JFCS Offers Bay Area’s Most Comprehensive Care

Every week when Jonah called his 86-year-old mother, she talked about her physical discomfort and sadness. He realized that she was alone and needed more than his cross-country phone calls and quarterly visits. “My mother used to be a vital professional with many interests,” Jonah said. “I was alarmed that she’d become so hobbled by arthritis and shut down by depression.” Fortunately, a family friend put him in touch with Seniors At Home to ensure that Margot, his mother, receive expert care and loving support. “My mother, despite her setbacks, is a fiercely independent person, so approaching the topic of help of any kind was a delicate proposition,” said Jonah.

mother and son

“However, the Seniors At Home professionals who came to visit us when I was in the Bay Area handled all of her concerns with great sensitivity.”

Jonah was amazed by what he found—Seniors At Home’s comprehensive range of services all housed in one location. “It was like a one-stop shop,” he said, “and the individualized attention paid to my mother and her needs was wonderful. My mother had often complained in the past that medical and health-care professionals don’t really hear or see her. Not so in this case—the Seniors At Home professionals really took the time to know her and to help.”

Margot agreed to a personalized care management plan that included a few hours of home care each week, a weekly check-in with her care manager, and enrollment in Seniors At Home’s Futures Program, which helps seniors plan in advance for possible changes to their health. Margot’s care manager also found her a great geriatrician, an excellent  physician who specializes in senior care, and she was matched with a JFCS volunteer—a former English professor—with whom she gets together weekly for coffee and conversation.  The two love talking about books, politics, and current events and have become friends.

“Over the past six months, my mother’s health has improved dramatically and her joie de vivre has returned,” said Jonah. “It’s a relief that Seniors At Home is there when I can’t be. My mom is part of a community now and not alone”

Margot, a former teacher, agrees. “By nature, I’m a skeptical person,” she said, “and I was set to resist any attempt to have help imposed upon me. But I could see right away the people at Seniors At Home had the utmost respect for me. In fact they want for me the same thing I want for myself: to feel better.”