A friend recommended The Caring Heart to me after recognizing my family’s need for a geriatric care manager.  At the time, I was juggling the responsibilities of caring for my mother, a stroke survivor, and my father, who was living in a nursing home before passing away from Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s.

Although I pieced together a system that allowed me to work and pursue outside interests, I began struggling with the the idea of making a transition.  I began caring for my parents in my early twenties, not long after college.  From day one, I had a plethora of stressful, depressing and difficult situations that made me wonder if my family was going to make it through. But there were many touching moments, and inevitably, I grew even closer to my mother, who had to watch her husband of 44 years slowly deteriorate.  Of course, we were already close.  When my father passed away, I wondered what would happen to us.  I was very concerned about how we’d walk through this situation together.  She needed to be cared for.  I needed to continue my education and my life.

Although mom and I had discussed making this transition, it just wasn’t happening.  I felt guilty and didn’t really know what to do.  She felt guilty, and she didn’t really know what to do.  No decision could be made, at least in my opinion, unless I felt she had say in the decision-making process.  But I was in a position that made me uncertain about whether those decisions would be ones we could manage together.  It was very important to me to work with someone who understood the nuances of the mother-daughter relationship.  Annice White did.

One of the best things about The Caring Heart is Annice’s love and respect for older people.  She evaluated mother, her health status, cognitive abilities, our household situation, and our relationship in a way that helped us navigate the difficult moments.  She helped me better manage the services I needed to make our transition.  She made sure I understood my role as my mother’s adult daughter and emphasized how much she should be respected as an adult despite her infirmities.

We eventually decided to move mother into a long-term care facility.  Annice helped us by evaluating local facilities and their amenities.  She brought us a record of these places, visited them, and supported our final decision.  After I decided to attend graduate school out-of-town, I knew I needed someone who could professionally attend to mom’s needs in my absence – but not someone who worked for the facility where she lives.  I needed an independent advocate.  The Caring Heart has been with us every step of the way.

Honestly, I would not have been able to leave my mother in her new environment without Annice’s support. As our care manager, she has made sure I get routine evaluations of my mother’s condition, habits, friends, and care.  Interestingly enough, I have witnessed a level of autonomy in my mother since our transition that was muted while we lived together at home.  All I can say is, although we were on the road to changing things, I think The Caring Heart helped us get there much quicker and much more smoothly.

The Caring Heart’s assistance has been more than  service.  It’s been a spirtual gift.

– Joi P.