“There is a path. But it is not always clear. It is hard to do, but try to drop your agenda, at least for a while. Do something you can both enjoy. Relax, listen, and find the magic of the moment or the loving kindness, or the humor, or even the sadness that you share. From that, a workable plan of care has the best chance of appearing. My job as a care consultant is to support you in finding possibilities and trusting yourself. You can find a way to take care.” Ann Cason

Ann Cason is a geriatric care manager with extensive experience in healthy aging as well as in bringing mindfulness, compassion and respect into the care of frail elderly people. Based in Portland, Oregon, she helps people address challenges around aging, sickness, caregiving and end-of-life. She is the author of Circles of Care (Shambhala), which is described as “…a unique addition to the literature of caregiving, an authoritative and deeply felt book that sheds light on an extraordinary range of eldercare challenges and how to meet them.”

Her services include assessments, care plans, connecting with caregivers and other sources of help, and counseling or coaching. She is also interested in how aging is viewed in modern society and in education and social initiatives that promote a more enlightened approach. In Portland, she has a network of professional and care associates whom she works with as needed. She also has many connections around the country and is able to do consultations by phone or Skype.

Some of the common challenges that Ann can help with include:

• Whether outside caregivers should be brought in and how much is needed
• What to do when parents are far away
• Whether a loved one should remain in their own home, move to assisted living, long-term care or foster care, or move in with other family members
• How to get adequate support
• Care for the caregiver
• How to find and support the strengths of a loved one
• Dealing with isolation and depression
• Working with dementia and other confusional disorders
• Working with difficult behavior
• Sorting out challenging family issues and dynamics surrounding
  the care of an elder
• Working with difficult transitions
• Working with grief, regret and fresh starts
• End of life issues

Contact Ann to begin the process of finding answers to your challenges in providing care for aging friends and family.