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The Eldercaring Coordinator helps families focus on the aging person rather than their resentments toward one another.

Family conflicts about the care of an aging person delay needed decision-making, impede medical treatment, and increase safety risks. The eldercaring coordinator helps the family take actionable steps to meet the elder’s needs, and connects them with community resources and professionals.

Refer a family to Eldercaring Coordination when there are:

  • Multiple court motions raising non-legal issues or competing petitions for appointment as guardian or conservator

  • Concerns about an aging person’s care and safety

  • Imbalances of power where only some parties have legal representation

  • Frequent disputes about unmeasurable or unsubstantiated issues

  • Possessive or controlling behaviors toward the aging person

  • Issues regarding guardianship, incapacity or allegations reported to Adult Protective Services

  • When mediation has not been effective 

Download
A Comparison Between Eldercaring Coordination and Elder Mediation

Comparing Eldercaring Coordination with Other Processes

 
 

Eldercaring Coordinators

The eldercaring coordinator works with a person-centered and strength-based approach. As such, the Eldercaring Coordinator will be asking people to hear what each person is saying and work with the available talents and resources to meet the older adult’s needs.  The Eldercaring Coordinator helps the family reduce conflict and address non-legal issues concerning the care, safety and autonomy of the aging adult by:

  • Enabling more effective communication, negotiation and problem solving

  • Offering education about resources

  • Facilitating the creation and implementation of an eldercaring plan with the elder’s input

  • Recommending how to resolve non-legal issues

  • Making non-substantive decisions,  within the scope of the court order

The qualifications and training of eldercaring coordinators help to ensure that they are equipped to work with the unique needs and complexities of these high conflict cases.  An eldercaring coordinator must be well-prepared to help resolve high conflict family situations, which may include family members who escalate disputes and may file complaints to “solve” problems. Minimum qualifications are included in the Association for Conflict Resolution Guidelines for Eldercaring Coordinators.

Contact us if you are interested in more information about becoming an eldercaring coordinator.

＋ Association for Conflict Resolution Guidelines for Eldercaring Coordination Qualifications

1. An Eldercaring Coordinator shall be licensed or certified by a regulatory body of a jurisdiction, state or province, with at least a master’s degree and all of the following:

a. Completion of family mediation training certified or approved by the circuit, state or province or commensurate with the objectives established by the Association for Conflict Resolution; and

b. Completion of elder mediation training certified or approved by the circuit, state or province or commensurate with the objectives established by the Association for Conflict Resolution; and

c. Completion of eldercaring coordination training certified or approved by the circuit, state or province or commensurate with the objectives established by the Association for Conflict Resolution; and

d. Extensive practical experience in a profession relating to high conflict within families.

2. An Eldercaring Coordinator shall be psychologically and cognitively able to perform the requirements of the Eldercaring Coordinator role; and have no situation, condition, impairment, or disorder that prevents the ethical, responsible and effective exercise of the Eldercaring Coordinator role.

3. An Eldercaring Coordinator must decline a case, discontinue service and immediately report to the court and the parties if any disqualifying circumstances occur, or if he or she no longer meets the minimum qualifications.

Eldercaring Coordination programs may have more specific or additional qualifications according to the needs of their jurisdictions.

＋Qualifications for Florida Eldercaring Coordinators according to State Statute

An eldercaring coordinator is an impartial third person whose role is to assist parties to resolve disputes in a manner that respects the elder’s need for autonomy and safety. Unless there is a written agreement between the parties, the court may appoint only a qualified eldercaring coordinator.

Eldercaring Coordinators in Florida must meet the qualifications deliniated in s.44.407, F.S. Download the Florida Statute governing eldercaring coordination.

 
 

Eldercaring coordination complements and does not replace other services such as provision of legal advice and representation; financial guidance; individual and family therapy; medical, psychological or psychiatric evaluation and mediation. Eldercaring coordination reduces conflict among family members so they can work together more productively with the services and resources available to focus on the aging person’s care.

 
 

Frequently Asked Questions

+ What kinds of cases should be referred to Eldercaring Coordination?

OBJECTIVE CRITERIA

Mediation has reached an impasse or is unlikely to be effective

Multiple motions to the court on non-legal issues related to the care and safety of the elder

Competing applications for appointment as guardian citing non-legal reasons why one applicant is more appropriate than another

Cross allegations of family members; possible safety concerns

Frequent disputes about un-measurable or unsubstantiated items

Imbalance of power: some family members have attorneys and others do not or all parties self-represented, or alliances have formed among family members

History of domestic violence or abuse in the family

Drug/alcohol abuse

Number of collaterals/agencies involved

“Grey” divorce or separation – may be first or after multiple marriages or relationships, especially if children are involved

APS RELATED

Multiple calls to APS regarding issues of family conflict regarding an elder

Case completed with APS where concerns that family conflict may continue to risk welfare of elder

SUBJECTIVE CRITERIA

Possible endangerment of elder or other parties

Chronic interference with elder’s care or decisions affecting elder’s welfare

Others’ conflict may place elder in jeopardy or be detrimental to elder’s wellbeing

Possessive or controlling behavior toward the elder

Elder being denied access to family member(s) and/or significant others; isolation of elder

Parties being denied access to information

Difficulty in others separating elder’s needs and desires from their own; high degree of rigid thinking; win/lose mentality; poor boundaries

High emotionality expressed by parties in court; verbal abuse; loud quarreling

Chronic disputes over access and support

Family alliances/ruptured family relationships

Money for the care of an elder is used as bargaining tool or being withheld

Suspicion – founded or unfounded – of financial mismanagement

Parties are not working cooperatively with collaterals and resources for the elder; excess requests result in exorbitant amount of time and money; duplicate services

Guardian or other authorized decision-maker repetitively being questioned and second guessed

Unreasonable expenditures/depletion of elder’s resources/assets

+ Why shouldn’t cases just go to mediation?

While most cases can resolve their issues through mediation, some are in such high conflict that they are not amenable to the process. As one issue is resolved, another one is exposed. High conflict cases may even use their mediation meeting(s) exclusively to vent hostilities and remain unable to focus on the issues at hand, further exacerbating their conflict. These are the cases appropriate for eldercaring coordination, where specially trained ECs will focus on managing their conflict, reducing tension and helping them move forward from their entrenched hostilities. At that time the Eldercaring Coordinator may even refer the parties back to their mediator, as they are better able to focus on the issues at hand rather than their own personal agendas.

[⤓ Download our PDF Guide:A Comparison of Elder Mediation and Eldercaring Coordination]1

+ Should everyone be represented by counsel during eldercaring coordination?

Attorneys are typically already involved in the kinds of cases that are expected to be referred to eldercaring coordination. There is no requirement that anyone involved in eldercaring coordination be represented by an attorney, nor is there any prohibition against having an attorney. The eldercaring coordination process is intended, however, to be a confidential process, meaning that what is discussed during eldercaring coordination sessions is not to be offered as evidence at any court proceedings. In addition, eldercaring coordination is a collaborative, not an adversarial process. So, it is important that the attorneys who participate in the process adjust their mindset to working cohesively in a unified process. The EC’s role is to remove the adversarial perspective from the process of making decisions for the care and safety of an elder loved one. Therefore, attorneys who are invited to the sessions must attend the sessions with a collaborative approach.

The American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging legislative fact sheet, Guardianship and the Right to Visitation, Communication, and Interaction, includes eldercaring coordination as an option for families in discord.

 
 

Additional Resources

 

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