The Work Life Assist Program from A Silver Connection

A Silver Connection has been helping employers improve the workplace bottom-line, let us help yours. On average 13% of your best employees are struggling to cope with the demands of caring for an elderly loved one. Our Senior Care Consultants have helped thousands of "working caregivers" keep focused at work while we coordinated the eldercare research needs for them.

American businesses can lose as much as $34 billion each year due to employees' need to care for loved ones 50 years of age and older.1 Employees working under stressful family situations are more prone to personal illness, report late to work or leave early (49%); take leave (11%); drop to part-time (7%); many have lost job benefits (4%); or have choosen early retirement (10%) and/or give up work entirely (6%). 2.

Call us today to learn about our program to reduce your unscheduled absences, stress related illness as well intermittent FMLA. Our service is designed around your needs. Some of what we can offer is below:

On-site training workshops are available to learn about the various dimensions involved in elder care for managers and employees
a wiget, portal and articles for your intra-net,
articles for your employee newsletters,
dedicated toll free access helpline and wallet card,
one-on-one consultations onsite at workplace or telephonic,
Professional Resource Directory,
Geriatric Care Manager and/or Senior Care Consultant on site at your employee health and benefit fair

and most of all priority access to the many resources they will need to take care of their elderly loved one so they can be focused on work at work. Best of all most of our services are free to you and your workers.

Services for Employers

Our goal is assisting your employees in finding eldercare resources that meet their budget and needs. We provide expertise in determining the level of care needed, family financial resources available as well as the knowledge to answer the multiple issues related to senior care.

“Patricia is very knowledgeable and offers great resources to our employees who are dealing with aging parent issues. She is very caring and passionate about her work.”
Personable, Expert, Good Value - May 6, 2009

Melody Canak Director,
Employee Benefits at Trustmark Companies

“Pat provided a program on eldercare that was exceptionally good.

She is a true expert on this topic.”

Great Results, Personable, Expert - April 23, 2009
Chester Taranowski
Employee Assistance Coordinator
at Aon Services Corporation

Call us today at 866-421-8266 to learn more about our service and how we can assist your employee as well as improve your bottom line.

Work Life Assist by A Silver Connection is a program that works for your workers. We will save you money by helping you help them.

Caregiving and Work

American businesses can lose as much as $34 billion each year due to employees' need to care for loved ones 50 years of age and older.1

10% of employed family caregivers go from full-time to part-time jobs because of their care giving responsibilities. 3

Both male and female children of aging parents make changes at work in order to accommodate care giving responsibilities. Both have modified their schedules (men 54%, women 56%). Both have come in late and/or leave early (men 78%, women 84%) and both have altered their work-related travel (men 38%, women 27%). 4

Family caregivers comprise 13% of the workforce. 5

62% of family caregivers have had to make some adjustments to their work life, from reporting late to work to giving up work entirely. 3

Women average 14 years out of the paid labor force, primarily because of care giving responsibilities. 6

1 Source: Metlife Mature Market Institute and National Alliance for Care giving, MetLife Care giving Cost Study: Productivity Losses to U.S. Business, July 2006.

2. Source: AARP

3. Source: National Alliance for Care giving and AARP, Care giving in the U.S., 2004.

4.Source: MetLife Mature Market Institute, Sons at Work: Balancing Employment and Eldercare, June 2003.

5. Source: Wagner, D. and Neal, M., "Working Caregivers: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for the Aging Network". National Family Caregivers Support Program, Program Development Issues Briefs, Administration on Aging, DHHS, 2002.

6.Source: Maatz, Lisa, President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Older Womens League, August 2001.

Call us today at 866-421-8266 to learn more about our service and how we can impact your employee wellness programs save you time money and sress.

Happy Thoughts... Some of Our Testimonials From The Working Caregivers we have helped

Provide Feedback

Just wanted to let you know that my mom is moved in, settled and loving Victory Center, we do as well. Talk about a nice place with a wonderful staff, from the director to the aides to the maintenance staff, everyone has been wonderful to her. she has already made some lady friends (and a man or two) . they had a family bbq on Memorial Day that we attended, and at one point, my husband said, look at your mom, I haven't seen her smile like that in years.

So my angel of mercy, I tip my hat to you for making this all possible. God will have a special place for you and I will always thank God for you. Enjoy your summer!!!!!!

Lynda G

The help has been awesome! Every supportive living place has contacted me. My in-laws have agreed to visit Eastgate Manor in Algonquin IL. We don't know how they will react, given they are very independent right now. Pauletta was extremely helpful. We are also going to visit Heritage Woods in South Elgin. Your service was great because the supportive living places all contacted me. I did not have to make a bunch of phone calls. I highly recommend Silver Connections to anyone looking for senior living options.

Thanks again!

Jill S.

Thanks Kitty...really, I mean that. This info & your contacts will surely help us on this way. It is good being "you".

Tom

Thank you Thank you Thank you. You are GREAT!!!!

I just called and we are in the covering area and once I get the exact therapy dates and times I can set up service.

You have made my day… J
Dawn M.

I do want to thank you for your assistance early on in this process. I am surprised that the process has improved so little from eight years ago when I was looking for similar assistance for my dad. It seems like AARP or Medicare would have made it more user friendly. All I can say is thank goodness for agencies such as yours. I found your services to be very reassuring and helpful. Keep up the good work.

Thanks again,

Diane L.

Thank you so much for taking the time today to discuss my mother’s needs for a part-time (8-10 hrs/wk) in-home companion. Your expertise with the needs of dementia patients is obvious, and left me feeling hopeful that we’ll find the right person for my mother. My father is doing a great job as her caretaker, but it’s apparent that he now needs regular assistance beyond what our family can offer. I followed the directions in your e-mail, & easily accessed the information on the three home healthcare agencies you recommended. I will call them on Monday to begin the process. There’s a plethora of other information available on your site, too, that I’m sure our family will find helpful.

I’ll keep in contact with you and will be happy to provide feedback on any of your recommended providers. How comforting to know that the agencies you suggested have a proven track record with your other clients. My first contact with you and your organization, Silver Connections, has been a very positive one. I greatly appreciate your kindness in helping us help our parents maintain their quality of life.

Thanks Gail,

Eileen D.

Hello Gail,

In September of 2008 it was time for more assistance for my mother of 87 years old to live out the rest of her life as full as possible. I live in Arizona, but my brother and his family who had been taking care of mom live in Illinois. Thank God for the service of " Silver Connections".

They were immediate, caring, understanding, patient and EXTREMELY helpful in assisting us in locating a highly qualified and safe environment for mom to live in. They followed up with us to see how the process was going after they initially gave us places to go and see for ourselves that were with-in our area.

I highly suggest the use of their service for anyone embarking in this phase of assisting your parents. Silver Connections provides a wealth of information and/or directs you to exactly what you need to make your process as smooth and stress free as possible. Thank You Silver Connections!

Respectfully,

Michelle H.

Gail:
We moved my mother and she is doing well. Thank you for your support and guidance through this difficult period. We certainly would have been even more lost if it wasn't for your assistance. Dawn

Pat: I just realized that I never thanked you for your wonderful assistance on my Mother's situation. I truly appreciated your expertise and your generosity of time. You were so incredible helpful -we havefollowed up with the attorney you recommended and are setting up an appt for the family.

Your own experience was truly insightful and helpful to me personally....I have been frustrated by some family members' lack of help, etc. It was good to hear that we are not unique....

Thanks again -- you helped me more than I can tell you!

Sincerely,

Liz L.

Gail,
Our frantic call to your origination was met with passion and care, which made us feel as though we truly had an ali in dealing with a vary bad situation. You have given our family options that we had no idea were out there! Silver Connections is a great resource for families who have tough decision's to make regarding there loved ones. THANK YOU!!!

Sincerely,

Jeff K

Thanks so much, I Will call and see what's available for touring these places tomorrow. It is so GOOD to have an Advocate! Will be in touch and will hopefully hear from Sue at Lexington soon. I enjoyed our conversation.

Carol V.

My husband and I wish to Thank you and Silver Connections for all of your help. We have been extremely impressed with the business ethics and care put into your job. Both nursing homes we check out were places my husband said he thought he could stay in.

I have already told many people about your service and will keep it handy when needed.

Thank you again for everything.

Susan W.

I hope you are doing well..I just spoke to Janice M. today and it sounds like she has made up her mind on where she is going to place her mother. Thank you for helping her out.; whoever you have assisting her is doing a great job. Janice gave her very high marks. ...You know more about the facilities and what they are looking for than I do.

Thanks,

John - Elder Law Attorney

I appreciate your help -I first contacted you in August. My father in law had some behavior issues and was forgetting to eat. So its been a journey, and continues to be, but I wanted to thank you for your help. I am glad I saved the article you had in the Northwest Herald, knowing someday I would need help! I have also told people about the "Aid and Assistance" benefit for Veterans. My father in law is eligible for that, and we are in the process of getting that going. There is a lot to do, as we are preparing to sell his house, etc.

Thanks again for your help.

Rhonda F.

Thanks so much for calling - the service you provide is fabulous!

Joan G.

You have been the catalyst to making things happen and to finding the right place for us. We are so grateful and appreciative. Obviously, I will continue to refer people to you.

Paul F.

Thank you for your help!!!! I passed this on to my friend already. I TRULY appreciate your ability to help our ELDER population!!!!

Lyn T. RN, APN, AE-C, Advanced Practice Nurse

Thanks for all of the info I received from you. I want to thank you for all your help and insight and most importantly your understanding. It is nice to know there are services like Silver Connections you can go to for help I will make sure to let others know about your service." ~Terri

"Gail gave me the name of a nursing home that I would not have known about but for her" ~ B.B..

"Paula has been so helpful, friendly, and always answers my questions. She is great!!!"~ Sharon C.

"I'm still working with Gail and she is wonderful" ~ Patti G.

"I could not have talked to a better person. Kitty was so helpful, She even called back to see if everything turned out alright" ~Mary K.

"Jennifer has been a GREAT help with my Dad" ~ Cindy W.

"Very helpful" ~ Robert W.

"Kitty is a Godsend!! With her help, and follow up calls we really feel like we have somebody that really cares about all our needs and concerns. GOD BLESS HER ! " ~ Mary B.

“Hello Pat, Thanks for the excellent follow up. You guys are great!” ~ Valerie

"There was a lovely gal I talked to several times who was working the weekend shift (Ellen). Everyone I spoke to was kind, gentle, and very helpful. No question was too dumb". That was very helpful to feel free to ask whatever I needed to know." ~ Linda S.

"Has been wonderful. I consider myself lucky to have been introduced to her. (Gail) More people should know about your services" ~Craig W.

"She was very resourceful and very experienced. (Gail) Her follow through was outstanding" ~ Emily M.

I want to thank you for your recommendation of The Ivy. We did not know about it or Supportive Living before you told me about them. I don't know if it would be helpful to you for me to tell you about my mom's transition from help at home to The Ivy. She is 90 years old, and may be one of the oldest ones at The Ivy. She is in pretty good shape mentally, but fairly frail physically. She entered Feb. 16, 2009, and we are so pleased with the services offered, the accessibility of the staff, and the real care and concern for mom's well-being. Mom has always said, "NEVER put me in a home". My sister worried that Mom would hate us forever if we pushed the issue. I insisted because her help at home was just not working any more. The transition has been somewhat amazing, and if she has the strength to participate in the activities, this could be a very good move for her. So far, she has said that she is "too busy" to go to too many activities. She has gone to some, and she does go down to the meals. It is taking time to get settled. Thank you for informing us about options we didn't know we had.. Nona M.

Good morning Gail, As I have expressed in the past, I cannot thank you enough for all of your help and support over the past three weeks. Again, thank you - thank you - thank you. As I told Allison this morning, we have many tax clients coming through our office in need of the service you provide. With your permission, I will highly recommend Silver Connections to assist them with the senior housing needs! Once again, sincere thanks! Nancy

Hi, Pat
My parents have settled into their new home. Thanks for all of your help. You have no idea how much it meant to me to have someone listen and be very, very helpful when we really needed an education and assistance in a very short time frame - and without having to make another financial investment. Thanks for all of your help and your kind, caring spirit. Pam

Dear Pat,

thank you for all of your help. You made the original research much more efficient for me, for which I am grateful.

I did use the list that you sent to me to research places that I felt would be best suited to serve the needs of my mother. I need to tell you though, when I set out on this journey, I was racked with feelings of guilt and depression. The very thought of having to place my mother in a "home" was dreadful. I am happy to say the journey was an enlightening and rewarding one. With the list that you provided in hand, I proceeded to narrow the field to 12 places that were in my desired area. I made appointments at each, and set out to investigate. Since I was doing the leg work for my siblings, I had intended to narrow the field to three, feeling that that would be easy. It was actually difficult, because out of these 12 places, I would have been comfortable with 10 of them. It was reassuring that here were so many fine, caring places to chose from.

After narrowing the field to three, my siblings then went to take a look. We complied our overall views and impressions of each place, looking at the facility itself, the level of activities, and the mount of care and empathy expressed by the staff towards the residents. We looked at the residents that were living there, and tried to assess their feelings about where they were living, and the care that they were receiving. After compiling all of this information, we made our selection to place our mother. We will be moving her in this coming Thursday, the 11th of September. I am confident that the level of care with dignity that she will receive there is going to exceed all expectations that we may have. It is a safe, nurturing environment, that I know she will enjoy.

I truly feel, that if I had not found your website, we would not be at this point for her. I would still be going through yellow pages looking at places that did not meet my original criteria, feeling overwhelmed by the task at hand. I can't emphasize enough how I appreciated the ease of use of your website. You took a potential nightmare, and turned it into a more positive and uplifting journey. I now know that there ARE places suited to the needs of an aging population that will give care, compassion, and most of all dignity to the elderly. Thank you Pat, with warmest regards
Carol M.

Pat - I wanted to express my gratitude for providing information about the
retirement facilities in the Chicago area. You were a big help and made
the process much easier. I will definitely refer other people in a similar
situation as me to your service. Let me know if there is anything that I
can do to help you and your organization. Thanks again! Paul

Dear Pat,

Thanks so much for your great suggestions, and for the time you've spent talking with me and doing research for my family. I'm especially glad that you called this morning (Tuesday), because you cleared up some misconceptions that I had gotten from the other website that I checked last night. After I talked with you this morning, I called both places you suggested and both were very helpful to me. (I told them that you had referred me to them.) Diane faxed me some info, and both Diane and Gina are sending me brochures by mail. I've called by brother and sister-in-law in Wheaton to tell them about the options, and they are very interested, too. (My sister in law had been familiar with one of the places, but she wasn't aware that they now include assisted living help in addition to their retirement options.) So we are now very prepared to see my Dad and his doctor on Thursday. I think we have now found the perfect solution for our family's needs. Thanks again VERY much. Sincerely, Pam

Hi Pat,
I just wanted you to be one of the first to know--my Mom and Dad have been
both accepted now at the property we selected. We are SO happy about it. There
still needs to be all the paperwork done for my Mom and my Dad still needs
to sell his house, but at least they have both now been accepted. The move
won't take place until a room opens up for my mom. We are all so thrilled for them. Of course we'd like for them to both be completely well and able to live together on their own, but this set-up is the next best thing! Thanks so much again for all the help you have been in bringing this all to pass. I wouldn't have even known about this property if you hadn't told me about it! I'm grateful to God for leading me to you. Sincerely, Pam W.

Hi Pat,
Thank you for the support and continued care. We currently don't know Mom's condition..until all the test results are in. Probably in a couple of days. Then she's off to therapy which, based on her ability to recover, will determine the type of assisted living they will need. If it can be independent - then it might be affordable for them down here. If not, then we will have to look for alternatives. Thank you for finding the alternatives.
And thank you so very much for all the help. You really took a whole lot of stress off of all of us. We'll keep in touch as to what's happening with Mom, and how we can best proceed.
Its a pleasure working with someone like you. I can not thank you enough for your quick response and caring attitude. Ditto from the rest of the family. Will keep in touch. ~L.

Hi Pat

Thank you so much for your help and guidance - my mom is going through a period of adjustment, but everyone seems to be very willing to help. She loves the place and is thrilled at having a "roommate". Thanks again for all your help - I would still be looking if it were not for you. Take Care -Joan H.

Pat - Thank you so much for the follow up. I spent some time this morning on the phone w/your associate, and she was wonderful, and very helpful. Also, I've already received calls from several Home Care agencies (and let them know that you referred me), and got a lot of great information. Right now we're still in the very preliminary stages of all of this, but you've already done so much and provided such valuable information, I want to let you know how much it is appreciated. Regards, Andrea B.

Pat- This service has been a lifesaver! Thanks- Pam H

H i Pat! I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all your support in helping with the needs of my mother, Gladys. You were extremely supportive in this very difficult time of emotions and making decisions. Of all the people I contacted, you offered the most feedback and emotional support. Mom passed away on July 28th and I am at peace with that, although sad. She is now just where she has wanted to be for quite sometime...with the Lord and the rest of her family. Again, thank you for your resources, but most of all for "being there"! Again, I thank you for all you have done. Warm Regards, Mary

Pat, I can't express my gratitude enough. Your time spent with me yesterday on the phone and your rapid e-mail of information is so impressive. You have certainly found your niche! I will start calling some of the places you recommended today, and will be in touch with you soon. Thank you so very much. Sincerely, Ms. M

Hi, Pat, what a cute card! Well, we have made some progress. Thanks to you I think my mother will now be getting veteran's benefits which will be a huge help. I feel so much better about that - at least I feel a little more prepared. Ms. K

Pat, I think about you all the time and how invaluable our one conversation was to me. You were certainly meant to be doing what you do. I will keep in touch. Many thanks, Linda

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