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.
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.