It is very important to thoroughly evaluate any geriatric care manager (GCM) before entering into a professional caregiving partnership. These questions were developed in partnership between AARP and the Federal Trade Commission. We supply the questions here as a guide for any GCM interviews you are considering, along with our own answers to the questions.

"Tell me about your training, education, and care management/geriatrics background"
Jim Ferry, founder of Coaching Caregivers LLC, holds a Master's Degree in Social Work from Rutgers University, and also holds a LICSW. Prior to beginning his GCM career, Jim served as a hospital social worker, where he first became interested in elder issues. He began his Geriatric Care Management career in 1992, and established Coaching Caregivers LLC in 2003. A more detailed biography is available here.

A care manager's ability to be responsive is important. We can be reached by phone on a 24-hour basis, and we check e-mail often.

"What is the scope of your care-management practice?"
Coaching Caregivers LLC provides programs, products and services to caregivers who live and work across the nation. We particularly enjoy sharing solutions with those who have the desire to begin or resume personal and professional achievement, outside of their role as caregiver.

As both care managers and coaches, our clinicians serve as an advisor, planner, and manager to elders, family members, and others on a short- or long-term basis.

Our 20+ years of GCM experience have taught us how to best work with facility administrators and managers. We are skilled at negotiating with the staff members at facilities, while also being empathetic and understanding of older, sometimes difficult, people. We are diplomatic, smoothing the bonds between families, facilities, and the person who requires care.

"What is your track record and professional reputation?"
"Coaching Caregivers helped me and my brother through a very difficult period in our mother's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. As she made the progression from being able to fend for herself as she had done for over 25 years, to being considered an 'elder at risk' by health care professionals, the staff was very helpful in sorting out how to get her the care she needed and still satisfy her exacting standards. Coaching Caregivers' knowledge of and experience with Alzheimer's helped us to sort out what was really happening from thousands of miles away. They were excellent about communicating with us and the other's involved in our mother's care. And they do it all in a warm, unassuming way that makes you feel you are dealing with a friend rather than a hired professional. Thanks, Coaching Caregivers."
-- C.C., Madrid, Spain

"As a long distance caregiver, hiring Coaching Caregivers LLC was the best step I took in caring for my ailing father. They were phenomenal: superb people skills, analytics, and a knowledge of the eldercare bureaucracy. Our Coaching Caregivers care manager never wavered in his commitment to find the best solutions for my father, as we went from assisted living to skilled nursing and eventually home with 24/7 care. Most importantly, the staff treated my father with the utmost warmth and respect, got to know what made him 'tick,' and became his trusted friends."
-- Barbara, Bethesda, MD