“I spend a lot of time initially listening to the circumstances… and along the way listen to important stories.” Marion York
Often in later life journeys, when personal health and other life conditions, such as the dissolution of social connections, begin to affect your day to day in a detrimental way, the change can be sudden and without much foresight, research or preparation; the sudden becomes crisis. Whether you live with others or alone, with or without friends and family networks, navigating the health and social care support systems can be a challenge – emotionally, physically and financially.
Even if you do have shared conversations with others about how you view your life preferences as you get older, on matters such as future options for housing, health care, legal or financial arrangements, little or nothing stays constant for long and whatever changes do happen, chances are these won’t necessarily be eventual reality. So where do you turn for help if you have been blindsided or overwhelmed by a health or social event that changes the course of your later life?
Fortunately for developed communities in Canada, over the last twenty years, we have seen a significant market grow; either organizations or individual professionals with strong, well-networked resources that provide what is commonly known as elder or senior care services. Some primarily offer in home health care and others, for example, will address a full range of care services as well as expertise in home modifications to management of home moves.
Over this same period of time, since I’ve been writing, speaking, researching or advising on matters related to the field of aging and longevity; one of the privileges afforded to me is that I have met, and sometimes collaborated with some of the most trusted and insightful professionals in the home healthcare or eldercare arenas. So today my focus is one such professional I have come to know – Marion York, Specialist in Aging and Transitions.
While you won’t get a lengthy essay on all the dimensions of gerontology in this post, it’s basic enough to say that aging is a process, and I will apply the William Bridges Transitions model here – that through life as we all age, change happens. There are endings and resultant transitions occur, traveling through a neutral zone from which new beginnings emerge. It’s in that neutral zone, where uncertainty, stress or confusion often leads to wild swings.
Certainly for many in later life, many are at sea in that neutral zone. One can say, Marion York works with older adults and their families in their neutral zones, which may seem overwhelming to them, especially when it comes to navigating the fragmented healthcare and social service systems, and in that case, in her own words, Marion acts as an advocate and guide. This in my view is for Marion, a sensitive and nuanced role. It is not to be seen as transactional.
A trusted guide through a journey does not clock the distance or time it takes to navigate. Still, given that more often than not there is a sense of urgency, unease or lack of self-efficacy when later life changes occur, I asked Marion York: how do you build trust in that role with the individual and/or their family and what matters most?
“My goal is to reassure, educate, be at my client’s side, understand their stressors and anticipate future challenges. I help people to articulate and identify what they are experiencing and make a plan. They are dealing with complexity at a time of stress. As an Advocate and Navigator my goal is to balance health diagnoses and personal aspects of care.
I spend a lot of time initially listening to the circumstances, identifying gaps in preparedness for aging or facing a health crisis and also ask some tough but important questions…Sometimes people just do not know where to start so just gathering information and creating a road map is a big relief. Through the gathering of information and a thorough assessment I learn a lot about my clients quickly and along the way listen to important stories.”
Marion launched her practice as a Specialist in Aging and Transitions in 2019, a year before the outbreak of the COVID pandemic; and it struck me that over these past eighteen months, there must be certain later life/older adult transition issues that she has seen become more prominent, that have accentuated the need for an advocate and guide – a good listener. So I asked, what are those issues you see, and which might become more significant going forward?
Central to older adults and caregivers to name a few, “health issues that have progressed without timely diagnosis and treatment and are now serious, accompanied by a lack of confidence in the system and a reluctance to make significant moves or transitions… yet for many, more willingness to speak about death, dying and final wishes (advanced care plans).
Right now, several of my clients are exhausted/overwhelmed caregivers and need guidance and support to help make decisions and accelerate planning processes for their partners with the hope of getting some respite. I would say they are approaching a crisis situation, and are very unprepared for any ‘what if’ scenarios.”
Even though through this time, with a positive spin, we have repeatedly put forth the mantra – we are all in this journey together – as Marion York rightly acknowledges on her website: “Every one of us has a different journey. Navigating the right path forward is about recognizing individual needs.”
