necessarily qualify for someone to come into the home and provide that direct respite care, but you might qualify for home modification or you know, maybe grab bars or the accessibility device things where if you fall, you press the button. So like we offer those kind, you know, so we offer like in between things. If you're not necessarily qualifying to one level, you might qualify on a different level for the types of services that you need.
[00:24:52] Speaker D: Actually was my next question because you know, now my mother fortunately has a first floor master and a home that's very accessible for her. But now we're discovering things that we've talked about on here before, that her shower has a little step that she has to step over that I thought we'll bring in a contractor to remove that step. No, that's a massive process to retrofit her home, which was not set up for somebody to potentially wheel into with a walker or potentially one day in a wheelchair. Those are, it's interesting because I did, I don't even remember the websites that I went through just to look and see are there agencies that provide that. And now of course I'm on call lists and mailing lists. Every, every contractor is constantly sending me information and I don't know who's legit, who's not legit. So if people call you, if they call your agency, can you direct them to different organizations that will help with those kinds of processes?
[00:25:47] Speaker E: Yes. So if you call us, we have a huge database of resources and we can help families identify trusted community sources and resources and funding opportunities. So like large renovations like full bathroom remodels unfortunately are very, is a lot more limited and often depends on grant funding. But there are some places out there that do offer it, you know, and other places that might offer more like limited stuff like ramps or minor accessibility modifications. It really just unfortunately it really Just depends on the funding that's available and the grant funding that's available.
[00:26:20] Speaker D: I can imagine they don't have the funds to renovate everyone's bathrooms, but you're right. You know, listen, even installing grab bars or knowing where to install grab bars can make a really big difference. Do you have people who can come into the homes and look and say we recommend this or you need this or you should be considering that?
[00:26:37] Speaker E: I don't know if we do directly, but we do have community partners that we work with closely that do have. You know, we work with different contractor groups too that you know, as there's. I actually recently learned of a group of contractors that started their own nonprofit provide on like, as like a volunteer based and as need based type thing, you know, in home services like that where they'll come in and do like assessments and do those repairs. And again it's really depending on when they're available because you know, they still have their full time jobs but they also do this as a side of like I'm going to volunteer my time to do this because it's the right thing to do.
[00:27:12] Speaker D: That's a lovely give back for sure. For sure. So it sounds like your organization really focuses on trying to keep people at home if possible or in a family home if possible. Do you also assist with helping people if they need to make a transition to assisted living or they're considering making that or trying to help figure out if it's time?
[00:27:34] Speaker E: Yeah, so that actually is through our options counseling. So we'll help families explore care options. You know, our main mission is to keep people in the communities and homes of their choice as long as possible. But it's all about safety. So if it's not safe for them to stay in that home, then obviously like they shouldn't be there, you know, and, but if it's. But we generally think people want to stay in their home so let's keep them in their homes. So often that conversation's gonna start when safety concerns, you know, caregivers tend to become caregiving tends to become very unsustainable in the home or someone needs, you know, more care than the family can provide or the funding is available to the, that is to manage anything at home. So a lot of these warning signs are like, you know, frequent falls, wandering, medication issues. Caregiver burnout is a huge one. Caregivers often will not realize how burnt out they are. And then, you know, and if you're burnt out, then you're not caring for your love adequately which is a huge cycle that we see and also repeated hospitalization.
And that's where you kind of start to say, okay, like is this a safety concern to keep this person in our home? And our role is not to make the decision for the families, but to provide education options and support so that they can make an informed decision based on the situation, goals and finances that are available.
[00:28:50] Speaker B: And you mentioned there's, you guys have your own funding, but you also work with Medicaid and Medicare. So is there anything people need to know about how that works? Because maybe something you're doing is something that you're just paying for out of your own budget or is everything funneled through, through Medicare or Medicaid? Like where's, where's the distinction with those things?
[00:29:10] Speaker E: I would say the biggest distinction is the My Choice program. So we are considered a waiver agent. So if that's the Medicaid Care does not offer long term care options. Medicaid does. So that's the Medicaid long term care and support service dollars, line item budget. So that's like where PACE gets their Medicaid dollars, nursing homes gets their dollars.
So that's all in one like funding pod. And then the state kind of distributes that out based off of need and reimbursement, et cetera.
And so we are not like, we work closely with insurance provider. So through the My Choice program, that's how we get Medicaid dollars. And we do options counseling like the MAP program and CHIP counseling during open enrollment to get people that informed decision making, you know, and help make, help them get education on the decisions that they have to make. But we're not direct like providing, you know, care through that. Although that being said, I think it is changing a little bit with some of our behavioral health counseling that we're looking at doing. So we might be working a little bit more with Medicare through that behavioral health, you know, and caregiver counseling. But again, that's like more. We'd be more of like a provider for like a. If you went to like your own therapist on the side who accepts Medicare type of thing.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: And what is. We saw something about something called the guide model. Can you tell us what that's about?
[00:30:32] Speaker E: I am by no means an expert on the guide model, so I know very. All I know is that it's a newer Medicare initiative focused on improving dementia care and caregiver support. So like I said, no means an expert at all. I wish I was. But you know, and ivac, you're not the first person that's asked me about it. If you want to know more, I direct you to one of our MAP counselors because, you know, this is what they study. But it's through more of an interdisciplinary team approach, emphasizing on, like, and it has, like, a very strong emphasis on, like, caregiver education, care navigation, and support programs. And I know care navigation has been a big push on the national front. So bringing caregivers into the care team, so not just being like, oh, this is just another family member in the room, and, like, but we're not gonna, like, work with them, but actually bringing them in as this, like, care team. Cause I also work with our federal government on the national caregiver strategy, so I know that that's been a huge push on through that. That initiative as well. Is that care navigation piece.
[00:31:31] Speaker D: I mean, you're describing your role as well as the agency's role, and I'm imagining that you're working about a hundred hours a week because there's. There's a lot to it, even just. I love the idea that when it's time to go to, you know, add Medicare to your repertoire, to have people to talk to, to guide you through that, because it is a very confusing process. And that process doesn't end just because you sign up for Medicare. It's now what. And I know people who are in that position now who have said it is a maze of confusion, and I really need guidance. And then you don't know who to turn to, because some people are for profit. Some people might not be answering your questions in the most productive way, because it's not. They're not just looking at it from a nonprofit point of view, I guess, is how I'm trying to put it. It's really impressive what you do. I feel like we have some real missed resources here that I'm. I'm jotting down everything you're saying and thinking, oh, we haven't looked at that. We haven't thought of that. And, you know, we are by no means experts, but when we're on our own caregiving journey, we are really looking. And the purpose of our podcast is to provide these resources and give people some food for thought that maybe you haven't considered this or considered that. So I know this is very hard for you to narrow down because you have a massive scope to your job. But if you had a piece of advice that you would offer families who are either in the beginning stages or have been deeply immersed in navigating care for their loved one, what's Something that we must tell people before we let you go.
[00:33:01] Speaker B: Besides finding Ryder at the dog park?
[00:33:03] Speaker D: Yes. Well, that's step one. Everybody should join.
[00:33:06] Speaker E: That's a good one. To be honest, I would just don't,
[00:33:08] Speaker D: you know, I know. All joking aside, but I have talked to the dog park owners about you really need to have a senior day where you just bring in people from either assisted living homes or invite them in as a communal group because it is a delightful space.
[00:33:22] Speaker E: They probably would, too. I think they're very open to that. What I would tell people is don't wait until there's a crisis to ask for help.
You know, many caregivers wait until they are completely overwhelmed before reaching out. And the earlier that families connect to resources and support systems, the more options that they usually have. And then the other thing more specifically to caregivers is actually caregiving is not. Not something people are meant to navigate alone. In asking for help early can make a major difference. But a lot of people don't ask for that help because they're just like, that's my mom. This is what I do. Or, you know, or they won't even identify as a caregiver because, you know, they're caring for mom and dad, and mom and dad are in a different state, but you're still a caregiver, and there are resources available to you. It, you know, that first big step is asking for that help. But whatever that help looks like for you now, it could be having your friend come over and just hang out with you, or it could be, I need some respite care, and I need to get out of the house. I need to go get my own hair done. And so asking your neighbor to come help for just the hour that you can sneak away, taking that one step I've seen makes a huge difference for caregivers. Sure.
[00:34:30] Speaker D: I would completely agree. Andrew, you certainly are more on the, you know, boots on the ground with mom now. And I mean, wouldn't you agree that that piece of taking care of yourself has got to be one of the most important pieces in your life as well?
[00:34:45] Speaker B: Absolutely. And I think just this designation of caregiver in addition to son, daughter, is a really important distinction to make because you really are doing things that you weren't specifically trained for, that you're kind of learning on the fly takes a toll. And so, of course, you feel like, well, they did it for me growing up. It's now my term to do it for them. It's a circle of life. But still, you know, we are entitled to support and education and community and all those things that help. Help the process go a little bit smoother. So thank you so much, Julie, for all that you're doing to help us.
[00:35:18] Speaker E: And Andrew, I can imagine that role reversal had been a little confusing at first for you of like, you know, the changings and the hairdoing and all of that.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: Well, yeah, I mean, my sisters are, you know, have done a little bit more of the heavy, heavy lifting. Like, I never do any of the changing or any of that stuff. I've just. I make sure we've got the resources in place to make sure that that happens.
[00:35:39] Speaker D: That's not a small thing.
[00:35:40] Speaker B: You are not. Sometimes there are emergencies, and that's when Karen runs over and takes care of it. And that. That work. I honestly, I can't imagine. I can't imagine what would happen if. If I was alone and I had to do that, obviously I would. It'd be bad for everybody involved.
[00:35:55] Speaker D: He said yes. Do I get into the nitty gritties of that when I do? Of course. But Andrew's managing care, which in itself is a huge piece, and then we only have care for a few hours a day. So there' of navigation of, well, if we don't have somebody coming over, then how are you going to get to this? And those are not small things. In addition to just grocery shopping and budgeting and making sure that there's food in the fridge and, you know, making sure that every last need is taken care of. Are we running out of briefs? Do we have wipes? Do we have a visiting nurse coming today? Are there volunteers coming? It's not a small.
[00:36:30] Speaker E: I have a question for you guys. At what point did you both identify as a caregiver versus this is just Mom. And this is what I do.
[00:36:37] Speaker B: I don't know if I've ever really still identified technically as it, you know, every time I hear the word caregiver, I assume we're talking about one of the three incredible women that come in every day, or there's five that have. They come in three times a day. I assume that we're talking about someone that's professionally trained to handle senior care stuff that we pay to do that I think I'm still not completely obviously terming myself that, even though I know that I am.
[00:37:03] Speaker D: It's funny that even when we started the podcast now, 21 episodes ago, our goal is to create a community of caregivers. And of course we are caregivers. But if. If I'm honest, I guess I never really use that term to describe me. So I'm glad you asked that question because certainly, I mean, we're deeply immersed and I have been, you know, Andrew moved back here a couple years ago to help. I've been. This is my second parent that I've been caregiving for my dad in a lesser way just because his debt wasn't. He didn't last as long in the state. But yes, we're caregivers and so is our sister. Julie.
It is definitely an interesting point when you realize we're in complete role reversal. And I don't even know if most people would be able to say it was at this moment when I realized. But, man, when you're in it, you're in it.
[00:37:52] Speaker B: Julie, it's a great comment and question from you and I would like to task you with something as we leave here.
I think. I really think we do need a different term for relative or friend, reluctant caregiver type person. Because I think most people out there, when they hear caregiver, they think nurse or something of that equivalent. And even though we have all the rights to be called caregivers, we are something different. There is that familiar relationship. There's something that we're sacrificing from our initial obvious trajectory that now has to kind of detour a little bit. I don't know what that term is. We don't have to come up with it today, but maybe that's a little subcommittee. You can start over at Ageways to figure out what that could be. Or is there such a term? Is anybody using something else but caregiver for us?
[00:38:41] Speaker E: I mean, we call you guys family caregivers or, you know, relational. And then we call everyone else either professional caregivers or direct care workers.
[00:38:49] Speaker B: I guess that's a pretty simple way to do it. Maybe we've already solved it.
[00:38:52] Speaker A: It.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:38:53] Speaker E: But I mean, I do understand what. I totally get what you're saying that like. Because, like, saying family caregiver a thousand times over would be annoying. So, like, I'm just. I just keep saying caregiver. And in your head you're thinking caregiver is the direct care worker. But from a professional capacity, I'm thinking caregiver is you guys. And, you know, the direct care workers are the people that you guys are bringing in to help.
[00:39:13] Speaker D: First way to reach out to your organization would be to go to ageways.org I assume, as kind of a starting point.
[00:39:20] Speaker E: Yeah. Or call our 1-800-number at any point between 9 to 5. You'll get a person on the other end of the line.
[00:39:26] Speaker D: Amazing. We thank you so much for your time today. These are invaluable resources. And again, I knew so little about it. What a beautiful, fortuitous meeting at the dog park. I hope I will see you there again. My mom just loves your dog and I, I was so grateful to chat with you and it was really amazing when you came over and sat with us. I thought, oh, this is a like mind.
I can tell that she really just has a very warm heart and what a beautiful place for us to connect.
[00:39:57] Speaker E: I totally agree. It was a pleasure, guys.
[00:39:59] Speaker B: Thanks, Julie, for all your good work.
[00:40:01] Speaker E: Thank you for all your good work.
[00:40:02] Speaker B: You're welcome. All right, and we'll be right back after mom plays us a little ditty.
[00:40:14] Speaker A: Getting to know Getting to know all about you Getting to know you Getting to know what to do Getting to know you Getting to know all about you and when you see more, it's
[00:40:48] Speaker B: gonna be fascinating discussion with Julie. And again, just such a reminder that it's a full time job keeping track of all these resources because, and I'm thankful for this podcast in a way because through these discussions we're also learning, not just sharing stuff with the community, but we're like getting updates for ourselves and for mom and things that we need to look at and understand and keep a track of. And it's also a reminder that a lot of these resources are really funded through obviously NGOs and the government itself and donations in general. So those are things that like, don't always continue uninterrupted or unchanged. And so you really need to keep track of is the funding still there and has anything been changed or all those things. And it's nice to know that, that they're these organizations and it's incumbent upon us to just stay up to date and stay in touch with them. And also, I mean, we didn't really ask. We know what, we don't ask. What can we do for them besides broadcasting that they're available and they're a great resource and boy, they do incredible work. I wish there was more we could do to help promote that.
[00:42:02] Speaker C: Well, I will tell you, I don't mean to get into politics, but the fact is that if we're looking at organizations that are funded through the government, then we should be paying attention to who we're electing and making sure that these people really are focused on resources for those who need them.
If I know that taxpayer dollars are paying for something that is a taxpayer, I'm Keeping track of who's voting on what and what bills are getting passed and what kind of funding is available and where that funding is coming from. Because we know we have this aging population that is going to run out of resources at the rate that we're going. So the more resources, the.
Yeah, I do feel that what we do for them is, well, we vote and we make sure we're voting for people who care very deeply about these issues.
[00:42:54] Speaker B: Well, and there's also a tension there because we want to be able to afford all the things that we need, not just for seniors, but for everyone who needs help from the government.
And it's a challenging thing sometimes to navigate where that money should go. So certainly you would think that with the. Wait for it. Senior tsunami coming up, nice. That a focus. An increased focus on the aging and dementia and these areas should increase in, if not funding, at least exposure and concern and discussion and hearings and. And politics is all local. So we need to hear our positions that our local leaders have and what they are willing to do and what their stances on all of this are. And so, yeah, it's relevant to say that these things do depend on government a lot. That's the truth. And hopefully they'll.
What is it? Sunlight is the best disinfectant. I don't know if that is applicable.
[00:44:03] Speaker C: I'm not sure that's what you're looking for.
[00:44:05] Speaker B: Hopefully things will grow out of the ground, like plants.
[00:44:10] Speaker C: I think you're doing a really bad job with this analogy.
[00:44:14] Speaker B: Can you say English teacher?
[00:44:17] Speaker C: Well, I guess. Are you trying to say that when we shed light on something, it becomes more prevalent, more relevant, more understandable? Because I'm not following where you're going.
[00:44:29] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Generally I'm saying that the more we talk about something that's important, the more likely it is that good things will happen to help resolve that situation.
[00:44:39] Speaker C: Basically, just say that. That sounds great.
[00:44:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess I could have just said that.
[00:44:44] Speaker C: I also like the fact that Julie mentioned that the time to call an organization like Ageways is yesterday. The minute your needs start to arise, start making phone calls, start asking, well, what's available?
Where can I get help?
And how can that help lead to other areas of help? We started with phone calls to certain organizations that led to this conversation. That conversation. That conversation. If we're not digging in and asking a lot of questions, we might be missing out on some really valuable pieces that could make our lives as caregivers easier and certainly include the quality of life for the people for whom we are caring well.
[00:45:29] Speaker B: And this is a through line theme that's coming up in a lot of different topics that we cover, like long term care, insurance, and everything else that we're talking about, which is it's never too early to start to get to understand the environment here. And even if you're Young, in your 30s and 40s, to try to think about when I get older, what's going to happen, how do I prepare for that, what do I need to do? And if you're a family that has older parents that are in great shape right now and maybe you're only in your 50s, well, it's not too early also to kind of say, okay, are we set for when things turn? Because they might turn quickly, sadly, and you won't be prepared. And it's never too early just to start to understand what this landscape is about and start to prepare yourself because that helps immensely when the time comes to deal with these things, for sure.
[00:46:19] Speaker C: You know, you know me, I'm a big prepper. I've got everything ready.
[00:46:23] Speaker B: One of the best. When Karen goes on her yoga retreats around the world, she leaves me a care package in place in case the plane goes down. It's like, it's like a go to go to the bank and I'm ready to unlock all the secrets and the boxes and all that stuff. I appreciate that you are prepared.
[00:46:43] Speaker C: I mean, I just want to make life easier for everybody after I'm gone so that they can miss me and not curse me.
[00:46:47] Speaker E: Me.
[00:46:48] Speaker C: How's that?
[00:46:50] Speaker B: Those are wise words. Wise words to live by.
[00:46:52] Speaker C: Thanks. All right, I think we're done.
[00:46:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Why don't you. You're always better at the salutations.
[00:47:00] Speaker C: I am.
[00:47:00] Speaker B: I'll let you do that.
[00:47:02] Speaker C: We appreciate hearing from you. We love your thoughts, your suggestions, your comments, your questions that sort of rhymes. You can email
[email protected] you can follow us on social media. If it's not one thing, it's Joanna on Facebook. Or if it's not one thing, it's Joanna on Instagram. You can send us a dm. You can comment and share. Please, like listen, subscribe, share. Tell everybody who could benefit from our podcast that we're out there because we're here to help you and we feel
[00:47:36] Speaker D: great when we hear from people who
[00:47:37] Speaker C: say, hey, listen to your podcast.
[00:47:38] Speaker D: I got great resources.
[00:47:39] Speaker C: Has made our lives better. That's our goal.
[00:47:44] Speaker B: Very well done as usual. Thanks, everybody. We'll talk to you soon. Here's mom to play us out out.
[00:47:58] Speaker A: Somewhere over the rainbow Skies of blue and the dreams that you you coming along and always will be today.
