//// By: David Petroski //// Did you hear the news that “…80% of [COVID-19] infections are mild or asymptomatic.” No, that quote is not from a dubious Facebook ad, or a cable news show personality, it’s from the World Health Organization’s Q&A page on the difference between COVID-19 and influenza. If that is true, how does one screen a caregiver

//// By Nancy Avitabile //// New York City, NY //// New York City slowly began shutting down around March 6. Some intrepid individuals continued to work until the Shelter-in-Place order was declared by Governor Cuomo on March 20. Aging Life Care Managers (ALCM) began to scramble; every day offered new information about public safety and disruptions in all aspects of

//// By: Tanya Schwartz, LCSWR //// “Please tell the caregivers that we won’t need them this Mother’s Day weekend” “What do you think my mother will find useful and enjoyable as a Mother’s Day present? “Could we speak about my parents’ well-being in person while I am visiting them this weekend?” These are all questions I often hear in my

By: Bridget Ritossa //// During the first week of April I spent 48-hours working a case given to me by an elder lawyer.  A client was at the hospital and deemed medically stable.  The nursing home that sent him there for cardiac trouble would not take him back unless the hospital agreed to the terms of providing 14 days’ worth

By:  Bunni Dybnis, MA, LMFT, CMC Our lives have changed dramatically as COVID-19 becomes the focus of most everything. The news, warnings, restrictions, instructions, double messages, shortages, politics, and financial implications are never-ending. For most, the initial chaos, fears, panic, and confusion settle in as we adapt to our new world.  For a small number, the major impact of their

By: Miriam Zucker, LMSW, ACSW, C-ASWC As Aging Life Care Specialists(r), we are called upon to provide an assortment of services. The needs are as varied as the families we are helping.  We continuously strive to be experts in our knowledge of homecare, entitlements, senior residences, elder law attorneys, and providing skilled and supportive counseling. But we are only effective

by: Bunni Dybnis, MA, LMFT, CMC COVID-19 has dramatically changed our world. The news, warnings, restrictions, instructions, double messages, shortages, politics, financial implications are never-ending.  Most are resilient.  After the initial chaos, fears, panic, and confusion, the emotional upheaval will settle down.  Most will adapt to the changing world as we have adjusted to life’s twists and turns. For those

by: Linda Fodrini-Johnson Millions of families, and my own family, are under great pressure during this unprecedented time in our nation’s history. We had been worried or concerned about our aging parents before the pandemic, but now we are even more stressed worrying about them contracting this devastating disease. There is so much conflicting (and sometimes just plain bad) advice

by: Charlene Neu Could COVID-19 have contributed to my Mom’s death on March 2? We will never know, though she was considered to be in the most vulnerable group and had been diagnosed with Pneumonia mid-February. What I do know is that as heartbreaking it was to lose her then, it would be devastating to be losing her now, when