The Power of Elder Mediation
There are many difficult decisions that families have to make as their parents get on in their years such as;
Who is responsible for care-giving?
Who will look after their parents financial affairs?
What type of living arrangements need to be made and when should they be made?
These discussions can create an enormous amount of conflict, especially when family members have very different ideas of what the right solution should be.
For this reason, many families choose NOT to have any further discussion until they are forced to when a crisis occurs;
- Parent has a stroke
- Mom has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
- Dad has had a bad fall
The family then operates from a stressful reactive mode and decisions are often made on the fly without time to consider the impact it has on everyone including the senior member.
Imagine for a moment Parents and Children alike having the opportunity to have their needs and concerns heard and understood from all the other family members in a safe and cooperative setting.
Imaging having the ability to make group decisions that not only addresses the health, financial and safety concerns of your aging parents but also the health and financial concerns of the main caregiver and other family members.
This and more is all possible through Elder Mediation
As a Nationally Certified Family Mediator and Certified Professional Consultant on Aging my role is to be a neutral facilitator for these family discussions while at the same time provide legal, financial & health information so families can make informed decisions to meet their parents needs.
It starts with individual private discussions with each family member and if the senior is able to be part of the mediation then I meet privately with the senior as well. Then we move into the joint mediations which often include telephone conferencing with those key family members who live out of town and cannot attend in person.
When agreements are reached, they are put into a Memorandum which becomes the written plan of action that everyone is on board with. Consider Elder Mediation BEFORE a crisis occurs and eliminate the hurt, angry and bitter feelings that can often end up in court.
