Well it is with great pleasure that my success stories are all about our new consulting program!
My first success story is a woman who lives independently at home, Sally, who has a Parkinson's like disorder that will get progressively worse. She was referred to Maintain Me by her Physical Therapist. Sally is sharp, and she is our perfect client, can you guess why? Because she called us early, to make a plan for the future! She is doing just fine at home right now, but she wants a plan in place so when she does need the extra support--she already knows what that is going to look like, and where she will be. I was able to walk through her home with her and suggest she look at getting grab bars installed. But then we just sat and had a very open and frank conversation about what her options might be. We talked about the pro's of living in a community like: Peer support, meals being provided, and someone else doing the laundry! Sally had been so focused on the negative aspects of having to move and the like, that she had not stopped to consider all the benefits! When I was readying to leave she told me she felt relieved, not only to know some of the great options that were available to her, but also because now she knew who to call at any time when she wanted to talk about what's next and how to navigate the process.
Another consulting success story brought me to Jim's house. He had recently had a small stroke, and his family out of state was very concerned about him- rightly so. Jim doesn't have any local family because his kids are attending University out of the country for the time being. I offererd the family members that I would happily go meet with Jim and get a better understanding of his immediate needs. I set up a zoom for his kids and brother to join us; Jim, myself, and my lit up lap top got to work. It was not easy for Jim to accept that he could indeed use some extra help. But I could see from his home environment that he needed help managing. So we were again, matter of fact and down to the point. We worked together to establish his personalized care strategy- his goal was to increase quality of life and have more time for social life and his writing. OK-We can work with that! I helped him meet a few neighbors who could provides rides to their local rec center. We set up a home care agency to help him- with laundry, keeping the house clean, and all the things he was having trouble keeping up with. He didn't need CARE, as much as day to day support managing a home and recovering from a stoke, and still focusing on the things that made life rich for him- his writing, trips to the rec, and long chats on the phone with other retired professors. We still chat every now and then and I certainly welcome his calls for quick advice or a phone number for a plumber.
I truly love our program, the way we wrote it is straight forward for our clients to know what they are getting for their money, and how long it will take, and that we remain their steadfast contact for support, now matter what. I think it gives clients a way to be independent in their lives, having a person they call when they need something, and not relying on someone else to manage what they would prefer to handle, like any adult who has lived a rich and meaningful life!