Navigating the maze of options and decisions concerning care for elder loved ones who need assistance in daily living can be like slogging through a jungle. Without an experienced guide, the path ahead isn’t clear and may be fraught with traps and dead ends. Enter Oasis Senior Advisors of East Tennessee to help you make the right choices.
The two main reasons Oasis Senior Advisors really stands out from some of the web-based services are personal service and privacy. Owner Neal Bowes, Certified Senior Advisor, and Mary Crowder, Senior Living Advisor, take pride in getting to know their clients and providing the best options tailored precisely for them. “I have had the privilege of working with dozens of families as they navigate moving a loved one into senior living, whether it’s independent, assisted, or memory care,” Neal says. “Some have their eyes on the future and are just gathering information. Others are reeling from an event that resulted in a hospitalization and some skilled nursing rehab, and now, they need assisted living, but have only a short time to find the community that can best meet their needs. Either way, it’s a time fraught with many emotions, and even more questions.”
Eastern Tennessee is home to several high-quality senior living communities, Neal says there is no one-size-fits-all solution. “My service to a senior and their family starts with a personal consultation wherein I learn about their concerns and care needs,” he says. “We take our time and I ask a lot of questions. Then, I sift out the places that wouldn’t be a good fit and contact the right ones.”
Since Oasis doesn’t work for any particular community, Neal can represent all of them. “I schedule tours to these facilities and accompany the family on those tours. I keep working until they have enough information to make a decision,” he says. “The best part about being a family’s advisor is it doesn’t cost them anything. If a senior moves into a community, I bill that community for the referral.”
Beware of online companies that claim to offer the same service as Oasis. “People should be wary of giving their personal contact information to a website,” Neal warns. “As soon as a person clicks submit, their personal information is broadcast to every senior living community within a very wide radius, and the salesperson at each of those communities starts trying to get them on the phone. I never provide a family’s contact information to a community, even ones we tour. So, with no bill and no salespeople calling, this truly is a no-obligation opportunity to gather information about senior living in our area.”
Knowing each client individually is essential to find the right match for the individual.
“Each person’s care needs and concerns are different,” Neal says, “whether they are facing physical challenges or experiencing cognitive decline, or just need to be free of the hassles of maintaining a property and cooking for themselves. While the state licenses communities to offer up to a certain level of care, not every community offers every service. A diabetic, for example, who needs to have their blood sugar checked a couple times a day and then receive a varying amount of insulin, depending on the results, might find that one assisted living offers that care while another does not. Some communities stand out for their dementia care and others put a huge focus on the numbers of activities in which a resident can participate each day. It can also be as simple as whether residents are allowed to have pets or not.”
In addition to personalized service, Oasis uses proprietary software to find the right living situation for specific needs. “OasisIQ™ software allows me to be sure I am recommending the best communities, based on a person’s individual care needs and concerns,” Neal says. “Each senior living community has a profile in the system that keeps track of the care services it offers and the prices for those services. Then, a profile for a prospective resident is created, and the software lists all the possible matches, making sure I don’t overlook anything. OasisIQ™ also schedules tours and handles communications with the communities and the prospective residents.”
While Oasis services are always free to clients, Neal points out that assisted living is not, nor is it covered by Medicare or any other health insurance. “Sometimes, people have a long-term care insurance policy, and they can use benefits from that to help pay for their assisted living. Otherwise, the money comes from a person’s monthly income and retirement savings, so planning ahead is crucial. In our area, a private studio and care charges in an assisted living facility costs an average of $3,800 to $4,400 each month.”
The process begins with a personalized and informative consultation. “My favorite way to conduct an initial consultation is in person in someone’s home or a coffee shop,” Neal says. “I really enjoy visiting people, getting to know them, and hearing their stories. But sometimes, time is of the essence and the consultation needs to happen over the phone. I have received calls late in the afternoon saying that Medicare is ordering a discharge from a skilled nursing facility in two days, and they need to find assisted living right away. We have the consultation on the phone right then and begin touring communities the next morning.
“Whether easing into it or moving swiftly, the topics are the same. What are your care needs, struggles, and concerns? What area of the region do you want to live in? What do you desire for living arrangements and social interactions? What is your budget?”
Several types of communities are available to seniors. These include:
- Independent Living
- Social activities, meals, housekeeping services
- Great for a couple or a surviving spouse no longer wanting to maintain a house and property but looking for companionship/social interaction
- Assisted Living
- Social activities, meals, housekeeping services, medication management
- Additional help for those needing assistance with Activities of Daily Living such as bathing and dressing
- Memory Care
- Social activities, meals, housekeeping services, medication management
- Higher level of care for those with advanced cognitive decline
Another service Oasis can arrange is respite for caregivers. “Being a caregiver to a senior takes a toll,” Neal says. “It is often an adult child who bears the responsibility, and this person is also balancing obligations with their career and their own children. If the senior is experiencing cognitive decline, the caregiving can easily require around-the-clock diligence. Respite is a temporary stay, usually 7 – 14 days, for the senior at an assisted living community. This gives the caregiver a much-needed break. They can go on vacation or attend an out-of-town family function free of worry because the attentive staff at the assisted living is caring for their loved one.
I want every caregiver to know this service exists, and that Oasis can arrange a respite stay for you.”
Neal offers some advice to people searching for senior services for their loved ones. “First, stay off the internet with your personal contact information,” he says. “Those websites are only going to sell your information to the senior living communities. There will be no consultation, personalization, or planning. You’re basically on your own. Worse, because of their terms of service and contracts with the communities, you become their client, which makes it nearly impossible to become my client and receive the kind of personalized service I offer.
“Next, plan ahead. Since there is no bill for my service and I don’t give away your contact information, this truly is a no-obligation opportunity to gather information about the senior living communities in our area. Let’s go take a look, especially if you think assisted livings are just like nursing homes—they are not. If your loved one is starting to struggle living at home alone safely, it’s time to make a contingency plan. Let’s avoid a panic situation if we can.”
Neal mentioned countless success stories, and one in particular that stands out in his mind. “I received a late-afternoon call from a hospital case manager about a man at the ER,” he says. “He had advanced dementia and was discharged from his assisted living community because of behaviors he had begun exhibiting. Behaviors on top of dementia can be caused by several things, including a urinary tract infection. The case manager suspected in this case it was caused by a recent change in medication. Different medications work or not depending on how a person’s body metabolizes them, and there is a genetic swab test that can identify which specific meds are right for that person. Fifty miles away from that hospital is an assisted living community that specializes in dementia, and one of only a few who runs this test. I called the man’s niece, explained everything to her. The community assessed the man first thing the next morning and he moved in the following day.”
The bottom line: If you have senior loved ones in your life who are beginning to show signs that living at home alone will soon no longer be an option, don’t wait for an emergency. Call Oasis Senior Advisors today to arrange a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
Oasis Senior Advisors – East Tennessee
Owner: Neal Bowes
Phone: 423-427-2919
Email: NBowes@YourOasisAdvisor.com
Website: https://www.oasissenioradvisors.com/east-tn/
