Making the Most of Your Journey: Caring for Elderly Parents

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of caring for your elderly parents?

Unsure of how to approach the delicate subject of aged care?

In this eye-opening episode of me&my health up, host Anthony Hartcher and guest Danielle Robertson discuss the complexities of caring for elderly parents and the importance of taking a holistic approach. They delve into planning ahead for estate and financial matters, open communication with elderly loved ones, and the critical role of medical professionals.

This podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the challenges of elderly care while maintaining dignity and independence for your loved ones. Don't miss this insightful conversation that could change the way you approach elderly care in your family.

About Danielle Robertson:

Danielle Robertson was CEO of DIAL-AN-ANGEL®. After 29 years in the family business, Danielle exited the business after acquisition in September 2014. Danielle offers 36+ years extensive experience to the care industry assisting families to find the right care, support, and accommodation for their ageing or disabled loved ones. Danielle is also Lead Care Consultant and Subject Matter Expert for Mercer’s new ‘Care & Living with Mercer’ offering.

Connect with Danielle Robertson:

Website:   https://www.drcaresolutions.com
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsondanielle/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DRCareSolutions
Twitter:     https://twitter.com/NavigatingCare

About me&my health up & Anthony Hartcher

me&my health up seeks to enhance and enlighten the well-being of others. Host Anthony Hartcher is the CEO of me&my wellness which provides holistic health solutions using food as medicine, combined with a holistic, balanced, lifestyle approach. Anthony holds three bachelor's degrees in Complementary Medicine; Nutrition and Dietetic Medicine; and Chemical Engineering. 

Podcast Disclaimer
Any information, advice, opinions or statements within it do not constitute medical, health care or other professional advice, and are provided for general information purposes only. All care is taken in the preparation of the information in this Podcast. [Connected Wellness Pty Ltd] operating under the brand of “me&my health up”..click here for more

Transcript

Danielle Robertson: 0:00

A lot of people don't like talking about aging. It's not very sexy, but it's the reality, we're all going to die. And it's just how, when and where it's up to you. So it's something that you need to have that discussion with. And it should be a comfortable conversation around the dinner table for many families, and we start with our children. Now, it should be quite comfortable talking about death and dying later on. But no one likes to talk about death and dying. And you know, it's unfortunately very sad that that happens. And people don't know what their loved ones wishes were because they can go I'm never gonna die.

Anthony Hartcher: 0:39

That was Danielle Robertson, and you've landed on the me&my health up podcast. I'm your host, Anthony Hartcher. I'm a clinical nutritionist and lifestyle medicine specialist. The purpose of this podcast is to enhance and enlighten your well being. And today Danielle's going to be doing just that for you. We're going to be talking about the aged care journey tips, tricks and traps. And essentially, we've got the expert who's been in the industry for over nearly 40 years, and has run a very successful dial-an- Angel business, and is now running her own consulting business. And so she is very, across all the tips and tricks that you need to know for helping your parents to navigate the age aging process in the most holistic, healthy and individualized way. So without much further ado, I'd love to welcome you into the discussion I'm having with Danielle, welcome on the me&my health up podcast. How are you doing, Danielle?

Danielle Robertson: 1:39

Well, thank you, Anthony. Happy New Year to you.

Anthony Hartcher: 1:42

Yeah, happy New Year to you. And it's been a while we certainly caught up a lot pre COVID. And then the COVID gap came in,

Danielle Robertson: 1:48

indeed, indeed it did and it changed the way people do business. I think it's really certainly turned things upside down. It's the new normal, isn't it?

Anthony Hartcher: 1:58

Absolutely. What is it done for the aged care industry?

Danielle Robertson: 2:02

Oh, well, I think COVID has pioneered a lot of things. A lot of people were trying to remain at home and having Home Care virtually then considering that they didn't really want to be going into residential aged care when they placed their mom or dad that they wouldn't get to see them or access to them. Things have changed in the industry since that time. And obviously there's a COVID case, just that area is locked down or just so and family members can still go in and visit. So we've seen that one of the biggest things that we had was the workforce shortage. And that put a lot of pressure on the whole industry, it's still happening, it's gonna take two or three, maybe four years for it even to recover, opening the borders and things like that. But the sector itself, we went through the Royal Commission just through that time as well. And that highlighted a lot of issues in some providers, sanctions and compliance issues. So a lot of the providers struggle through that time, they've lost a lot of money, they've had to put on extra staffing using agency nurses when they didn't have their own. So it was really put pressure on the whole industry. But I think we're coming through it, I've seen a real difference in the cleanliness of aged care homes, and I've done visits, I've seen an increase in skills of carers, they've been doing more education, particularly around dementia 50% of the population will end up having dementia. So I think any training in dementia skills and strategies, it's worthwhile. So that sort of gives us a bit of an idea of how the industry is headed. The government is keeping a close eye on aged care that just set up aged care star ratings. I take that with a grain of salt because you know, the provider puts in their own data. And that's where they're at from a compliance issues side of things. So we still have to do our due diligence. And that's the thing to make sure it's all

Anthony Hartcher: 3:45

and that's exactly where you come into it. Danielle is are there two terms of the you know, the help or I guess your service offering. So before we get into that I'd really like the listeners to hear your journey as to how you've arrived at what you're doing today.

Danielle Robertson: 3:59

Well, it's a long journey 36 years, nearly 37 years in the aged care, home care and disability care industry. But my mom started a company called dial -an- Angel in 1966, 1967. I was born in 66 I was only a tiny baby when she was really unwell after having made three children who were six three and me as a brand new baby. She was quite unwell. And in those days, there was no help to be had from the government or in private services for homecare mum did get over her illness actually was back in the floor one day and that I wish I could have dialed-an-angel. My dad did ring the local council to see if there was some support for an emergency housekeeper or just someone being to do some shopping or some cooking or looking after the kids that the council had said to him You should have booked nine months ago because it was as a result of having baby or confinement and dad said Well my wife didn't know that she was going to be unwell and we wouldn't have fallen pregnant in the first place if we knew that we had nine months in advance but it did. Mum just had his idea she had an angel too. someone to come and support her and help her in the home help her with the kids. Anyway, fast forward. My dad was sick of hearing about this idea. And Mum got out some butchers paper wrote a business plan. My mum was a pharmacist by trade, so she had no clue what business was about the cheat broke down how she saw a business or an agency to support young moms initially and families to be able to get supported home, took it to the local bank manager. And he said, Well, I love the idea. And I can lend you up to $200 to start this business, but take the paperwork home to your husband or father to sign and we can organize the funds. The mom said, Well, I'm sorry, my husband's less than enthusiastic about this and my father's passed away. So it has to be on my own recognizance. And the bank manager said I'm sorry, I can't lend money to a woman. So that was like red rag to a bull to mum. So she rolled up the business plan. But in those days, bank managers did move around quite a bit. And he had three young children. And so wherever you come from, from your recent move into this branch, and he said a while ago, which was a regional area, and we'll go home, and he said, Mum said to him, I would like you to take this business plan home to your wife and see if she would have used it because they had three young kids. So he rang mum the next day and said, Come and get your $200 bank loan. My wife wouldn't sleep with me if I don't lend you the money. She thinks it's a brilliant idea. So Tyler Nader was started on a$200 bank loan. I was the kid my mom went on to have a fourth child as well mad woman but so four kids under age and running a business. She didn't know that was going to take off like a dip. But I was the kid that always said I would never work in the family business. Because before and after school. We're always in the office or holidays, we very rarely had family holidays because running family businesses, my dad was in his own family retail mens wear business. So we didn't have holidays in my life was consumed by dial-an-angel. And I just thought, Gosh, this is terrible. But I didn't realize at the time that we were helping so many 1000s of families around Australia to get the support they needed in the home. So we ended up in 1986 came around I finished school, I studied Hospitality Management, hated working in hotels, and I was just back to back shifts, not very much money on my feet. So I decided I finished my diploma in hotel and catering management. But I'll take a break. And mom said, No, you don't take a break and come and work with me for three months and determine what your next steps are gonna be like mom was very had a strong work ethic, our family had a strong work ethic. So she said no three months is going to give you an idea of where you want to be. Fast forward, I went into the business it was all paper based in 1986 was paper based system. So I started looking at the processes and how we did things and tidy those up. And I could see working with the recruiters how they did it. And I tidied that process up. And then we started thinking about computerization. And I could see how a database could work to help us do the bookings and scheduling. So I just planned out that sort of thing. And we had a database built for us 1986-'87 That was very clunky. But what we needed just to sort of get rid of the paper, and then that integrated with an accounting system and payroll and we grew. So we had three offices at that time and we ended up with 10 offices in Australia wide three were franchised and Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth for franchise. So I've got quite a bit of experience in franchising, and then seven company owned offices. And they're right around Australia, we had 40,000 clients 10,000 Angels 85 office staff. So it was quite a big operation. And after 17 years of working alongside mum, she decided in 2003, that it was time for me to take over the reigns, and she said only Prince Charles would have a longer apprenticeship than than me. So he stepped aside, he gave me six weeks notice I've basically been, you know, providing the operations and running the operations at that time. And so I took over a CEO in 2003. And I could see after the Productivity Commission was talking about the aged care sector and that things were going to be changing there was going to be this tsunami of grace or older Australians looking for care and support. And I knew that from day one, Mum always had a problem getting good quality angels to do the work. We always had plenty of clients, the demand was there. From day one mum had 22 clients waiting for the first five angels to be recruited. So the demand was there. And I could see this only going to get worse. So Mum and I sat down, Mum was still chair of the board. And we built a good executive team around me to support me, but it was a huge business, you know, seven days a week, I was working long, long hours, just to make sure that we could keep our heads above board and continue recruiting quality angels and you know, out of 100 applicants we might only take 10 on so we're really selective on the sort of people that we were using as angels and they weren't just cleaners or babysitters or nannies or housekeepers or, you know, they weren't carers or nurses, they weren't angels, they had to do the whole launch, you know, they had to be very holistic in their, in what their skills were. And so around 2014 13, 14 Mum and I had a really good chat and I said I think we need to start buying up smaller homecare providers or merge with someone our own size, just to consolidate or sell the business. So in 2014 we actually sold the business to a private equity firm and it was I was meant to stay on for three years. I stayed for nine months I could have had a baby. And that time would have been a lot easier. My values are all around people and making sure that the clients, the angels and my office staff are well looked after. And their values were all around the money, dollars and cents. And they started closing offices and getting rid of people, particularly women in their 60s who had been with us 20 plus years, because they just didn't need that no consolidating, and they needed to get the profitability back. And I just thought this, we're not aligned at all. So I decided to we decided we agree to disagree. And on the eighth of May 2015, I left dial-an- angel after 28 years. So it's a long time I had no income, and it was a really big risk. But on the Monday, I changed my LinkedIn profile over the weekend to say that I was consulting, I didn't know what I was consulting, and I had no clue. But I thought at that stage 28 years in aged care, disability care, home care, childcare, I don't know, I'll see what happens either Monday, I had a call from a financial advisor. First up on Monday morning to say I noticed your LinkedIn profile changed? Can you come and speak to one of my clients who are family and traditionally I would have mentioned to them that they needed to sell the family home and move into care. But I think you know, something about other options. So oh, okay, so I did that five times. For that one financial advisor two of his clients, I do care needs assessments, I develop a life plan for them. And I introduced quality home care because I knew which ones were the good ones and which ones were the bad ones to these two clients who were able to remain in their own home with long term care in place. And we got as much government assistance as possible, and then rounded it out with private feet privately funded fee for service, I helped him with another family, a couple, find a retirement community. They were thinking about downsizing, and they just didn't know what options were available. So I helped them find a new retirement community. And two others I helped into residential aged care. And I really did some good due diligence on the places that we toured the sixth time he phoned me, I said to him, I now charge for this I hadn't charged because I didn't really understand my value, or what I could give. And I didn't really know what I was doing. To be honest, I was just consulting and I didn't know what to charge. So the sixth time I did charge him an amount and he said it that's fairly reasonable. But I thought you were government funded and not government funded. But I just wanted to make sure the process work from start to finish. So I realized that there was a real need for like an aged care navigator to support families find the right care support and accommodation for the aging or disabled loved ones. And when I was working at dial-an- angel, I was always also regarded as an expert witness on the cost of care for people who had been injured in motor, vehicle or planes, accidents, personal injury, dust diseases, that sort of thing as well. And they go through to the courts, and we assess a client's care needs, and we'd cost out that care. And you'd hear it you know, this was years ago, but people would get $10 million settlement after a severe accident. They might be quadriplegic, paraplegic, brain injured, you know, dying of cancer, or whatever it be. And they base the rates on dial-an-angels rates. So that's how we got involved in that. So Mum was the original expert witness. And I learned how to do that from her. And then I developed my own skills. And so that actually helped me develop my own way of doing the care needs assessments and doing a beautiful life plan for a client and determining their next steps as to how they will go to live their life and live their best life. And my passion is absolutely homecare. And I try and keep people at home for as long as possible. But sometimes that's not possible, whether it's financially that they can't afford it, whether it be their behavioral issues, if it's dementia or cognitive decline, it could be wandering, it could be that they're aggressive. Or it could be just that the carer has burnout that their their partner or their loved one has burnout from caring for this person, and they can't do it anymore. So the next best thing is what's the next best thing so it's not finding just a bed for a client in an aged care home. It's actually their next time. So we really take that time to find the right match for them. Find out their interests, their past their hobby, their occupation, you know, things that they really enjoy doing, what brings them joy. And by doing that I find the right aged care home for a person that's usually respite with the beauty of permanency. I never had to move a client once I've moved on once, that's it. And so when people say, Oh, I've moved mom into care, and I'm not happy there, and I'm thinking well, you know, that's that's why we take the time initially to make sure we get that right fit because moving a person, particularly with cognitive decline can set them up terribly. And you know, it's really that they're out of their own familiar circuit like their own home their situation. They've got different people around them, it's noises that they're not used to. So it's actually finding that right fit. So I really take that time to tailor the care to suit the client's care needs and wants and wishes within their financial capacity to pay. So it's often working with the adult children who are probably your listeners to get that right outcome for their loved one. I've got a number of parents who live overseas and their parents are here in Australia and again, oh my god, I came home at Christmas and I think this is why I'm staying so busy over Christmas is they've gone oh my god, I didn't realize mom was so bad or you know, she's not coping at all. Well, we've got to have the conversation. and often I'll come into that conversation. And it's not so much saying to the person, you're not coping, it's actually how can we support you to remain upright, and it's not using the word care. And these are the some of the tips and tricks that I was talking about to you that people using the word care, Mom, I think you need care. Well, that's just kind of put that brick wall up. And they're going to say No way. They're not they don't need care, how can we support you to get the outcome you want. And so I gently work with families to make sure that we get the compensation in the wording right. And that's where the success has come. And over the last eight years since I started the care solutions, I've helped over 500 people, individuals, and it's about 375 families to find the right care support and accommodation for the aging and disabled loved ones. And disability care is quite challenging as well. So I've got a number of clients, I've helped about 25 clients through the NDIS and getting the right outcome. I've had a beautiful client for the last seven and a half years with homecare. And he's actually my age is actually a year older. So he's 57, he has Huntington's disease, and we've kept him at home with home care for as long as we could. But now it's a time where his condition has deteriorated. So we moved him into a group home, but we've continued his home care support, even in the group home, so five hours a day, seven days a week, his old carers come in and take him out into the community as they've always done. But overnight, now he's got care, and he's got here on site 24/7. And if he, you know, his mobility changes, we can't go out. He's already in that environment. So. So that's been a great outcome. And that's been one of my longest standing clients in home care, and making that transition, just that reengagement finding the right next time. So that's, that's what I do in a nutshell, very quick.

Anthony Hartcher: 16:46

Thanks for sharing, Danielle. It's certainly very much that client centered care, understanding their needs, their specific needs, and then tailoring a solution that being a very holistic solution, you take into consideration a whole lot of aspects in terms of someone's

Danielle Robertson: 17:01

and investing in Sydney there is care just right around Australia. As I mentioned, I just came back from Byron Bay. I've got a client in Adelaide for clients in Canberra. So it doesn't matter where a client is. We work with you to get the right outcome.

Advertisement: 17:15

We'll be back after a quick break. If you have questions about food and farming, Chieko, ask a farmer share information about Canadian grown food from dieticians, food experts, farmers and those involved in the agriculture industry. Explore how your food is grown and raised and get useful information to help you make confident food choices at the grocery store. I'm your host, Clinton Montra you're Canadian farmer. You can listen to the Ask A farmer podcast on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Anthony Hartcher: 17:57

Yeah, fantastic and certainly needed in this day and age with the baby boomers, you know, getting into those later years. And so the the Gen X's are juggling a lot in terms of family and careers. And now they got their parents

Danielle Robertson: 18:10

and I'm a Gen X. And I've done it for both my parents, my dad had vascular dementia and passed in 2018. So I helped him with his end of life journey. My mom had ovarian cancer and died in 2021. So we had her end of life planning done, people couldn't believe that we're so organized, but we captured their wants and wishes early enough so that they could have actually live the life that they wanted. Right. So what I say to people is plan ahead, no matter how old you are, we could be our age. You know, even younger people in their 40s People in 40s get early onset dementia, they have strokes, getting your estate planning in place, getting your financial planning in place, and thinking about what you want as you age where you want to age and how you want to age. So it's very holistic approach has to be said,

Anthony Hartcher: 18:53

and just that point you raised earlier in terms of how to approach the topic with your parents, because there's a big number of Gen X's or certainly listeners that are thinking, Well, I really want to you know, help my parents, they're just not seeing that they probably need, you know, a higher level of care because, you know, I'm busy just you know, doing all my living my life and doing my career. And so how do you go about approaching that conversation given that you like, as you said, if you mentioned the word or you need some additional care,

Danielle Robertson: 19:24

red rag, but look, I think the best thing to do is find out who's the closest person who's the closest sibling to that parent who has the most calm manner. Make sure that you have that conversation in a quiet room. Don't do it around the Christmas table or Easter table or you know with his kids running around or noise or music or just a quiet cup of tea around a table and just mum or dad you know I've noticed that you seem to be struggling a little bit you know with the bathrooms start with the cleaning stuff because who loves to clean no one very rarely, so much. You don't really like doing the showers. How about we get some support in To help you do that, there's just the planning and you know, you have to lose your license. Unfortunately, the doctor told you that you can no longer drive. So how about we get someone into drive your prices, so let's get some transport for you. So it's actually just working in very gently, if things dramatically increase, they're already used to having somebody come into the home, one of the biggest fears older Australians have is letting someone in the home can they trust them, you know, so it's actually working with your parent and being there if you can, or someone in the family to be there on the first day that somebody's there. And just to make it as natural as possible not to freak them out, you know, your parent out, because it's somebody coming into their home and then touching my stuff, and enabling the older person to work with that person that might be you know, making some meals, getting the peeling potatoes, getting getting them chopping carrots, it's not doing stuff for them, it's working with them. So it's enabling them to remain at home. So when we have those conversations, it's actually about helping you and supporting you to remain home, if that's your wish. Some people say I want to go into assisted living, and when they go into aged care, because I just have had enough, I can't manage the home anymore. That's rare. Most people don't want to go into care. But it's actually just taking that next step. If my child somebody has a diagnosis of dementia, and it's it's mild, they can live at home for many, many years before it's it's too hard for them to be at home, if by chance that they have a severe case of dementia, and they've deteriorated to a point. Never say as a family member that you need to move into care. Use the geriatrician or your GP to do that, so that it doesn't affect the relationship you have with your parent or your loved one. So to me, that's really important when the family go, how are we going to tell her she's going into care? I think you don't leave that to the GP or the geriatrician, okay, on the psychiatrist or whoever it be a specialist, not a family. And it's usually the person who's in hospital and they say to the person who can't go home, and that's real in for the family to say, Okay, well, you can't go home, the doctor said, and so they're not taking out that resentment and issues with you as a family member, so that the relationship can actually improve significantly, if you're not the one driving it to them, pushing them into care. Sometimes that is very hard to arrange. But I've always encouraged you let somebody else tell them, not the family member themselves. So hopefully, that's a bit of a tip as well,

Anthony Hartcher: 22:16

it is so yeah, obviously started as a sort of a bit of a trap that people can find themselves in, and then you help them you know, come through that with some tips. What are some other common traps or tips that you could, you know, really share with the listeners around this whole process of Yeah, I guess planning

Danielle Robertson: 22:32

ahead, planning ahead. And anyone over the age of 65, it starts to have, you know, some ailments like a hip replacement or knee replacement, start thinking about registering with My Aged Care. Now, that's a Government portal. And if you want any government funding, you have to be registered with My Aged Care. But that's only over the age of 65. If you're under the age of 65, and has some sort of disability or that you're unwell, you need to go through the NDIS. So they work parallel together, the two systems work together, but very different funding with My Aged Care, you get set money put aside for you. So there's four levels of homecare packages, and there's entry level homecare support. And that's sort of set in concrete, you don't, you don't have choice to move up in that the highest level of homecare, you get 54,000 a year. And that can take about 12 hours a week of assistance. So it's not much with the NDIS, they actually tailor the care and give you the amount of money that you need for your needs and supports for the future. So there's more funding in NDIS. And just before 65, if you can get into the NDIS, you're better off financially, and you can remain on the NDIS. Even if you're over 65 Some other things, definitely get your estate planning in place. There's four things that four documents that I recommend you speak to a good estate planner about, that's a will, I can't tell you how many people I've spoken to that don't have a will a power of attorney. And so that is for any financial decision, should somebody lose capacity. I don't. And I think the misconception is, oh, my son's going to be my power of attorney, but he's going to take all my money. Well, no, you don't enact it until you've lost capacity and enduring guardianship. Now this the wording of these documents differ from state to state and essentially the same thing and enduring guardianship covers health care and accommodation decisions. So if you need to move into care and you've lost capacity, that document helps with that. And the last document I strongly recommend anyone who is aging and wants to make their own decisions is an advanced care directive. And that is, it's like a living will or a do not resuscitate. So if you can't communicate your wishes and your own life support that one document can direct the medical profession as to what you want to resuscitate under all circumstances. They will do that. If they say you had a massive stroke or a brain bleed to let you go. They'll follow those instructions. So if you don't have that, it's usually discussion that you have to have and it will be the medical profession that they do everything in their power to save someone because That's the nature of medic medical science. But so that advanced care directive can be done digitally, digitally, or it can be done by your lawyer as well. So those four documents are really, really important to have. And I review them all round my birthday, every year, I have all my health checks. I have I check my legal documentation, my financial planner, and I get together twice a year around my birthday, and then six months after that, so I use my birthday as a and this is a really good trip check for most people just think, Okay, it's time for all my medical checkups my bloods to be done every year round your birthday, check your legal documentation, make sure who you listed as power of attorney and enduring Guardian are still willing to do that, and still able because sometimes it might be an older Australian that's given a friend's name, and they that person might have dementia, so they can't act as your power of attorney or enduring guardian. And so it's really important to review those documents. And also to get some really good financial advice. I can't speak strongly enough about that. Because if you want good quality care and support as you age, you need some money, if you're on a full pension you do get cared for by the Government and 85% of your pension goes towards your aged care, but you're limited for choice. So I say to people who are my age and their 50s, start putting some money aside from your aging care needs and living because it's, as I said, if you've got money, you've got choice, if you haven't got money, you haven't got choice. So you know, there's some tips and traps there as well. So that the holistic side of the estate planning, the financial planning and your care side of things is really important to work together. And never, never early enough. So never early enough, I've got a 30 year old daughter and a 27 year old son, they've got powers of attorney enduring guardianship in place, my daughter's just doing her will because she's just bought a property. So if you've got assets, and if you've got children or siblings, you need to make sure you've got all that coverage. Because we all drive cars, we all travel, we're all living, you know, a good life. And sometimes people get hit by cars and car accidents or whatever. And things change very quickly. So by having a plan in place, and making sure everyone knows what your plan is, and what your wants, just makes it easier.

Anthony Hartcher: 27:12

Fantastic tip. So as you said, Start early plan, save, do the annual audits on your birthday, and you're in good stead you've got that plan in place for if need to be at some point to start

Danielle Robertson: 27:24

executing it, make sure it's all in place, and just start the discussion. I mean, a lot of people don't like talking about aging, it's not very sexy, but it's the reality, we're all going to die. And it's just how, when and where it's up to you. So it's something that you need to have that discussion with. And, you know, it should be a comfortable conversation around the dinner table for many families. And we start with our children. Now, it should be quite comfortable talking about death and dying later on. But no one likes to talk about death and dying. And you know, it's unfortunately very sad that that happens. And people don't know what their loved ones wishes were because they're going well, I'm never going to die. So I don't want to start talking about it. But we're all going to die for a short time. Short time that you know, and you know, I can't believe I'm 36 nearly 37 years in the industry, you know, 57 years of age, I'm 56. But turning 57 This year, I'm going so much has been packed. I've seen so much change in that time. So can you imagine what the next three decades is going to be like, and you know, I want to see that I want to see that plan and live it out as best as I can. And as well as I can keeping healthy you know, eat good food, exercise, enjoy good company, the communication and the community incentive socialization for a lot of older Australians is really, really important. They become lonely. And I think there's a bit of a misconception that people remain at home with you know, with homecare coming in but that's intermittent. But buying being in a community whether it's a retirement community or a residential aged care, you can actually enhance the quality I've seen people thrive in aged care because they're getting meals at the right time every day they're having their medications at the right amount in the right time each day, exercise activities and socialization and that's the holistic view of what we should all be striving for in our lives you know, maintain friendships, maintain exercise, good food. I mean you're all about that Anthony so you know to me it's important that we look at that holistically for our aging care needs as we age you know as we age

Anthony Hartcher: 29:23

absolutely healthy aging has really you want to have the quality of life to date you as much as you want the life again expect you know extended life expectancy you certainly want to make sure that's of high quality.

Danielle Robertson: 29:34

Yeah, and to and you know, the financial piece is important too, but it shouldn't be the driving force because I've seen it look at Steve Jobs. He has how much money and Kerry Packer so much money but that doesn't help your health. So if you can have your health first and you strive for really good health, then I think everything else follows so you know, I'm a real believer of well rounded lifestyle and moderation in everything that we do. And it's not easy. I've just taken up Pilates and I'm really enjoying that's very different than anything else I've ever done, you know, in a row or in a softball or and I run around a tennis player, but the Pilates is a different way of thinking. And it's stretching and, you know, using muscles that I never thought I had. So, you know, you're never too old to learn something new. And I mean, I think you said that in all your podcasts, you're learning something new from everyone else's discussions. And that's important, we got to keep learning

Anthony Hartcher: 30:28

absolutely helps prevent the onset of dementia, right? We pick out your skills and learning and the exercise helps the prevention of falls later on in life. And certainly that Pilates because it strengthens the core. So really helps with balance.

Danielle Robertson: 30:44

Yes, yeah, that's one of the key things you've got to avoid. And I signed on many Australians, I actually say it's time, you know, make sure that you're fitting well, because you have a fall. And it can be the beginning of the end, unfortunately,

Anthony Hartcher: 30:56

absolutely. And fantastic for sharing all those tricks and tips and traps around the aged care journey. So really appreciate your time. Danielle, how can the listeners best connect with you

Danielle Robertson: 31:07

probably by my website is

https: 31:09

//www.drcaresolutions.com/ and you can book a chair, I always offer a free chat initially because people don't know what they don't know. And I can you know, they might be halfway through something and going hit a brick wall, can you help me and guide me, so I'm happy to help as many people as possible. I mean, that's my big, hairy audacious goal to help as many Australians as I can to find the right care support and accommodation for the aging or disabled loved ones that drcaresolutions.com and book a chair, downloadable resources for you lots of blogs of different topics that people can share with family members as of including having conversations with your aging, loved one and how to go about it the top tips for finding a homecare provider or residential aged care provider, so I'm quite giving of my knowledge. But you know, if you get stuck, and it's an emergency situation, it's best to just get on the phone to me and see if I can support you on that way, as well.

Anthony Hartcher: 32:05

Fantastic. And I love yet that big, hairy, audacious goal of yours to help as many Australians as possible with the aged caring process and make it as I guess, carefree as possible for the carers and, and, and enhance the quality of life for the person that's going through the aging.

Danielle Robertson: 32:23

And if you hop onto my website, there's some testimonials, like some video testimonials of people who were really in a pickle and they they're highly, highly intelligent people, and they just happen to be so hard. And it's one of their most recent one is John Waters, and he's there. He's a barrister. And he's going I don't know how anyone navigates this journey. And he was so glowing of the support that I gave him and his family and made a great outcome for his mom. And you know, I'm helping a lot of single sons or sons with you know, that don't have women in their life. So mums and dads who don't have daughters. And that's a bit of a change as well, because it used to be the eldest daughter would step in and take over but seeing many more sons who are just reaching out, we have no clue we haven't got the time, energy or inclination, can you help? So that's a bit of a change in just in the last few years, I've noticed that as well.

Anthony Hartcher: 33:11

Fantastic, Danielle, I can imagine you'll get plenty of interest following this podcast. I really appreciate you coming on the show and imparting your wisdom with the listeners on the aged care journey and those tips and tricks that they need to navigate and get right for the for the right care for their parents.

Danielle Robertson: 33:28

Fantastic. Thanks, Anthony.

Anthony Hartcher: 33:30

You're welcome and to the listeners. Thank you for tuning in to another insightful episode of me&my health up. Please help Danielle Big Hairy Audacious Goal by getting this out to as many people as possible so that we can let people know that Danielle services exists to make life easier for them and their parents. So please share it get it out there and will really help Danielle achieve her big hairy audacious goal. Podcast disclaimer this podcast and any information advice opinions or statements within it do not constitute medical health care or professional advice and are provided for general information purposes only. All care is taken in the preparation of the information in this podcast connected wellness Proprietary Limited operating under the branch me&my health up does not make any representations or give any warranties about his accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose. This podcast and any information advice, opinions or statements within it are not to be used as a substitute for professional medical, psychological psychiatry or any other mental health care or health care in general. me&my health up recommends you seek the advice of a doctor or qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Inform your doctor of any changes that you make to your lifestyle and discuss these with your doctor. Do not disregard medical advice or delay visiting a medical professional because of something you hear In this podcast, this podcast has been carefully prepared on the basis of current information. changes in circumstances after publication may affect the accuracy of this information to the maximum extent permitted by the law. me&my health up disclaims any such representations or warranties to the completeness, accuracy merchantability or fitness for purpose of this podcast and will not be liable for any expenses losses damages incurred indirect or consequential damages or costs that may be incurred as a result of the information being inaccurate or incomplete in any way. And for any reason. No part of these podcasts can be reproduced or redistributed, published, copied or duplicated in a form without prior permission of me&my health up.