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Natural Awakenings Tampa Florida

Promise Me You Won’t Put Me in a Home

A Guide for Older Adults and Their Loved Ones


In Promise Me You Won’t Put Me in a Home, Elizabeth Rice, LCSW and Rica Lewis take the reader to a place of empowerment in their wellness journey.

Rica Lewis (left) and Elizabeth Rice, LCSW (right)
During their combined thirty-plus-years working with older adults, Rice and Lewis heard this particular phrase (the title of their book) all too often. Promise Me is a condensed version of their time spent working with individuals in ALFs SNFs, hospitals and nursing homes. If you don’t understand some of the terminology, don’t worry; that’s what the book is all about. It will guide you through all of the terminology, practices and wandering halls of governmental and medical industry hurdles and obstacles so that you can approach the “third act” of your life or your loved one’s life and proceed with pride, dignity and self-assuredness intact, feeling comfortable that you are getting the best and most informed care possible. If you find the situations in life get to the point that it is no longer safe, healthy or prudent to live in your existing circumstances, or you need to help someone in your circle of influence, Promise Me is the resource.

The book is divided into four sections, with the first being a primer of sorts to introduce you to the language of the aging experience, and the key things to look for should you have to look for assistance in managing your daily needs and challenges. Filled with checklist and tools, it really feels like your personal advocate. One becomes an active participant, better yet, an engaged member in the wellness journey. There are many choices to make; become an informed navigator of the medical maze. In order to stay fit and healthy in both mind and body for our entire journey, becoming a choice agent has to be paramount to keep living our best life.

Promise Me provides a better understanding of the terminology to make informed and empowered decisions, easily described so anyone can be in a place of power, not victim to being told what to do at a very delicate time of one’s life. The book makes it possible to feel confident about making the arrangements and getting all the t’s crossed and the i’s dotted should the choice to make the transition to living in a different environment be unavoidable.

The book is filled with website links and resources in the appendix on ways to afford care, access services, tools to provide financial stability and establish your personal health care advocates, all  providing a peaceful state of mind. Current research informs us that we are living longer than ever before; Promise Me is a comprehensive, easy-to-read guidebook providing the peace of mind one needs in a journey through the challenges of aging, and allows one to embrace the possibilities still ahead.

Available at Amazon.com and ESLifeCoach.com.