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As our loved ones age, families often find themselves navigating an increasingly complex healthcare system while balancing work, their own families, and the emotional weight of caregiving responsibilities. When medical appointments pile up, safety concerns emerge at home, or cognitive decline becomes apparent, many families ask themselves: “Is there someone who can help us through this?” The answer is yes.
Geriatric care managers—also known as aging life care professionals—serve as expert guides who coordinate care, advocate for older adults, and provide invaluable support to family members during one of life’s most challenging transitions.
This comprehensive article explores what is a geriatric care manager, the services they provide, and how they can transform the aging experience for your entire family.
What Is a Geriatric Care Manager?
A geriatric care manager, often called an aging life care professional or elder care manager, is a trained specialist who helps older adults and their families navigate the complexities of aging. These professionals typically come from backgrounds in social work, nursing, gerontology, or psychology, bringing both clinical expertise and compassionate understanding to their work. Geriatric care managers serve as trusted advisors, coordinators, and advocates who assess needs, develop personalized care plans, and ensure that seniors receive appropriate services while maintaining their dignity and independence.
The role of a care manager extends far beyond simple coordination. These aging life care professionals become partners in your family’s journey, offering objective guidance during difficult decisions and serving as a consistent presence through transitions. Whether your loved one needs help managing chronic illness, requires dementia care, or is transitioning from hospital to home, a geriatric care specialist provides the expertise and support that family members need to make informed choices. As members of professional organizations like the Aging Life Care Association, these professionals adhere to rigorous ethical standards and continuing education requirements that ensure the highest quality of care management services.
Unlike home care services that provide hands-on assistance with daily activities, geriatric care managers focus on the bigger picture—assessing situations, creating strategies, coordinating resources, and advocating for your loved one’s needs. They serve as the hub of a care team, ensuring that all health care providers, family members, and services work together seamlessly to support your loved one’s well being.
The Role of a Geriatric Care Manager
Geriatric care managers wear many hats, serving as advocates, coordinators, problem-solvers, and trusted advisors. Their primary responsibility is to ensure that older adults receive comprehensive, coordinated care that respects their preferences while addressing their health and safety needs. These aging life care experts bridge the gap between families, health care systems, and community resources, translating complex medical information and navigating bureaucratic challenges on behalf of their clients.
A care manager begins by conducting a thorough assessment that examines not just medical needs, but also emotional, social, environmental, and financial needs. This holistic approach allows them to identify risks, recognize opportunities for improvement, and develop strategies that enhance quality of life. They attend medical appointments, communicate information between health care providers, monitor medication regimens, and ensure that treatment recommendations are implemented effectively. Beyond medical coordination, geriatric care specialists help with practical matters—from arranging transportation to coordinating home care services—while also providing emotional support to both seniors and their family caregivers.
Assessment and Care Planning
The foundation of effective geriatric care management lies in comprehensive assessment. During initial home visits, a care manager evaluates multiple dimensions of your loved one’s life—health status, cognitive function, everyday activities, home safety, social connections, and emotional well being. This thorough evaluation identifies current challenges, anticipates future needs, and uncovers hidden risks that family members might not recognize.
From this assessment, the aging life care professional develops a detailed care plan that serves as a roadmap for addressing immediate concerns and preparing for future transitions. This personalized care plan outlines specific goals, recommends appropriate services, identifies necessary resources, and establishes timelines for implementation. The plan remains flexible, adapting as your loved one’s needs change over time, ensuring that care evolves appropriately through different stages of aging.
Care Coordination and Implementation
Once a care plan is established, the geriatric care manager takes on the crucial role of care coordination—perhaps their most valuable function. They become the central point of contact, ensuring that everyone involved in your loved one’s care is informed, aligned, and working toward common goals. This includes scheduling and attending medical appointments, communicating with the doctor’s office and specialists, coordinating services from home health agencies, and ensuring that physical therapy, meal delivery, or other assistance is properly arranged.
The care manager also serves as your family’s eyes and ears, conducting regular check-ins to monitor your loved one’s condition and quickly identifying changes that require attention. They communicate information clearly to family members, translating medical jargon into understandable terms and helping families make informed decisions. When hospitalizations or crises occur, geriatric care managers provide immediate support, coordinating transitions and ensuring continuity of care. This ongoing oversight on a regular basis prevents small issues from becoming emergencies and ensures that your loved one receives consistent, high-quality care.
Services Provided by Geriatric Care Managers
Geriatric care managers offer a comprehensive range of care management services designed to address every aspect of senior care. Their expertise spans medical coordination, practical support, emotional guidance, and crisis intervention, making them invaluable partners in managing the complexities of aging. The breadth of services provided reflects the multifaceted challenges that older adults and their families face.
Medical Care Coordination
One of the primary services geriatric care managers provide is medical care coordination, which includes managing relationships with multiple health care providers, tracking treatment plans, and ensuring that all medical services work together effectively. A care manager attends appointments at the doctor’s office or specialist clinics, asks important questions, takes detailed notes, and ensures that your loved one’s concerns are heard and addressed. This presence is particularly valuable when cognitive challenges make it difficult for seniors to remember instructions or advocate for themselves.
Geriatric care specialists also coordinate physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other rehabilitation services, ensuring that recommendations are implemented at home. They monitor medication regimens, watch for adverse reactions or interactions, and communicate concerns to prescribing physicians. When multiple specialists are involved, the care manager ensures that everyone has complete information, preventing duplicate tests, conflicting treatments, or gaps in care. This comprehensive medical oversight improves health outcomes while reducing unnecessary costs and preventing complications.
Daily Living Support
Beyond medical coordination, geriatric care managers arrange practical assistance that helps older adults maintain independence and quality of life. They coordinate services that support everyday activities—helping to run errands, arrange grocery delivery, schedule home maintenance, and organize transportation. For seniors who need help with daily activities like bathing, dressing, or meal preparation, the care manager researches and arranges appropriate home care services, carefully vetting providers to ensure quality and reliability.
Geriatric care professionals also assist with money management, helping to organize bills, coordinate payments, and ensure that financial needs are met. They can help navigate Medicare, Social Security, and insurance paperwork, connecting families with resources for assistance when needed. This practical support relieves family caregivers of time-consuming tasks while ensuring that important responsibilities don’t fall through the cracks.
Housing and Placement Services
When aging in place becomes unsafe or unsustainable, geriatric care managers provide expert guidance on housing transitions. They evaluate nursing facilities, assisted living communities, and memory care units, helping families understand options and make informed choices. A care manager knows which facilities provide excellent care, which accept Medicare or long term care insurance, and which settings best match your loved one’s personality and needs.
The aging life care expert develops a comprehensive long term care plan that considers current needs, anticipated changes, and financial realities. They help families understand the true costs of different options, explore funding through long term care insurance or Medicare when applicable, and identify community resources that can provide support. When transitions occur, the care manager coordinates the move, ensures continuity of care, and provides emotional support during this challenging time. This expertise in long term care planning helps families avoid rushed, crisis-driven decisions and instead make thoughtful choices that serve their loved ones well.
Specialized Care Services
Geriatric care managers offer specialized expertise for complex conditions, particularly dementia care and cognitive decline. These aging life care professionals understand the unique challenges that memory loss presents and develop strategies that maximize safety while preserving dignity. They create structured routines, implement environmental modifications, coordinate specialized medical services, and provide education to family members about what to expect and how to respond effectively.
When crises arise—hospitalizations, sudden health changes, or safety emergencies—geriatric care specialists provide support and rapid response. They coordinate emergency services, communicate with health care teams, keep family members informed, and manage the complex logistics that emergencies demand. This crisis intervention capability provides families with peace of mind, knowing that expert help is available when needed most. Additionally, care managers address emotional concerns, recognizing that aging affects mental health as much as physical health, and connecting seniors with counseling or support groups when appropriate.
Who Can Benefit from a Geriatric Care Manager?
Families across diverse situations find value in geriatric care management, particularly when circumstances make it difficult to provide adequate oversight and support. Long-distance family caregivers represent one of the largest groups who families hire care managers to assist. When children live states away from aging parents, a local geriatric care manager becomes their trusted representative, conducting home visits, monitoring conditions, coordinating services, and providing regular updates. This arrangement allows distant families to ensure their loved ones receive proper care despite geographic separation.
Families juggling multiple responsibilities—careers, raising children, managing their own health—often find themselves overwhelmed by the demands of elder care. A care manager lifts this burden, handling time-consuming coordination tasks and providing expert guidance that prevents costly mistakes. When medical situations become complex, involving multiple specialists, chronic conditions, or cognitive decline, the expertise of aging life care professionals becomes invaluable in navigating treatment options and ensuring comprehensive care.
Family caregivers also benefit when conflicts arise among family members about care decisions. A geriatric care manager provides objective, professional perspective that can ease tensions and facilitate consensus. When difficult topics like driving cessation, moving to a care facility, or end-of-life planning must be addressed, the care manager guides these conversations with sensitivity and expertise. Singles or couples without nearby adult children, individuals who lack knowledge of local resources, and anyone feeling uncertain about how to access and coordinate senior care services will find that geriatric care specialists provide clarity, confidence, and practical solutions.
Professional Qualifications and Standards
Geriatric care managers bring impressive credentials and specialized training to their work. Most hold advanced degrees in social work, nursing, gerontology, or psychology, combined with years of experience in elder care, health care, or counseling settings. Many are licensed social workers or registered nurses who maintain professional licenses and complete continuing education requirements that keep their knowledge current. This combination of education, clinical experience, and specialized aging expertise ensures that geriatric care specialists understand both the medical and psychosocial dimensions of aging.
Membership in the Aging Life Care Association represents the gold standard in the field. This professional organization establishes ethical guidelines, practice standards, and certification requirements that distinguish qualified aging life care professionals from less experienced providers. Care managers who belong to the Aging Life Care Association commit to ongoing education, ethical practice, and accountability that protects clients and ensures quality services. When selecting a care manager, families should verify credentials, confirm professional licenses, and check references to ensure they’re working with a qualified professional.
The best geriatric care managers willingly provide references from past clients and maintain transparent practices about their qualifications and approach. They should clearly explain their background, describe their services, and discuss how they stay current with changing health care systems, resources, and best practices in geriatric care. This transparency and professionalism distinguish reputable aging life care experts from those who lack appropriate credentials or experience.
How Geriatric Care Managers Work with Other Professionals
Geriatric care managers function as orchestrators of a complex care team, collaborating with numerous professionals and organizations to serve their clients comprehensively. They maintain strong relationships with health care providers—physicians, specialists, therapists—ensuring seamless communication and coordinated treatment approaches. Rather than replacing these professionals, care managers enhance their effectiveness by ensuring that recommendations are understood, implemented, and monitored.
Partnerships with home health agencies allow geriatric care specialists to quickly arrange necessary services when needs change. They work closely with the local area agency on aging and area agency on aging offices, which provide information about community resources, government programs, and support services available to seniors. Connections with nonprofit organizations that offer specialized programs—from meal delivery to transportation to caregiver support groups—enable care managers to find resources that address specific needs while managing costs.
This collaborative approach extends to other professionals including attorneys specializing in elder law, financial advisors familiar with long term care planning, and hospice providers when appropriate. The aging life care expert understands which specialists are needed for different situations and facilitates introductions that serve clients well. By coordinating this network of professionals and services, geriatric care managers ensure that nothing falls through the cracks and that your loved one receives comprehensive, well-integrated care.
The Benefits of Hiring a Geriatric Care Manager
The benefits of working with a geriatric care manager extend to both aging adults and their families, touching every aspect of the care experience. Perhaps most significantly, geriatric care specialists provide peace of mind—the confidence that your loved one is safe, properly cared for, and receiving appropriate services. This reassurance is invaluable for family caregivers, particularly those managing care from a distance or balancing multiple responsibilities.
Expert guidance represents another crucial benefit. Aging life care professionals bring years of experience and extensive knowledge of health care systems, community resources, and effective strategies for managing aging challenges. This expertise helps families avoid costly mistakes, access appropriate services quickly, and make informed decisions about complex issues. The time savings alone justifies the investment for many families—rather than spending hours researching options, making phone calls, and attending appointments, family members can focus on spending quality time with loved ones while the care manager handles logistics.
Improved health outcomes result from consistent monitoring, proper coordination among health care providers, and early identification of problems before they become crises. Geriatric care managers also enhance quality of life by advocating for seniors’ preferences, facilitating independence, and addressing not just medical needs but also social connection and emotional well being. The comprehensive support they provide reduces stress for families, prevents caregiver burnout, and creates a sustainable care situation that serves everyone’s needs effectively.
What Do Geriatric Care Managers Charge?
Geriatric care managers charge fees that reflect their professional expertise, with most operating on an hourly basis. Typical rates range from $100 to $250 per hour depending on geographic location, the care manager’s credentials and experience, and the complexity of services required. Many professionals charge by the hour for both direct client contact and behind-the-scenes coordination work, though some offer package pricing for specific services or monthly retainer arrangements for ongoing care management.
Several factors influence costs, including whether you need short term assistance during a crisis or transition versus ongoing management on a regular basis. Initial assessments typically require more time and therefore cost more than routine check-ins. The complexity of your loved one’s situation—multiple medical conditions, behavioral challenges, complex family dynamics—may require more care coordination and thus increase costs. Geographic location also plays a role, with geriatric care specialists in major metropolitan areas typically charging higher rates than those in smaller communities.
It’s important to understand that Medicare does not typically pay for geriatric care management services, as these are considered care coordination rather than direct medical care. However, some long term care insurance policies include coverage for care management, and it’s worth reviewing your policy to determine if benefits are available. Even when insurance doesn’t cover costs, many families find that the value provided justifies the expense. Geriatric care managers often save money by preventing unnecessary hospitalizations, identifying cost-effective services, helping access resources and benefits, and avoiding expensive crisis-driven decisions.
Are geriatric care managers worth the money? For most families who hire them, the answer is a resounding yes. The expertise, time savings, peace of mind, and improved outcomes typically far outweigh the costs, particularly when compared to the expenses of crisis management, inappropriate placements, or caregiver burnout. The investment in professional care management often proves less expensive than the alternatives while significantly improving quality of life for both seniors and their families.
How to Find and Choose a Geriatric Care Manager
Finding the right geriatric care manager begins with thorough research. The Aging Life Care Association maintains a searchable directory of credentialed aging life care professionals across the country, allowing you to find resources in your area. This directory is an excellent starting point, as members must meet specific education and experience requirements and adhere to professional standards. Your local area agency on aging can also provide referrals to reputable care managers, as can health care providers, discharge planners at hospitals, and attorneys specializing in elder law.
When evaluating potential care managers, families should ask key questions about credentials, experience, and approach. Inquire about educational background, professional licenses, years of experience in geriatric care, and areas of specialization. Ask how they stay current with changing resources and best practices. Discuss their service model—how they charge by the hour, what services are included, and how they communicate with families. Request information about their availability for emergencies and their backup arrangements when they’re unavailable.
Just as importantly, assess the personal fit. The best credentials mean little if the care manager doesn’t connect well with your loved one or your family. Schedule initial consultations with several candidates, paying attention to how they listen, whether they respect your loved ones’ autonomy, and whether their communication style matches your preferences. Ask candidates to provide references from current or past clients, and take time to check references thoroughly. These conversations will reveal much about the care manager’s approach, reliability, and effectiveness. Trust your instincts—the right aging life care professional will feel like a partner who understands your family’s unique situation and values.
What to Expect from the Care Management Process
The care management process typically begins with a free initial consultation, usually conducted by phone. During this conversation, you’ll discuss your concerns, your loved one’s situation, and how a geriatric care manager might help. This is an opportunity to ask questions, understand services offered, and determine if the fit seems right. If you decide to move forward, the care manager will schedule a comprehensive assessment, usually conducted through home visits that allow them to observe your loved one’s environment and functioning firsthand.
This initial assessment forms the foundation for the care plan. The geriatric care specialist will evaluate your loved one’s health, cognitive function, safety, social connections, and emotional state. They’ll interview your loved ones, review medical records, assess the home environment, and discuss concerns with family members. From this information, they develop a detailed care plan that identifies priorities, recommends specific services and interventions, and establishes goals for maintaining or improving well being.
Once the care plan is approved, the care manager implements recommendations, coordinating services, arranging assistance, and beginning regular monitoring. Communication with family members occurs on a regular basis, with frequency determined by your needs and preferences—weekly updates, monthly reports, or contact as situations arise. The care manager remains flexible, adjusting the care plan as your loved one’s needs change and as new challenges or opportunities emerge. This ongoing partnership ensures that your person receives appropriate care through all stages of aging, with professional guidance available whenever needed.
Why Care Consultants Is Your Trusted Partner in Geriatric Care in New Orleans
Care Consultants of Greater New Orleans brings exceptional expertise in geriatric care management to families throughout the New Orleans area. Led by Elizabeth Stolier, LCSW, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with specialized focus on geriatric care, hospice, and home health services, Care Consultants provides the compassionate, professional support that makes a meaningful difference in senior care. Elizabeth’s client-centered approach ensures that both older adults and their families receive the emotional and practical assistance they need.
As a member of the Aging Life Care Association, Care Consultants adheres to the highest professional standards in aging life care. The comprehensive services offered—from medical care coordination to crisis intervention—reflect deep understanding of the challenges families face and commitment to finding solutions that honor your loved ones’ dignity and independence. Local expertise in New Orleans resources, health care providers, and community services enables efficient, effective coordination that serves clients exceptionally well.
Care Consultants’ philosophy recognizes aging not as a problem to solve, but as a transition deserving support, preparation, and compassion. This perspective shapes every interaction, ensuring that elder care is provided with respect for autonomy, attention to quality of life, and commitment to helping older adults live safely and meaningfully. Whether you’re just beginning to explore care options or actively managing a health crisis, Care Consultants stands ready to be your trusted partner in geriatric care.
Conclusion
Understanding what is a geriatric care manager opens doors to support that can transform the aging experience for your entire family. These aging life care professionals provide expertise, coordination, advocacy, and compassionate guidance that helps older adults maintain independence and dignity while giving family members peace of mind. From comprehensive assessment and care plan development to ongoing coordination and crisis support, geriatric care managers address every dimension of elder care with professionalism and heart.
The investment in care management yields significant returns—improved health outcomes, enhanced quality of life, reduced stress for caregivers, and confidence that your loved ones receive the right care at the right time. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the complexities of aging, uncertain about available resources, or simply want expert guidance to ensure your loved ones’ well being, a geriatric care manager can provide the support you need. Don’t wait until crisis forces rushed decisions—reach out today to explore how professional geriatric care management can benefit your family.
Contact Care Consultants of Greater New Orleans at (504) 484-9530 or info@caregno.com to schedule your free consultation. Let our experienced team guide you through the next steps, answer your questions, and help you develop a care plan that serves your family well. Your loved ones deserve the best care possible—and so do you.
