Archive for NASMM
(Hinsdale, IL – February 1, 2011) — The National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) announced today that Christine Smart of Designing Moves LLC, Marion, IA, has successfully completed NASMM’s “Old Like Me” Aging Sensitivity Intensive Training and has earned a Certificate of Achievement.
This program was offered in conjunction with the National Association of Senior Move Managers 2011 Annual Conference in St. Pete Beach, Florida in January. Participants completed a three-hour intensive program facilitated by Vanessa M. Dazio, OTD, OTR/L, CEAS II, NBCCH.
This innovative workshop provided participants with the unique opportunity to literally “walk in the shoes” of an older adult through a series of hands-on exercises and comprehensive sensory perception education. “There are so many common misconceptions about older adults and the aging process,” said Mary Kay Buysse, NASMM’s Executive Director. “This training program allowed select participants to experience the sensory losses associated with aging, while enhancing their awareness of disabling factors, hazards, barriers and conditions that can ultimately influence an older adult’s quality of life.”
As part of the training, participants discussed the impact of the sensory, physical and mental declines they experienced. “I have a broader understanding of what it feels like to be old today,” said Christine Smart. “The aging sensitivity training provided me with a heightened awareness of the hidden, but complex barriers that guide how I serve my senior clients, as well as helped me to identify new strategies to assist my clients in coping with age-related changes.”
Designing Moves LLC started in 2008 with a passion to help older adults with downsizing and moving.
The National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) is a not-for-profit, professional association of organizations dedicated to assisting older adults and families with the physical and emotional demands of downsizing, relocating, or modifying their homes. As the only professional association in North America devoted to helping the rapidly increasing 55+ population with middle and later life transition issues, NASMM members are committed to maximizing the dignity and autonomy of all older adults. NASMM is internationally recognized for its innovative programs, leadership and expertise on issues related to senior move management, transition and relocation issues affecting older adults. For more information, visit www.nasmm.org.
Senior Move Managers Help with Impossible
Posted by: | CommentsDecember 30, 2010, 10:00 am
When Moving Seems Impossible
By PATRICK EGANPatricia Wendler had been trying to sell her Southport, N.C., home for four years. Just before Thanksgiving, she finally got an offer, with one major contingency: Mrs. Wendler, 80, had less than three weeks to move, or no deal.
She and her husband, who died in 2008, had retired to Southport 16 years ago from New Hartford, N.Y. In that time, the Wendlers had accumulated furniture that wouldn’t fit in her new apartment, tools she wouldn’t need and years upon years of paperwork. “I kind of stored everything,” she said.
Her daughter-in-law, June Wendler, described the task of relocation as a “tornado.” She called Jane Roberts, a senior move manager in Wilmington, N.C., for help.
Initially, Patricia Wendler was not thrilled.
“I was a little resentful,” she said. “Why would I need someone like that? I’m not used to having people do things for me.”
The Wendlers are among more than 50,000 families to hire a certified senior move manager this year, up from 30,000 just two years ago, according to the National Association of Senior Move Managers. These services don’t come cheap: Most move managers charge $25 to $60 per hour. A top-to-bottom move can require several days of planning, packing and unpacking, running $1,500 to $4,000 or more — not including the cost of the actual movers.
Despite the expense, many families are finding senior move managers indispensable, and not just because they handle the logistics. Tensions can spill over when an elderly parent must relocate. Hundreds of necessary decisions and actions can swallow time the family may not have; the inevitable negotiations and concessions can trouble even the best parent-child relationships.
Surveys show that the elderly overwhelmingly wish to remain in their long-term homes, and to many of them moving represents a loss of control. “These moves usually are precipitated by something that’s happened — a health crisis, a death of a spouse, a loss of driving ability,” said Margit Novack, a senior move manager in Philadelphia.
A good move manager helps to clear a path to the new home while ensuring that the senior is always in control, regardless of who made the first call. “These people don’t want anyone telling them what to do. You have to walk a very fine line,” said Ms. Roberts.
“We become their surrogate friend or surrogate daughter,” added Judy Rough, a senior move manager in Phoenix.
By taking the adult children out of the driver’s seat, a manager can help circumvent family hostilities. “It really lets the adult child be their companion in the journey. The adult child isn’t the bad cop,” said Mary Kay Buysse, executive director of N.A.S.M.M. “It really lets the family be the family.”
In Southport last month, Ms. Roberts helped Mrs. Wendler sort through what to keep and what to donate to charity. She packed everything, hired the movers and then unpacked in the new apartment. She even photographed the interior of Mrs. Wendler’s former home so as to reproduce the layout as closely as possible, making sure that if the toothbrush sat on the right side of the sink, that’s exactly where Mrs. Wendler would find it in the new apartment.
Ms. Roberts’s efforts won over Mrs. Wendler. “She did things I never would’ve thought of,” said Mrs. Wendler. “She was just perfect.”
Printed in The New York Times Dec. 30, 2010
Designing Moves in the News
Posted by: | CommentsThe following was in the Retirement Living guide in the April 25, 2010 Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Getting back to basics
Downsizing to smaller quarters can be a sentimental journey
by Mary Christensen
Many retirees decide to downsize their living quarters – moving to a smaller apartment, a condo, or an assisted living facility. Less space usually means a reducing material possessions. Seniors should be prepared for a process that can be “emotional, physical and stressful, ” says Christine Smart, owner of Designing Moves in Marion and a trained member of the National Association of Senior Move Managers.
“It’s like when somebody dies,” explains Nani Reed, 90, who left most of her possessions to other family members when she moved from her Cedar Rapids home to the first of three care facilities. “You mourn,” she says, “but you realize ‘I can’t change it; I can’t make it different’. Just throw away anything you aren’t going to use,” she advises, “and don’t wait until the last minute.”
There’s also less stress if seniors can actively make a choice, says Smart. “People need to feel like they’re in control of things.”
That was an issue for Leone Novy, 92, who left her Solon area home for a care facility two years ago, later moving to Honey Creek Cottage in Swisher where she lives with Reed and six other residents in a home-like setting.
“I didn’t have time to decide” what to keep, Novy says, adding that she didn’t feel ready to leave her home when her family made the decision to move her to a care facility. What felt like a surprise move to her was very stressful.
Rita Banke, 78, of Cedar Rapids made her own choices, leading to a happy change. After drug dealers moved into her neighborhood and her husband died, she realized she was physically, mentally and financially drained, and that it wasn’t good for her to stay in the house where she’d lived for 50 years. When she announced her conclusion to her children, “My sons told me they had been hoping I would make that decision.”
“I’m so appreciative of what I’ve got now,” Banke says of her apartment at Garnett Place in Cedar Rapids, noting that the atrium outside her door, the handy garden for walking her small dog, good food and friendly staff all make it easier to let go of things that wouldn’t fit there.
Jared Ekholm, 84, who downsized several times before moving to Honey Creek Cottage to be near his son in Shueyville, says it was difficult because he couldn’t make up his mind about what things to get rid of. He brought some favorite furnishings with him, but still keeps many pieces in a storage unit, which he can visit if he wishes.
For most seniors, the question of what to keep is answered with sentimental memories. Ekholm, whose wife has Alzheimer’s and lives in a different care facility, treasures an old bell his wife used when she taught in a small country school and journals he kept of their travels around the country and abroad.
For Reed, there’s a Christmas cactus, she’s had for nearly 50 years; but she still wishes she could find the first Valentine she received from her grandchild.
#1 Tip for Moving Aging Parents
Posted by: | Comments#1 Tip for Moving Aging Parents
The time as come to discuss your concerns about safety and health with your aging parents. They have happily lived in their home of 40 plus years. You have a plan and are determined to take action.
Let me share with you some information from our National Association of Senior Move Manager (NASMM) Conference.
Loss of Control
Most likely your parents will not want to move and when you begin to badger them with facts and figures of why they need to move they will stop listening to you. One important fact to consider is the older adult hates the loss of control they are seeing in their life at this moment. They will do all that they can to maintain control of what they have left – their home. I urge you to ask questions and listen carefully to get an understanding of how they might feel about the situation rather than making requests that will fall on deaf ears. In some situations the best choice is to stay in the home with some modifications. There are amazing options for aging in place. On the other hand the best choice might be moving to the retirement community in the neighborhood. Communities offer a wide range of personalized care and services. Allow your parents to consider the options and choices available.
Importance of a Story
Older adults want to feel that they have a legacy to leave behind, it’s very important to listen to their stories and allow them the privilege of telling it again. Whether there is a move in the future or a need for modification of the home, downsizing of the possessions is inevitable. It is easy for the older adult to part with items if they feel their story has been told.
#1 Tip
The #1 tip for helping a parent through the transition of a move is to ask for qualified help. A Senior Move Manager who is a member of NASMM will guide you through the process as you help as much or as little as you want. As a member of NASMM the Senior Move Manager will have insurance, recommendations, and the tools to help your family with an effortless move for Mom and Dad. One of the fascinating aspects of the NASMM Conference is meeting Senior Move Mangers from all over the United States and Canada. This network of people eases out of state transitions for families by giving peace of mind that help on both ends of the move will be of the same qualifications.
Whether you are moving your parents out of state, around the corner, or helping them to age in place find a member of NASMM to help you sort through the options and reduce YOUR stress.
