Is your family in conflict about decisions regarding an elderly or senior member of your family? Are you or another family member considering going (or already have gone) to court to seek guardianship or resolve another dispute? Are you in conflict with a care provider regarding services being provider for an elder?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then mediation may be an effective, safe and private method of helping your family resolve conflicts and get the help you need without litigation.
Because of the growing concerns around our aging population, we, as a society, are presented with unique situations within families. We help people with family owned businesses as well as concerns within the immediate family.
Mediation can be very helpful in dealing with issues that adult children and their elderly parents face every day. Is it time for the parents to sell their home and move into an assisted living facility? Which child should provide care if a parent wants to stay in their home? How much care does a parent need? Is there disagreement among siblings as to what to do?
Elder Mediator
A good elder mediator will not place blame or responsibility on any one party in the mediation. Through a process of asking questions and soliciting discussion the mediator will help the parties come up with a solution that works for them. The mediation will not work unless all parties agree that the solution is appropriate.
As we age, a delicate balance is needed in transitioning roles and responsibilities. Assessing living situations, day-to-day activities and finding the best options can be difficult for family members. Situations are further complicated by second marriages and step children.
Creating a Thoughtful Plan
Changes in people’s needs and roles as they age can impose new stresses on seniors and their loved ones. Faced with these challenges, many families seek help to develop new ways of coping with different views and positions which can lead to, or exaserbate, unhealthy conflict among family members. Mediation provides an opportunity for the elder and all concerned members of the family to participate in creating a thoughtful plan for the future.
Our approach is to help families
- get all the stakeholders involved in the conversations
- identify the challenges and obstacles,
- face up to realities,
- improve their communication and understanding of each other, the issues, and their needs
- bring in experts when needed to provide solid advice,
- develop viable options, and
- make decisions and plans that are workable.
We meet with families in our offices (including conference calls for family members out of the area), and also at the elder’s residence if it is difficult for them to travel to our offices.
We have the expertise at Triad to help mediate and find solutions for the family members involved. We also have partners who can help with physical care assessment and financial solutions.