Liz Fischer
Assisted Living Checklist
It can be confusing and downright overwhelming trying to choose the best assisted living community for yourself or a loved one. With so many options,… Continue reading
Exit Seeking Leads to Emergency Move
Dorothy, 86, moved to Portland to be near her daughter. She had lived alone in her own home for the last 10 years since her husband passed but was in Eastern Washington and her daughter worried about her being so far away. Her daughter on her own found her a very nice apartment in an independent living community. Dorothy had a full kitchen so she could continue to cook for herself if she wanted but three meals a day were provided in the dining room. It was the perfect scenario for Dorothy to remain independent but have the support from the community and her daughter when needed...
What her daughter didn’t realize was Dorothy had severe memory impairment. Dorothy was able to have very nice conversations with her daughter on the phone and she was fine for short visits. The ability to mask memory impairment short term is common. Family often doesn’t realize how severe the issues are until something dangerous happens. Continue reading
Reducing Caregiver Burnout
Pauline and Bert have been married for 65 years. They live in a small house in Beaverton where they raised their children and know all the neighbors. About 5 years ago Pauline started developing memory problems that were gradually getting worse and worse. Bert has been her caregiver and assuming more of the daily tasks around the house and helping her with her personal care needs. Bert is exhausted and his health is starting to deteriorate. He recently spent a few days in the hospital due to the stress of being her caregiver. That's common for family caregivers, they're so busy taking care of their loved ones that their own health declines faster than those they're caring for. Bert's family recognized his stress and exhaustion so called me to help find a place for Pauline to live...
In the past Pauline has walked out the front door looking for Bert and wandered down the street. As such she's considered an elopement risk in assisted living so we looked for a secure memory care building for her. Bert wanted to be able to visit her daily so the memory care had to be near their house. They have long term care insurance so we had to find a place that is accredited and works with long term care insurance companies. Continue reading Keep Seniors a Part of the Decision Making Process
The call came from a close neighbor. John was 92 and still living in his own home. She had been helping him with little things like grocery shopping, yard work and checking in on him. One day he decided to drive to the store. Unfortunately he hit over 30 things with his car as he drove down the street. That was decision maker, it was time for Fred to move to assisted living where he didn't need to drive anymore and that had caregivers providing the increasing support he needed...
While John preferred to stay at home, he knew he really needed more help than he was getting and he didn't have any family to be there for him. He hated imposing on his neighbor but was grateful for her help. The neighbor and I toured several assisted living communities in Washington County looking for the right fit. Looking at the options can be very overwhelming and physically exhausting, especially for a man who is 92. The goal was to narrow down the choices to a couple then bring him back to make the final decision. Continue reading
Finding Assisted Living – I’m Out of Town and My Parents Need to Move
June and Martin lived in a 55+ community in Tigard. Martin had Alzheimer's disease but physically was very healthy. June had some significant health issues but no cognitive disabilities. Between them, though, they were able to leverage their strengths to live independently-- until Martin ended up in the hospital then rehab. June and Martin's son (and Power of Attorney) realized they needed to move to assisted living but he lived out of town and couldn't get away from work to help them find a place for them to go. He called us to help.
We listened to his concerns about his parents then met with June to talk about what she wanted. We then arranged to tour several assisted living communities with her. She found one she really liked in nearby Tualatin and decided that's where she wanted to move. She depended on her son to manage their finances so we helped facilitate the discussion between the community and her son to ensure paperwork was completed and deposits were made. Continue reading
Immediate Need for Assistance Hospital Requires Move to Assisted Living Prior to Discharge
Jane was a 93 year old lady who lived independently in her own home in Lake Oswego for 40+ years. She developed pneumonia in January which led to weakness and several falls. Her neighbors worried about her living alone but couldn't convince her she should seek assistance. She was proud of her independence and didn't want strangers in her home and definitely didn't want to move to assisted living. A major fall and trip to the hospital convinced her neighbors something needed to be done. In addition, the hospital wanted to discharge her the next day and wouldn't let her go home. The hospital gave the neighbors our name and phone number so they called us to ask for help finding her assistance...
Adult Foster Homes are private residences in which the proprietor is licensed by the state to have a maximum of five seniors live in the home. Each house has a private room and at least a half bath. 
Adult Foster Homes are very experienced at caring for seniors and have experience with almost everything. They're more like home, residents are treated like family and the ratio of caregivers to residents is really good—residents get a lot of attention. There are over one thousand adult foster homes in the Portland metropolitan area. We help narrow down the options. In addition we look at county and state records to see if there are substantiated complaints about the homes or other red flags that indicate it's not an appropriate place for our clients. Continue reading
Adult Foster Homes are very experienced at caring for seniors and have experience with almost everything. They're more like home, residents are treated like family and the ratio of caregivers to residents is really good—residents get a lot of attention. There are over one thousand adult foster homes in the Portland metropolitan area. We help narrow down the options. In addition we look at county and state records to see if there are substantiated complaints about the homes or other red flags that indicate it's not an appropriate place for our clients. Continue reading Move to Independent Living Community Brings Relief to Family
Fred and Mary lived next door to their son and daughter in law. As they aged their son and daughter in law started doing more and more around the house for them. It started with mowing the lawn and within a few years it had escalated to cleaning, shopping, laundry and bringing three meals a day as they noticed Fred and Mary were not cooking meals for themselves. The few times had tried cooking there were signs that it didn't go well such as burned potholders on the stove, ovens left on all day and half eaten food on dirty plates in the sink...We met with the daughter in law who was exhausted from the stress of being a family caregiver. She didn't know what to do but knew something needed to change and quickly. We talked about what Fred and Mary might need, what they would want in an ideal retirement living situation, where they would want to live and how much they could afford to pay. We decided the best option would be to live in an independent living community that had assisted living too. This would give them a place to move when their care needs became greater. We talked about options in the town in which they lived toured the ones that were of interest. We found the perfect room in a building in Beaverton in which many of their friends also lived.
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Adult Foster Care Homes That Allow Pets Keeping the Dog for Comfort
Vivian was a 72 year old woman who had battled ovarian cancer for over eleven years. It finally got to the point where the treatment wouldn't help anymore so she went on hospice. Vivian lived alone in an apartment in Tigard with her dog Murphy. She spent all day watching TV in a dark apartment. Her only visitors were the Meals on Wheels delivery volunteers and her hospice team. She was lonely and her hospice team worried about who was going to help her as her disease progressed...
After a second visit to one home, lunch with the provider and a chance for her to meet Murphy, Vivian decided to move in. Leaving her apartment and her independence was very hard but knowing she had somebody who would help her and that she would get to keep Murphy with her made it a little more bearable. Vivian's doing well, Murphy's enjoying having a yard to run in after living in an apartment his whole life and the proprietor of the adult foster care home is there to help Vivian when needed. Continue reading
Moving Into an Adult Foster Care Home Allows Wife to Go From Family Caregiver to Spouse Again
Mary's husband John had early onset Alzheimer's. Mary still worked full time so she hired caregivers to come a few hours each day to ensure he had meals and was safe while she was gone. When she got home from work she had to fix dinner, help him shower, clean the mess he made throughout the day, get his medications and meals ready for the next day, do laundry as he often had accidents. Mary heard him get up several times during the night which interrupted her sleep. Realistically she knew he was just going to get worse but she had hope that he would at least stabilize. He wasn't improving, unfortunately he was definitely getting worse. Mary knew she couldn't continue to work full time and worry all day about his safety. She couldn't afford to pay for caregivers to be with him the whole time he was at work yet she couldn't afford not to. Mary was exhausted emotionally and physically. She couldn't do it anymore and turned to Right Fit Senior Living Solutions for help...
We met with both of them to determine their ideal situation. She wanted him to live in an adult foster care home in nearby Tualatin so she could visit him on her way home from work in Portland. She liked the idea of an adult foster care home as there would be four other seniors living with a private family who is very experienced with being caregivers and working with people with Alzheimer's and other dementias. He would get a lot of personal attention in a quiet, calm and safe home. She liked that their food is all made from scratch and that they would manage his medications, do his laundry and help him shower. Continue reading
Urgent Need for Memory Care after Hospital Stay Causes Family Caregiver Stress Don’t Wait for a Crisis to Make a Move!
A call came from the discharge planner at the hospital in Hillsboro. They had a patient that needed 24x7 supervision who couldn't return to his home and needed to find a memory care facility as he was an "elopement risk" (they were worried he would walk out the front door and wander away). The hospital case manager wanted to discharge him as quickly as possible and asked us to help find him a room in memory care in Portland as it wasn't safe to allow him to return home...
There were lots of signs he (and his wife) needed more assistance. The daughters had already decided the next time he was in the hospital would be the final straw, it would be time to move. While usually we can find the perfect place for him to move, this time every memory care building was full and most had a waiting list.
Our number one recommendation is don't wait until there's a crisis to make a move. When it's a crisis you are stuck with what's available and it may not be what you really want. The senior in crisis won't get input on which place he/she wants, family will have to make all the decisions. They're already feeling overwhelmed with all that's going on with their loved ones and the pressure of making a quick decision to meet hospital discharge expectations is extremely stressful! Continue reading
Our number one recommendation is don't wait until there's a crisis to make a move. When it's a crisis you are stuck with what's available and it may not be what you really want. The senior in crisis won't get input on which place he/she wants, family will have to make all the decisions. They're already feeling overwhelmed with all that's going on with their loved ones and the pressure of making a quick decision to meet hospital discharge expectations is extremely stressful! Continue reading