Florida resident Jack didn’t know what to do.
His 85 year old father who had been diagnosed with dementia two years earlier was constantly falling in his 2-story Kansas home. His mother, also in her 80‘s was her husband’s primary caretaker, but had her own health issues. After talking with his brother in Texas, Jack decided he wanted to move his parents to Florida to live with him, but realized he needed help managing the process.
Luckily, he heard about Cariloop, a Texas based company providing comprehensive services and online tools to help families like his. The company has developed a unique approach, pairing healthcare coaching with a technology platform that allows every family member to participate in the process through video conferencing. In Jack’s case, a Cariloop healthcare coach recorded a video chat with his brother in Texas and his parents who happened to be in Florida visiting Jack.
During the session it became apparent that neither the sons nor their mother had a real understanding of the health, financial or legal implications of dementia. The coach was able to focus the discussion and share appropriate resources which were uploaded to the company portal for the family to review at their leisure. Some of the issues included transferring medical insurance, finding a local neurologist after the move as well as memory and dementia support groups, the cost differential between home care and assisted living facilities, and the need for living wills and advanced directives.
Although Jack’s parents are still adjusting to the idea of a permanent move, they are now armed with good information that will help to facilitate the transition. For a relatively small fee, the Cariloop coach will check in on the family to see if they need further information.
In an interview, Jeryn Laengrich, MS and Senior Vice President, Chief Services Officer, explained that Cariloop was established four years ago when the founder recognized the need for an unbiased coach to help families plan and manage the care of aging loved ones. Topics they are prepared to tackle include health/medical,financial/legal, and caretaker stress/family dynamics.
“We started in Texas, but today we provide our services nationally,” she said.”Unlike our competitors, we do not take money from any referrals we make to our clients. It is important that we remain objective.”
According to Laengrich, Cariloop healthcare coaches are licensed assisted living professionals, social workers, nurses and therapists (speech and PT).
