Care Management at ElderHelp of San Diego

Care Management

What is a Care Manager? | Who does ElderHelp Serve? | Program Impacts |
Meet our Clients | Client Feedback

ElderHelp’s professional geriatric care managers provide in-home assessments for seniors to determine their need for supportive services. Care managers develop individualized care plans and maintain regular contact with seniors to lengthen their time at home and avoid placement in nursing facilities.

To seniors, there is no place like home. It means everything to get services in the one place that makes them feel safe and helps them keep their dignity.

What is a Care Manager?

Care managers are carefully trained, degreed social workers on staff at ElderHelp who are available to seniors and their families at no or low cost. Care managers are geriatric professionals with experience working one-on-one with the elderly and connecting them to resources at ElderHelp and in the community.

ElderHelp’s care managers visit seniors in their homes and create care plans that address a variety of important issues for our clients including:

Assessing medical, social and legal needs
Assisting with completion of forms
Monitoring home safety
Coordinating home delivered meals, grocery shopping and transportation
Checking eligibility for community programs and coordinating care with other agencies
Coordinating care and communication with family members and physicians
Identifying sources for home repair or medical equipment
Connecting to ElderHelp’s volunteer supportive services
Family meetings and end-of-life issues

Who does ElderHelp Serve?

ElderHelp is determined to make high quality assistance available to all seniors and their families regardless of their ability to pay.

Program Impacts

Last year, ElderHelp’s Care Management program achieved the following impacts and outcomes:

95% of clients receiving ElderHelp Care Management services avoided institutionalization and remain in their own homes.
Over 200 individuals received Care Management services last year; one senior has received Care Management services for 7 years.
ElderHelp’s care managers make an average of 70 home visits per month or over 800 per year.
Care Management clients receive services for an average of one year.
Our care managers resolve problems for over 80% of clients.
90% of Care Management clients with a history of missing doctor’s appointments have shown a reduction in missed appointments.
87% of clients with a history of recent emergency room visits have shown a reduction in ER visits.
72% of clients who were identified to have low levels of emotional well-being have shown improvement.
73% of clients with a history of falls in the home have shown a reduction in falls.
Client satisfaction surveys have shown a high level of satisfaction with our services with an average client satisfaction score of 4.5 on a 5-point scale.
ElderHelp responds to over 140 information and referral calls per month

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Meet our Clients

Joe G.

Joe G. is a very affable and gregarious 74-year-old man originally from New York. With a bit of a lisp, he’ll tell you in great detail about the best places to eat back in Brooklyn (as well as which places to avoid). Joe never married and has no children, so he relies on neighbors for social contact. Although he struggles with diabetes and severe arthritis, he still manages to keep an upbeat spirit through it all.

Joe rented a one-room apartment in a converted hotel downtown, where he spent the majority of his time watching television or gathering with other residents in the common area. There was no kitchen in his apartment, so through a grant from the Change A Life Foundation, ElderHelp was able to get Joe a small refrigerator, freezer, and microwave. These appliances allowed Joe to buy frozen meals, which are easy for him to prepare.

Despite these improvements, Joe’s apartment was very small and flooded whenever it rained. Unhappy with these living conditions, Joe wanted to move to a new apartment, but found the process overwhelming. ElderHelp’s volunteers assisted Joe in gathering necessary documents, filling out paperwork, and packing his belongings. With the support of ElderHelp, Joe recently moved into a brand new apartment with a view of the ballpark.

Gretchen M.

Gretchen M. is a feisty 86-year-old woman who enjoys cheering for the Padres and praying for other people. Although Gretchen deals with arthritis and osteoporosis, her main health struggle has been with macular degeneration, which greatly affects her eyesight. Gretchen’s struggle with her sight created stress and frustration and left her dependent on family, neighbors and volunteers to read and write private letters, help with bills, and write out recipes large enough for her to read. Increasingly, she found herself losing her independence and self-reliance. That’s when ElderHelp stepped in.

Gretchen’s care manager knew that she would benefit greatly from a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), which would magnify items and allow her to see more clearly. Unfortunately, like many seniors, Gretchen is on a very fixed income and she does not have any family or friends who are in a financial position to assist with the costs of such a device. Through the efforts of her care manager and a grant from the Change A Life Foundation, Gretchen received a CCTV at no cost to her.

Now Gretchen is able to slide notes, letters, and magazines under the magnifier and adjust the image to a size she is able to see. In addition, with the large TV monitor that came with the CCTV, Gretchen can now see her beloved Padres play. She can look at a recipe any time she wants or write out a check to pay her bills. Through ElderHelp, Gretchen has regained her independence as well as her feelings of self-confidence and self-worth.

Harry C.

Harry C. recently lost his wife of 65 years. He is an elder orphan, having outlived all of his friends and family. After receiving a referral, Beth, an ElderHelp care manager, contacted Harry to set up a home visit. Beth determined that he needed assistance with transportation, bill paying, home maintenance, and preventing isolation. Together, Beth and Harry developed a care plan to address his needs.

Today, ElderHelp’s trained volunteers regularly visit with Harry, shop for his groceries and assist him in tracking his monthly bills. ElderHelp’s new Senior Escort Program also provides assistance when Harry takes a cab to his medical appointments. Beth continues to monitor his needs and visits with him regularly.

ElderHelp has enabled Harry to remain living successfully in his home and retain his independence. “I don’t know what I would have done without ElderHelp,” says Harry. Fortunately, with the assistance of ElderHelp, he won’t have to find out.

John D .

John D. was a frequent visitor to ElderHelp’s La Mesa office. He would often drop in and chat, ask questions about resources, or simply put his feet up for a few minutes. At age 80, John became an ElderHelp client when he became ill. At the first home visit and assessment, it was apparent that John would need long term care management in order for him to continue living independently in his home

John’s care manager advocated for him with his doctor and helped him apply for transportation assistance. She helped him get a free phone for the hard of hearing so he could set up his many medical appointments. She matched John with volunteers who grocery shopped for him and helped with minor home repairs. She helped him find a housekeeper, arranged for daily RUOK calls to ensure that John had daily contact with someone, and referred him to a daily home delivered meals program. Recently, his care manager helped him apply for Southwest Airlines’ Home for the Holidays program so he could visit his daughter in Tennessee.

Now 84, John has been a client of ElderHelp for four years. We have monitored him when he was feeling strong and helped him when he was ill. He often says if he stops doing things for himself, he knows he will become weaker and have to leave his home. His optimistic attitude—along with the assistance of ElderHelp—has helped John to retain much of his independence.

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