Marion Somers Ph.D., LNHA

Please Click Here to Visit Marion's New Site!!

This site is for:

Everyone with aging parents or friends.
Family members with the soul-searching task of placing a loved one in a nursing facility.
The professional geriatric community.

Like many families faced with caring for an elderly individual, you may not know where to turn.

Dr. Somers helps families and caretakers navigate through the emotional turmoil and bureaucratic maze of elder care.
She is your family advocate, acting as guide, advisor, and sounding board, locally or long distance.
She creates and implements individualized plans that focus on the quality of life of your loved one.
Her extensive resources and many years of experience allow her to provide you with the best options available.

Dr. Somers is a Professional Geriatric Care Manager who has been educated in Gerontology. She is trained to provide services for the elderly and their families. She is an advocate for the quality of life of the elderly and their families and caregivers. Dr. Somers is Director of the Certificate Program in Professional Geriatric Care Management at the Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College.

Dr. Somers has written a new book to be released August 2006

New book is being published by ADDICUS Books Press, Publisher
www.addicusbooks.com

Phone: (402) 330-7493
Fax:(402) 330-1707

The Geriatric Care Manager (GCM) as Team Leader and Coordinator

Geriatric Care Managers are increasingly called on to work with interdisciplinary healthcare teams in a range of settings. Interdisciplinary care has become central to providing the full range of services to meet the complex psychosocial and medical needs of the burgeoning population of older adults. Geriatric Care Managers are generally at the center of this care system.

There has been a varying degree of interest in interdisciplinary teamwork for several decades. Geriatric Care Managers have a unique role as healthcare professionals, given the wide range of functions they are expected to perform. These include assessments, planning and counseling, as well as identifying and obtaining services.

Inherent in this multifaceted position is the necessity to address the advantages and disadvantages of increased services -- whether these are at home or in a long-term care setting, hospital, or hospice. The GCM must relate to a variety of health service professionals, who often work in interdisciplinary teams in a variety of institutional and home settings. Often these professionals have different points of view with regard to the best interest of the client, putting the GCM in the middle of complicated ethical decisions.

Various health professionals, educated and trained to practice in a range of methods, bring different foundations of knowledge, attitudes and perspectives to teamwork. In fact, interdisciplinary teams are particularly well suited to work with frail older adults and their families. However, such teamwork can result in a more complicated decision-making process. Arriving at a consensus on issues is an ongoing challenge to team members.

Teams may include: families, spouses, lovers, occupational and physical therapists, speech therapists, recreation therapists, doctors, social workers, admissions people, discharge planners, administration people, psychologists, psychotherapists, religious people, legal people, financial people, aides and housekeepers/cooks.

There are legal issues, ethical issues, institutional care issues, stay-at-home issues. Who judges the person's capacity to make decisions as to client autonomy vs. beneficence? How does the team balance the desire to act in the patient's (client's) interests by providing the optimal care setting for the preservation of life against their desire to respect the patient's own values and preferences?