Want more on this topic?
Check out these posts:
Aging Magnificently – What Are You Afraid Of?
Before Carl met his Life Manager, he spent lots of time in hospitals and emergency rooms. In addition to his primary care provider, he saw several specialists all of whom focused on the diagnosis they were experts in. This fragmentation led to a disconnected health care experience which often landed him in the urgent care or emergency room. And still, he couldn’t get off the roller coaster of health care crises. As his doctors dealt with each crisis, he’d get to go home, only to bounce back into emergency care with another urgent problem soon after.
He felt on his own. He felt his independence slipping.
Contrary to popular belief, as we age it’s the decline in health, not losing independence that we fear most, although the two go hand in hand. With Carl, he feared managing it all on his own and doing it wrong. That’s when it gets out of control – when seniors have too many people involved in their care without connecting the whole picture.
As the body ages, it’s natural for different things to come up that require attention or monitoring. Carl’s experience is an all-too-common consequence of traditional, reactive care: in and out of the hospital, back and forth to doctors’ appointments, on more and more medications, and a gradual loss of independence.
Like the early warning lights in your car, declining health doesn’t always come out of the blue. There are usually smaller red flags along the way. Just like that light in your car – it doesn’t seem that urgent, so you let it go for a few months until it becomes a check engine light.
It’s also why we often leave out the little red flags, such as that fall two weeks ago, from conversations with our primary care provider or even our own adult children. It’s not an issue until it is. The reality is, talking through those smaller things proactively can actually maintain independence in the long run keeping seniors off the sick-care roller coaster.
According to Dr. Bill Thomas, geriatrician and Lifespark Independence Officer, seniors fear loneliness as they grow old and losing their purpose. What’s interesting is that it is often these fears that contribute to ending up on the health care roller coaster. Feeling lonely can impact your health just as much as smoking 15 packs of cigarettes a day.
“Don’t confuse who you are with what you can do,” said Dr. Thomas. “Who you are is the sum total of all your experiences, knowledge, insights, grievances, and feelings – it’s all of you. As doctors, we are trained to believe that concentrating on a person’s medical history, diagnoses, and treatments is what matters. But the truth is, what matters most is defined by the person, not by their doctor. Quality medical care is important but it’s just one essential element of well-being. The rest,” Dr. Thomas added, “is about focusing on what matters most and shaping your life around that.”
That was Carl’s experience. He was losing hope, he was tired of managing all of the health issues and appointments and was closer to losing himself completely. Instead, he pushed aside his fears and sought help – a Life Manager, typically a registered nurse or occupational therapist, to help him pull his health and life goals together. Someone to help him work with his health problems instead of against them and help him find his way back to the things that give him purpose. Just a few months in and Carl hasn’t had one hospital visit.
We want to age magnificently whatever that means for each of us, but when a slight change in health occurs, we may pause, anxiety may creep in, and we become afraid. Instead of fearing the unknown or trying to manage the fragmented health system alone, reach out and share those small issues with a professional whose role helps you identify what you want, then coordinates services and planning to achieve those goals.
Carl is back riding his bike more consistently, (something he never thought was possible), engaging in his own health, tracking his blood pressure in a notebook, and socializing more because his Life Manager is a call away to talk through anything that comes up. He no longer lives in fear.
His story is a glimmer of hope that aging magnificently is possible when we have the right people on our team making sure that nothing gets in the way of our purpose. And that the only roller coaster you’re riding is the one at the Minnesota State Fair.
