- illustration by Katelan Foisy
When Kathleen Bowen ’81 met Gregory, an elderly man with piercing blue
eyes who lived in a nursing home in Chicopee, he was in a terrible
state. He was refusing treatment for a gangrenous leg that needed amputation,
and he cried easily about his wife, Irene, who lived with Alzheimer’s
disease in a nursing home across town. The two had been separated for
years due to a legal and financial tangle.
As director of the older adult program at Jewish Family Services of
Western Massachusetts with six offices throughout the area, Bowen is
a professional problem-solver. After much sleuthing, working with a
translator (Gregory spoke only Polish), and slogging through paperwork,
Bowen was able to convince Gregory to cooperate with his physicians.
She also found a way for him to live with his wife.
“I’ll never forget that day,” says Bowen, tears welling in her eyes
as she recalls the couple’s reunion. “When Irene was wheeled through
the door, Gregory burst into tears—tears of joy this time. It was their
34th anniversary.”
Through its Guardianship Program, which Bowen oversees, Jewish Family
Services assumes legal responsibility of older adults, who, like Gregory,
find themselves near life’s end without the support of family or friends.
Initiated in the 1970s when board members learned of a homeless elderly
Holocaust survivor wandering the streets of Springfield, the program
is the only one of its kind in western Massachusetts open to any senior
who has nowhere else to turn. With 65 charges, Bowen’s staff of certified
geriatric-care managers is at capacity, and Bowen says she regrets
that the program must sometimes turn away referrals.
Growing numbers of Americans will need help navigating the tricky terrain
of long-term care. By 2030, the United States Census Bureau estimates
that the number of adults age 65 and older will double to more than
20 percent of the population.
“As the baby boomers age and people live longer, we’ll see more older
adults in need of care,” says Robert Marmor ‘01G, executive director
of Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts, which also offers
adoption, counseling, and immigration services.
Unlike Gregory, most of these older adults will rely on their families
for care. According to the Family Care Giver Alliance, unpaid family
caregivers—most often adult children—provide the lion’s share of long-term-care
services to the elderly in the United States today, and that trend
is expected to continue as the numbers of elderly increase.
Most families, says Bowen, are woefully unprepared to care for their
elders. “We don’t like to talk about death or about aging in this culture,
so the process has become invisible,” says Bowen, who studied gerontology
at UMass Amherst. “Families wait until there is a crisis, and then
they are caught totally unaware of what the options are.”
Careful planning can relieve stress and ensure that elders will have
their needs met. Through the Senior Link Program, which she also oversees,
Bowen and her team help families assess needs. Working within a family’s
budget, they find and sometimes coordinate elder-care services. “Families
have to sort out a mountain of details, such as how Mom or Dad will
get to doctor’s visits, take medications on time, prepare meals,” says
Bowen. “Do they need a driver, a housekeeper, a nurse? Is it time to
move to assisted living or a nursing home?” Seniors also need to prepare
wills, resolve finances, select a family member or friend to serve
as durable power of attorney, and, if they choose, enact do-not-resuscitate
orders. It’s a complex process, and many families need help. “If we
plan well,” says Bowen, “there is a lot we can do to help seniors stay
independent longer.”
The National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, Inc.
(www.caregiver.com) maintains lists of care managers all over the country.
