Category: Seek On Blog (Consumer)

In 2019, Lifespark and UCare, an independent, nonprofit health plan, launched a partnership to improve health and life outcomes for seniors in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. What drew the two organizations together is a shared passion for helping people age magnificently. Lifespark spoke with Amy Wickman, RN, Vice President, Clinical Services at UCare, to learn […]

It’s natural to assume that pharmacists are in the business of dispensing medications, but experts in senior-savvy pharmacy are upending that business model. “As geriatric pharmacists, we look at each client with deprescribing in mind,” said Terri Fagan, RPh, CGP, Director of Clinical Services at Consonus Pharmacy. “It might seem counterintuitive, but deprescribing is the […]

When Bryan Robles talks about his beloved grandmother, Yancha, it’s as though she’s still dancing on this Earth. “She was larger than life and always down for anything: she’d play baseball with us, come to punk rock shows with me, go out for late-night sushi, and invite me and my friends over for happy hour,” […]

When Beth Nemec’s father, a former accountant, started showing signs of dementia, she stepped in to help her mother take over the household accounts. In spite of the convenience of having her parents’ monthly Medicare insurance payments and mail-order pharmacy bills paid automatically from their joint account, Beth had some concerns. As Director of Community […]

Fred and Noreen had spent the day doing things they loved—seeing live theater, eating dinner outside at a favorite restaurant, and going for an evening stroll. “It was just a beautiful, normal, perfect May day,” Noreen said. The couple, who were married six years ago, enjoyed an active lifestyle that included concerts and plays, walking, […]

After Grace, 98, was hospitalized for pneumonia in 2022, her daughter, Gail, started researching hospice and home care providers. This wasn’t new territory for her. A decade earlier, she had looked into home care agencies when her father’s health started failing. Her sister, Geri, who lived with their parents in the Twin Cities, was able […]

When Dr. Ben Bache-Wiig, MD, Lifespark’s Executive Medical Director, began practicing internal medicine some 30 years ago, primary care physicians were given the time to get to know their clients, build long-term, trusted relationships with them, and follow them from clinic to hospital to rehab—wherever their care took them. “That model of care doesn’t exist […]

Since the death of her husband, Marla* had been living on her own with some help from her adult children and her power wheelchair. But between her atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, edema, and ongoing difficulty finding reliable in-home care providers, she knew she needed more support. So, in early March 2023, she moved to […]

It was a postcard that arrived in September 2021 that prompted Delia* to pick up the phone and call Lifespark.  As Ridgeview patients, she and her husband, Carl*, had access to additional services, thanks to a joint partnership between the two organizations. After learning more about Lifespark COMPLETETM, she agreed to meet with Jen Wiley, […]

In September 2021, Denny, 83, collapsed in the home he shares with his younger sister, Judy. “I saw a bright light and then my brother-in-law, who died in March, walked over to me and said, ‘It’s not your time,’” Denny recalled, adding that if his sister hadn’t found him and called for an ambulance, he […]