Richard Wexler (speaker):
You're very welcome. Thank you for joining us. I want to start by by asking you a few questions. Can you explain what an independent board certified patient healthcare advocate is and what the qualifications typically are for that. Ailene Gerhardt (speaker): Sure, it's likely that many listeners have not either heard of, or worked with, an independent board certified healthcare advocate. So it's a great question to start with. We are professionals who help patients navigate the complexities of the healthcare system. We help people make informed decisions and ensure that their needs and preferences are heard and respected. Typically, an independent board certified patient advocate has certification from a recognized body like the Patient Advocate Certification Board, and often we come to the field from either a personal experience and or professional experience in healthcare, in social work, or other related or allied field. Richard Wexler (speaker): Very interesting. I have not heard of someone like that before. I'm not sure if my listening audience has as well. They may be ahead of me, which is entirely possible. So what's the value? And working with a board certified patient advocate, how can that possibly brighten or better the health care experience for clients and those around? Ailene Gerhardt (speaker): Well, having an advocate on one's team, someone who is outside of the emotional or other connection to the the patient, or in my case the client, gives an opportunity to to greatly improve that that experience. Navigating healthcare by providing some personalized support and being able to clarify medical information that's being delivered. We're not people who who offer medical advice, but we understand what clinicians are sharing with clients and certainly know reliable resources to learn more beyond doctor Google, which is of course not always a reliable resource. We help people communicate and coordinate that communication with their care team and make sure that the clients goals and preferences and values are being advocated for. This support not only benefits my client/the patient, but also really extends to the client support system. It may help in reducing stress and making sure and ensuring that everyone is informed and involved. Richard Wexler (speaker): Interesting. And folks, we're we're about 8 minutes into our conversation. This morning, and I know, ohh hold on and buckle up, I'm about to mention my four letter, horrible word, called PLAN. Then, but since most of us, including my wife and myself, don't do that, and then something happens: Mom, Dad, grandparents wind up flat on their back and really don't understand this new world that they're in, which probably starts with a hospital. I can see how valuable this is, so let me take that to a little different little different question. With all your experience in healthcare advocacy, what brought you to working with "Solo agers"? Ailene Gerhardt (speaker): It's a great question. So over time, and in my experience since being a a board certified healthcare advocate since 2018, and also offering community education workshops, I really noticed a highlight in in gapping for support for individuals without a reliable support system. So people who are without the support of adult children or of their family members, and for me, that's the framework of a solo ager. That can be a whole continuum of folks. But recognizing the challenges that Solo Agers face, such as that lack of a built in support system, I was really curious and inspired to focus on providing some specialized guidance and resources to really help Solo Agers, navigate those complexities in the healthcare system and beyond of of aging independent. Richard Wexler (speaker): So let's talk about this for a second and I talked about this word a lot, it's a bad word called "assume". We don't want to assume, but we do. We assume there's adult kids out there. Mom, Dad, grandparents get sick, and there's adult kids. But let's look at a situation and ask "Where?" She's not a mom, she's an 80 year old lady. Her husband has passed. You tell me if I'm kind of narrowing in here on what we're talking about. She had no children, and now something happens to her. Is that a solo ager? Ailene Gerhardt (speaker): Sure. So it can be someone who was formally married or partnered and is now a widow or widower. It can be someone who has not married, who's single, or someone who's currently partnered. But yes, is without that support of adult family members, be that children or other extended family members, and so they're navigating a lot of these pieces of aging on their own. They are having to make intentional choices about who's a part of their support system and just going to that word "assume", which I like to sometimes change to "presume" right? What we're also finding as people age, and I'm sure this comes up in conversations with with your guests and in the work you do, is just even if we presume that adult family members are available, they may or may not be willing, or able to assist an older adult as they age. While I have a focus on providing resources specifically for that intentionality for Solo Agers, I often find that the work I do certainly applies to everyone as they age. It's just that for self identified solos, they really have to again have that intentionality about who they bring in to their support system. Richard Wexler (speaker): You know, I find that very interesting and I obviously agree with you again, assuming, presuming we hope if there are adult children, they get involved with Mom, dad, grandparents. But as I've talked about a lot in previous episodes and I know you know, most of us don't live near where we started with Mom and Dad. It may be a move because you met an individual, married them, they became your partner, it may be because of a career, or it may be both. You could be hundreds of miles away, many states away, or you could even be out of the country. What you were just talking about, that she is mom and she's 80 years old, so there's no one really to help support her and guide her through this very tough time and and talking about that. What are some of the other challenges that Solo Agers go through and experience? Ailene Gerhardt (speaker): Well, when it comes to navigating the healthcare system, which is complex for anyone and everyone, even those of us who who are well steeped in navigating the healthcare system. There are difficulties in making healthcare decisions because if you are someone who lives on your own, or does not have as robust a support network as they would like, being able to talk about healthcare decisions and managing complex medical conditions, or having someone to go with you to take notes at a medical appointment or other kind of appointment, or help you prepare for that appointment, or even discuss treatment options. As a clinician may provide different options for us and then we ideally decide based on our own values and how it impacts our quality of life, if we are limited in who we're able to discuss that with. That can be a barrier to how we make decisions and and sometimes can be a barrier to, you know, a healthcare outcome. I always give the example of a colonoscopy. If you don't have someone to sign you out of a colonoscopy, it's well known that that cannot be a cab driver, cannot be an Uber or Lyft driver, right? It has to be someone who is able to sign you out and make sure that you've arrived back at your home space safely. If you do not have someone to provide that, and again that impacts Solo Agers, but it also impacts anyone in a daytime right medical availability window, you may put off going to that screening appointment or preventative screening, which can affect a health outcome. So there are things like that. There are pieces of different ways of coordinating communication among one's healthcare team, that all of those different pieces, when you have limited access to others to help, we know that being a patient even at an annual visit, is a full time job. It's hard to take everything in and take accurate notes and remember what was said, so having that support can make a tremendous difference. That's often something that people who identify as solo agers find as barriers in in navigating those pieces. Richard Wexler (speaker): You know, I find that very interesting and I think about my own life. I'm a fairly educated individual, so when I'm younger and in my 40s, I'm in my 50s, sometimes going to the doctor can be challenging. And based on their bedside manner, I mean, they may be talking about things from a scientific standpoint that are going totally over my head. And as we age and we get into our mid and late 70s, and into our 80s and beyond, I can certainly see how that can be even more challenging. Unless you have a a formal medical education yourself, to understand this and understand all the different things that are gonna happen in a hospital process and why the value of having someone with you, and I think you said this early on in our conversation. Maybe in the situation wherein there are adult children, maybe those adult children aren't the best to be having having with you in healthcare appointments and so on and so forth. And speaking with the doctor and this advocate can be doing some fantastic work to really help you and take some of these complexities out of it. In all the time you've been doing this, my guess and I could be wrong, but you've probably seen some success stories. Do you have any you can share with our audience? Ailene Gerhardt (speaker): Sure, I am fortunate that that I have seen success stories and I really recommend to people, whether you have the ability to engage a professional advocate, but even if you're just someone listening to this, thinking about how you approach healthcare appointments in general and supporting anyone navigating those, to have someone with you to again be able to take notes. That patient is the star of the show, the Advocate, whether professional or someone accompanying through friendship or family connection, is a supporting cast member. The patient is the focus, so it's really important that the clinician interact directly with that client/patient. So in terms of success, you know people often, unfortunately will receive a diagnosis, something involving cancer or oncology, and there are all these stories told that when that, you know when that occurs, everything else that comes after that is sort of referred to sort of as a peanuts cartoon, right? There's there's sound, but you don't really hear because you're trying to, as a human, absorb what's going on. When someone receives a diagnosis, when someone is hearing about information in different ways to make an educated decision for themselves, I've been fortunate to be a part of the team. I had a a client who identified as a solo ager who had a new cancer diagnosis and learning the navigation of how one coordinates with their care team, and how you identify reliable information about the diagnosis. What's available to you from the clinician? What are some websites and organizations locally and nationally that could benefit you? This is a whole new world when someone receives a diagnosis as you mentioned. We don't speak medical ease if that's our not our our professional training. And again, when you're a patient, there's an emotional level. There's a human level. All of our best skills kind of go out the window because we're human and we're trying to understand the information in that way. So helping someone coordinate their care and and maximize connections to their care team, helping plan appointments, connect with with the scheduler for that or the nurse navigator that's often connected when it comes to an oncology diagnosis. Attending appointments really help that person, preparing for those appointments, taking notes, reviewing those notes, helping them understand treatment options and where they might go to look for that, and also exploring, and this is a part of this idealism, when we look at healthcare, but ideally our healthcare should reflect our quality of life and our values. So if we're presented with a few treatment options, it's good to be guided to think about how will this affect my quality of life? All things being equal is not always the case. Will one prevent me from driving and one, give me the ability to continue to drive? And be able to continue to support a family member going through their own, navigating healthcare or children who need care as well, or or transport to and from, you know sports team and and club activities, that kind of thing. What are the pieces that are important to me? So I as an advocate, am able to sit with a client and help them flesh some of those things out. I don't make decisions for anyone. My product is information. Helping people flush those things out so that they can then make an informed decision for themselves. Being a part of a client's team, when you know there's a diagnosis like that, I have seen significant reduction in stress because they know they have people to rely on, and and to be able to manage their their treatment process. That's really, you know, a kind of situation that stands out for me. Richard Wexler (speaker): Fantastic information kind of have a two-part question. How do folks find a qualified board certified advocate? And then the second part of that, again, maybe I'm wrong that it may be difficult if our 80 year old lady is flat on her back in the hospital to engage with someone like you, when should they be reaching out? Ailene Gerhardt (speaker): That goes back to your favorite 4 letter word, right plan, right? So in an ideal world, we would love for everyone to be proactively planning, right? It's safe stress it it gives you the opportunity to vet professionals you want to work with, not at a time of crisis...all of that. But we also recognize everyone's human. Usually the spark is some kind of reaction to a situation, whether it is a crisis or just a first time navigating something significant with the healthcare system. The part of "when" is, really think about who might be useful over time as a part of the navigating caring team. Those can be attorneys, those can be financial advisors, healthcare advocates, care managers, etc. and there are many more professionals to add to that list. But ideally think about that after hearing this conversation, or other great episodes of this podcast, hopefully that will prompt that so. Because again, that gives someone the opportunity to really ask, you know, questions of different professionals. As with anything, you know, everybody has to be a good fit, right? I have to be a good fit for the prospective client and vice versa. Asking questions like what is someone's qualifications and certifications, experience in the type of healthcare advocacy that someone might need, what are the ways that the individual communicates, how our clients are kept informed? Can support system members, be part of that? What are the fees? Services? Independent healthcare advocacy is an out of pocket cost because it provides direct advocacy and independent advocacy for the client. But it is good for people to be aware it's an out of pocket cost. And then where to find reliable resources about healthcare advocates, some directories, to organizations? I like to recommend one is the Patient Advocate Certification Board, which has a list of board certified patient advocates. Since 2018, which is the the first Board certification cohort, and the National Association of Healthcare Advocacy, both have directories on their websites. Those are two great places to look for someone who has the type of specialty or need that you or somebody you are supporting may have. Keeping in mind, now with the advancements in technology, there are many, many advocates that work with clients, as I do, all over the country, even if we're based in one particular location. There are some people who are completely locally based and many who do a lot of work nationally. Which for the most part, except for direct bedside, works out with really great outcomes for clients as well. Richard Wexler (speaker): This is again fantastic information, folks. As we get ready to wrap up, final question, if people want to get in touch with you phone number, e-mail, website, what would you like to give out? Ailene Gerhardt (speaker): Sure. So my business as you shared at the beginning is Beacon Patient Solutions (www.beaconpatientsolutions.com). You can also send an e-mail to [email protected] and my phone number is 617-651-2140. I also have on my website a way to make a complimentary brief consultation appointment by phone to get a sense of what someone may be looking for. Also keep in mind that as advocates certainly, board certified patient advocates, we adhere to an ethics code and a competencies code, and so if I'm speaking with someone in that initial conversation and I know of an advocate who sounds like they would be a better fit, I will refer out and so will my colleagues. Because we want our clients to have the best possible outcome they can, to do that we really are connected around the country to know what what kind of work different people are doing in different places and their specialties. Richard Wexler (speaker): Once again, this has been a fantastic conversation - thank you Ailene. Folks, like I say on every episode. If you want to get in touch with me, you have comments, you have questions, or if you'd like to be a guest on the podcast, e-mail [email protected]. As I say on every episode, until we talk again, have yourself an awesome day.
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