Elder care is a lumbering system where individuals can lose their identity. That is the battleground for AEA.

AEA is skilled in managing care, specifically, dealing with—

• Medicare and Medicaid intervention
• Nursing home selection and evaluation
• Arranging and overseeing in-home service providers
• Mediating disputes
• Interacting with attorneys and legal authorities
• Assuring all mandated services are provided
• Filling the gaps in the system to ensure seamless care

While modern medical science is prolonging life in the United States, the services dedicated to elders have not increased proportionately. Even though most states and many municipalities have some bureaucratic efforts dedicated to long term care management, the gestures are often insignificant, while the problems facing older Americans are remarkably momentous. Even when challenges to the group as a whole are dealt with, many health, financial, and quality of life issues are left unresolved on an individual, case-by-case basis.

We must reverse the attitude that if we hide our elders away, their problems will disappear. There are genuine, sometimes life-threatening concerns that must be addressed.

Here are some common areas of consideration:

Abuse. Our elder population is the second largest group at risk for abuse in this country. The National Association on Elder Abuse defines seven separate types of elder mistreatment—

• Physical
• Sexual
• Emotional or psychological
• Financial or material exploitation
• Neglect
• Abandonment
• Self-neglect

Dementia. Although there are several causes for memory impairment, one specific condition gets most of the media coverage: Alzheimer's disease.

Our society shuns that which it fears. And, secretly in many cases, we are all terrified of losing our mental faculties. Our reaction is to turn away from our elders because we refuse to see them falter. The fact is, the very people who took care of us when we were helpless now need us to help them. And we aren't there.

Behavioral Irregularities. With deteriorating brain functions, it is not unusual for some elders to exhibit behaviors that are inconsistent with their earlier lives. These behaviors can be manifested in confusion or, in some instances, violence. Even many elder care professionals have difficulty recognizing and are ill-prepared to effectively handle these special cases.