Anita Silverman brings many strengths to her position as Director of Client Services for the Boca Raton office of SeniorBridge Family, Inc., a growing national eldercare company that helps aging persons and their families with the many transitions of aging. Silverman is a certified geriatric care manager and licensed nursing home administrator with a masters degree in gerontology, plus 14 years of experience working with older adults and their families. She is an accomplished and knowledgeable professional with a depth of education and experience, yet she feels that her greatest asset is her self and her personal experience.
“My work is my passion,” she states, “and I am so gratified by what I do, every day. I use a lot of myself in relating to my clients and their families and helping to meet their needs. This work is all about relationships.”
Relationships are often a challenge for Silvermans clients and their families. She manages a SeniorBridge location that has the distinction of having a majority of families living out of state. This presents a unique set of problems and requires Silverman and her staff to be resourceful and creative in their efforts.
“We specialize in out-of-state caregiving,” she says. “Its quite hard on the families to be separated by distance from parents who are experiencing the changes of aging. Its emotionally difficult and also very costly, in both time and dollars. Many adult children feel that they need to fly in every time there is a concern. They talk to their parents on the phone and perhaps they hear something that alarms them, or the parents neighbor calls with a concern. The adult children are the caregivers, even though they are not local, so they feel obligated to make the trip.
“We provide relief to them. Those “emergency” trips are no longer necessary. We create a network of support and bridge the gap between the client and the caregiver child. When we step in, with knowledge, support and direct interventions, we make life more manageable for the client and for the family; we are offering them tremendous peace of mind. They no longer have to worry because we are here acting as their eyes and ears. We take care of things and keep them informed.”
Silverman acts as a resource, advocate, trusted advisor and liaison, assisting the client with any problems or needs identified in the course of an initial comprehensive assessment. She develops a plan of care, customized to the individual needs, and then provides for services or care as needed. She monitors the plan on a continuing basis and makes adjustments as needed, all the while keeping the family aware and informed. In addition, she often helps the family plan for end-of-life care, if they desire, assisting with the decision-making and offering counseling.
“I see myself as a professional surrogate family member. I do what a loving family member would do. And I develop the most wonderful relationships with the clients as well as the families. We get to know the clients intimately and we know the family dynamics. In many cases, we are there with them at the end of their lives. We play an everlasting role because the families want to keep in touch and talk to us and share memories,” Silverman states.
It was actually Silvermans relationship with her own mother that gave her the incentive to take a giant leap back in 1990, leaving a secure and successful career in accounting to start over in geriatrics. Her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease in the mid-80s, at a time when there were few options and fewer supports for patients and their families.
“The doctors wanted to put my mother in a psychiatric hospital. There were no assisted living facilities. There was only one book available. There was simply no guidance available. I needed three things when I was caring for my mother: information, support and direction. I didnt get any of those things because the system was flawed. Now, I help the families who are lost in the maze, and guide them to the answers,” she says.
Silverman went back to school, earning a masters degree in gerontology and nursing home administration from Lynn University in Boca Raton. She did a six-month internship that opened up a new awareness in her of the number of older adults who were unnecessarily institutionalized. She became a proponent of less restrictive environments as a result. After several years with Jewish Family Services, she opened her own geriatric care management practice and joined SeniorBridge Family, Inc. in 2002.
Silverman has no regrets about her career change or her move to SeniorBridge Family, Inc. She delights in knowing that she and her staff make a significant difference in the quality of life for clients and for the families.
“We have their trust. And the families feel that they are making a difference by having us involved when they cant be here. The families benefit enormously, too.”
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