Options Counseling

When it is time to move, older adults have numerous senior living options, but deciding where to go is overwhelming at best. With an ever-growing list of options to choose from, it is imperative to gain a deep understanding of the differences among them and what works best for your unique needs both short and long-term.

At Dovetail Companies, we are Senior Living experts. As Certified Senior Advisors® (CSA) and Care Manager- Certified® (CMA) we have guided thousands of families through this process to ensure an informed decision was made. Our services are designed to provide customized guidance, specifically for independent and assisted living, and memory care.

We will meet with you in the comfort of your home to get to know you, your unique situation, desires and needs to help craft a plan. Our approach will help you to feel confident in making an informed decision.

Our Guided Process:

• Complimentary Consultation

• Develop Customized Recommendations

• Recommendation Review Meeting

• Schedule Community Tours

• Develop Touring Questions With You

• Accompany You On Tours

• Final Review and Decision

If you are not ready to leave your long-time home, or finances remain an issue to do so, we can still help. It is never too early to start the conversation.

Legal & Financial Planning
 

There are many costs involved in a major life transition and many options for paying for these expenses. We help connect you with the right professionals to match your needs. At Dovetail Companies, we have a large network of trusted professionals that we have worked with over the years. If you're already working with professionals in these areas of expertise, be sure to review your plan every 3-5 years. If you are in need of recommendations or support, we can help connect you with the professional right for you.

Elder Law & Estate Planning:

Elder Law is a specialized area of legal practice that covers estate planning, wills, trusts, long-term care planning, social security, retirement benefits, protection against elder abuse, guardianship and more. At Dovetail, we connect you with some of the industry’s best to ensure that you have a plan and are well-protected in your later years of life.

Financial Planning:

A Certified Financial Planner (CFP)® brings the knowledge and expertise to help construct personalized financial plans to achieve the financial goals of the mature client. Whether you have long-time investments, a 401k or need the equity from the sale of your home to afford your next step, a financial planner can determine the best plan for you. At Dovetail Companies, we are happy to recommend a CFP® based on your individual needs to help support your future.

Managing a Recent Diagnosis

The role of an Aging Life Care® professional, also known as a Geriatric Care Manager, is a client-centered approach to care for older adults and others facing health challenges. The Aging Life Care Professional® guides families to ensure quality care and reduce stress on the caregiver. These professionals can handle a wide range of tasks and often have a clinical background to provide assessments and monitoring, planning, education, advocacy, and family caregiver coaching.

Connecting You with the Right Professionals:

• Life Care Manager

• Memory Health

• Physical & Occupational Therapy

• Visiting Nurse

Rightsizing

Rightsizing is the process of sorting and organizing your belongings to get to the optimal number that can be appropriately stored and easily retrieved in a home, while supporting a current lifestyle.

Our team will play a helpful role in tackling the contents of your home in manageable bites, and assist in making decisions. Some spaces can easily be done on your own; however, sorting, organizing, and dispersing any number of things in a home of twenty-plus years can be less daunting with the help of a professional. Our team will come to know you, understand your lifestyle, and help you move forward with ease.

Taking the Process in Manageable Bites:

• Organizing with a color-coded sticker system

• Room by room

• Applying the 80/20 rule

• Utilizing the emotional functional scale

• Maintaining a rightsized life

Floor Planning & Design Oversight

You may have lived in your home for decades and now are exploring a new, more rightsized space. Our team of Project Managers will meet with you to evaluate your new space, measure the intricate details, and create a to-scale floor plan based on your lifestyle and desired belongings. Our team will help you understand how to best utilize your new space, mixing old with new and envisioning your space in a new way that works for you.

Design Oversight:

• On-site/off-site storage solutions

• Custom closet solutions

• Custom built-ins

• Organizational solutions

• Lighting placement

Move Planning

Your designated Project Manager will effectively plan for and manage the logistics of your move from start to finish. Our goal is to remove the guesswork of vetting out, hiring and overseeing the many pieces of a move. While we are working with you to rightsize your belongings, your Project Manager will help correspond with, schedule, over oversee all third-party providers involved. We will work with our select industry partners to find the right one for you, and manage their involvement throughout the entire process.

Coordination and Management of Providers:

• Movers
• Cable/phone/internet installation
• Change of address
• Storage
• Purchases
• Essentials & customizations
• Community liaison

Bereavement Support

Losing a loved one is painful and there are many stages of grief to experience during and after their passing. And while we are never fully prepared to lose someone, bereavement support can be helpful at all stages. 

At Dovetail Companies, we are here to give you the emotional space and time to experience your own grief journey, ensure you have the right support system(s) in place, and maintain the activities and moments that bring you joy and peace. What often seems intolerable or inconceivable is what helps us adapt to life in new ways.

Connecting Your Grief Journey with  Support Networks:
 

• Community Support
•  Grief Support Groups
• Therapist
• Family Mediation
• Long-Term Hospice Support
• Faith-Based Groups
• Life Coaches

Professional Coordination

During a time of grieving, we are your key to putting the pieces together. Our team of Certified Senior Advisors®️ and Senior Move Managers work collaboratively to ensure all personal and professional representatives are on the same page throughout the estate management process, and the estate is handled with care and compassion.

Regardless if the estate is in Probate, it is never too early to start. Our professional coordination allows for pre-planning and process development to ensure a timely execution once the estate has been reconciled by the court system.

Bringing all Supporting Parties Together:
 

• Estate Planning Attorney
• Financial Planner
• Tax Professional
• Family/Heirs
• Senior & Specialty Move Manager
• Fine Art Appraiser, Estate Sale Specialist
• Charity Recipients
• Donation Coordination/Disposal
• Real Estate Agent 

Estate Coordination & Distribution

Whether you are a professional or family member supporting the cataloguing process and distribution of belongings to the heirs of an estate, the process can be a massive and emotional undertaking. Our expert team of Senior Move Managers acts as the liaison between the Legal Representative and the heirs, ensuring the wishes of the estate are met along the way. 

Our proven system alleviates any un-do stress on the responsible party and gives reverence to the estate of the loved one that passed.  

Coordinating the Logistics:

• Cataloguing of all assets according to the estate
• Cataloguing of Remaining assets to be Divided up Fairly Amongst Heirs, Charities, or Liquidated for the Estate
• Management Oversight of Shipments and Delivery of Assets
• Estate Sale Coordination
• Donation Coordination
• Final Disposal 

Home Modification Design

While the aging process is different for everyone, so is the meaning of comfort, home, and lifestyle. At Dovetail Companies, we rely on our experience working with and moving older adults from their home to community, and making their space their own, to bring our holistic approach to life. We do the same when your desire is to age in place at home and redefine your space to be functional for you, and for your aging needs.

There is no right or wrong way to approach aging in place, but we believe there is a more thoughtful way, with the goal of remaining as independent as possible.

Navigating the Familiar and Maintaining Your Independence:

Attractive, functional options to maintain your independence are at your fingertips. Dovetail approaches the styling and upgrades to your space with the following in mind:

• Safety 
• Function and Practicality 
• Assistive Devices 
• Electronic Support 
• Maintaining a Homey Feel 
• Alternative Storage Solutions

Low Vision Support

According to the American Family Physician, "approximately one in three elderly persons has some form of vision-reducing eye disease by the age of 65." When it comes to living well with low vision, there are many aspects of an individual's home that need to be taken into consideration: lighting, furniture, paint/contrasting colors, tripping hazards, window coverings, flooring, and everyday tasks. While making modifications to enhance a person's lifestyle to accommodate low vision needs might seem overwhelming, it doesn't have to be. Whether "home" is in a residential area or a senior living community, Dovetail's low-vision living program will design a space to support everyday living and promote aging and living well. 

From the kitchen to the bedroom, bathroom and living room, there are many aspects of someone's day that will benefit from living a bigger, brighter, safer lifestyle. When the eyesight dulls, life doesn't have to. It's the Dovetail way.

Our low-vision program will assess and manage: 

• Lighting enhancements (overhead, under cabinet, table lamps) 
• Flooring replacement/adaptation 
• Assistive device installation: 
• Magnifiers 
• Smart light bulbs 
• Specialized window shades 
• Letter and check writing guide 
• Raised buttons for appliances 

• Remote / phone upgrades 
• Contrasting safety grab bars/ toilet seat 
• Paint color/contrasting areas 
• Monthly low-vision support groups

Care Coordination and Dementia Support 

As Certified Senior Advisors® and Certified Dementia Practitioners, we have supported hundreds of clients with cognitive impairment. When the goal is to have an individual with cognitive impairment age in place at home, the process should begin in a familiar place and a true understanding of how the individual lives, building trust and rapport, to introduce change. The goal should be to retain and embrace the old and worn, recreate the familiar and contribute to a safe physical and emotional space. A holistic approach to aging in place at home is taken in manageable bites and done in three distinct parts.

Carefully planned, engaged transitions in the home will ease the minds of the older adult and their caregiver(s) while minimizing the stress and fear of this major life transition and help support their handicap to live life as independently as possible.

Why It’s Important:

• Retain - embrace the old, familiar pieces 
• Recreate - offer sufficient space for ease of movement 
• Reminisce – bring personalization and familiarity into a physical space to anchor the older adult 
• Rapport - have a face that can be recalled as one that makes the individual feel safe/good during this change to their home