September 1, 2025 • 29 mins
Peace of Mind: Navigating Healthcare As You Age – Join Jeff Perry as he welcomes Jen
Mahoney, Director of Care Management for Live Well Care Management. In this candid
conversation, you will discover why healthcare emergencies are not always “somebody else’s”
problem and how having a dedicated advocate can make all the difference when navigating
hospital stays, new diagnoses, or long-term care planning. In this episode, you will learn more
about:
-The ideal moment to involve a care manager.
-Common triggers that prompt adult children to seek guidance for aging parents.
-How care managers assess levels of support.
-The pitfalls of waiting until your loved one’s care needs outgrow their current living
arrangements.
To contact Jen Mahoney, see the website and email address below:
Livewellcm.com
jennifer.mahoney@livewellcm.com
RetirementPlanning #RetireSmart #caremangement #assistedliving #healthcareforseniors
#FinancialPlanning #RetirementGoals #RetirementLifestyle
Click the link below to register for our upcoming webinar, “Don’t leave a digital mess.”
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6040334700710880088
For more information or to reach TEAM AMR, click the following link:
https://www.wealthenhancement.com/s/advisor-teams/amr
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.
Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,
and senior vice president and financial advisor at
Wealth Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest
registered investment advisors.
We call it Something More because we'd like
to talk not only about those important dollar
and cents issues, but also the quality of
life issues that make the money matters matter.
(00:22):
Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner
in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and
across the country.
Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.
Welcome to another edition of Something More with
Chris Boyd.
My name is Jeff Perry.
I'm a financial advisor working for AMR team
and working with Chris Boyd.
(00:43):
And Chris has the well-deserved week off
here.
He's on vacation, so I hope he's enjoying
himself and hopefully, I'm sure he'll listen to
the podcast.
He'll be back next week.
I'm really happy to have with us for
this episode, a very special guest, Jen Mahoney.
Jen, welcome to the show.
Thank you, Jeff.
You're very welcome.
You are the director of care management for
(01:05):
LiveWell Care Management, and I wanted to have
you on to talk about a subject that
we often think is going to happen to
someone else, and that's care after you retire,
typically, as you get older.
We always think these things are going to
happen to someone else, and we think about
them, we reflect on them, but it's something
(01:26):
that's really super difficult to talk about and
think about and to actually plan for.
So you're the expert in the field, and
thank you for joining us today.
If you just start out by introducing yourself
and telling us a little bit about yourself
and your company, and we'll go from there.
Yes, of course, Jeff.
Thank you so much for having me today.
I'm excited to be here and talk about
(01:49):
this topic.
A little bit about myself, I'm a master's
level social worker.
I'm licensed in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and
certified in care management as well as hospice
and palliative care, so that's what gives me
all those fun letters after my name, that
when people ask, I just said they could
be made up, but they aren't, I assure
(02:09):
you.
I have been a social worker and in
healthcare for almost 20 years now, and most
of that time or nearly all of that
time has been working with the elderly or
senior population, and the bulk of that was
about 10 years I worked in hospice.
So now in this position as the director
(02:30):
of care management at LiveWell, I've been in
this role for almost three years now, and
LiveWell Care Management rebranded on April 1st of
this year, 2025.
Prior to that, we were AZA Care Management,
and AZA Care Management has been in the
Boston area for over 30 years.
We have a large team of about 10
(02:52):
care managers, including myself, that are all healthcare
professionals that have worked in the field for
decades.
I think I have the least amount of
experience on the team, and we get hired
privately by clients and families to help them
navigate the healthcare system, which can mean a
lot of different things, and we can be
very flexible in that way.
(03:12):
And so we were excited to switch over
to LiveWell Care Management so that our care
management offices throughout the country now, we all
have the same name, LiveWell.
So we have some offices in Houston, New
York, San Francisco, and kind of throughout the
country in that way.
And that's my role.
(03:34):
I kind of oversee all of the operations
and everything going on in the office.
So you see it all.
You see things you expect and things that
you don't expect, I'm sure.
Exactly.
So is there a typical client?
Is there a typical scenario where people come
to you and say, you know, we need
help navigating this.
(03:55):
I'm a retired lawyer, and before I joined
Chris Boyd, I'd done a few things.
And as a lawyer, I came across so
many clients who I did their estate plan
for.
And then there was a medical issue.
And not everything goes as planned, right?
So people who might have had a healthcare
(04:16):
proxy in place, maybe that person moved, or
they had a power of attorney and that
person passed away, or they just never got
around to it because there are tough decisions
to make.
And the number one, you can correct me
if I'm wrong, but this is just my
narrow perspective.
The number one challenge that I saw for
people in this sudden healthcare setting, it may
(04:36):
not be sudden, actually, if you look objectively,
but they believe it's a sudden situation, is
they're just not able to, for physical, cognitive,
emotional, whatever reasons, they're just not able to
navigate and advocate for themselves in that very
complex world of healthcare.
And they get, they're almost solely reliant on
(04:59):
a system that is well intended, but far
from perfect.
Is that a common thing for you?
Yes, absolutely.
I think when, you know, family members call
us, they're always surprised, you know, when they
say, oh, well, I always assume that this
doctor talked to that doctor and they read
all those notes and they did all that.
And, you know, I have to explain to
(05:21):
them that yes, in a perfect world that
does happen and providers would like that, but
whether it's a time crunch or different systems,
there are tons of reasons why that doesn't
happen.
And that's why it's so important to have
that person advocating for you, whether, you know,
you're able to advocate for yourself or you
have a family member to go with you,
because it's something that we're all going to
(05:42):
need at some point, unfortunately.
And, you know, in terms of a typical
client, you know, I would say we probably
have categories of typical, you know, we have
a number of clients that come to us,
you know, it's usually the adult children calling
us and they say, oh, well, you know,
(06:02):
you were recommended when I met with my,
my wealth manager or my attorney.
And, you know, mom is at home and
she's aging and she has dementia and she's
starting to need help, but we don't know
how much help we don't know where to
turn to.
We don't know if she can stay at
home safely.
She has the funds to stay at home,
but we just don't even know where to
(06:23):
start and what to do.
And, you know, they just need to kind
of hand that over for someone to take
on so that they can remain involved as
a family and the care manager can kind
of take on all of the, you know,
the caregiver is out sick and someone has
to run over and is alone or make
sure that the right medications are in the
pillbox.
(06:44):
You know, it's all of those little things
that I think people don't realize that the
little things can really add up and end
up being a lot.
So.
And this is magnified if the family member
is not local as well.
I mean, this can be, you know, I've
seen cases and maybe this is typical because
I've seen so much of it where family
(07:05):
members who are not local, meaning they might
call mom every day or every, you know,
frequently or whatever, but they just, they just
aren't there enough or for a long enough
period of time or actually physically there to
actually see the warning signs.
Like a lot of us as we age
are pretty good at covering, covering, you know,
(07:26):
everything's fine.
Things are great.
Oh yeah.
When that may not be the case.
So do you find that a lot of
your clients or a lot of your children
of clients, I don't know how you'd frame
that, but our loved ones who don't live
in the vicinity of the person needing the
extra help?
Yeah, I would say that's very common.
We have a lot of people that, you
(07:47):
know, mom lives on the Cape and the
daughter's in California and, you know, for a
long time that works fine, you know, via
phone calls and checking in, but at some
point, you know, you might not realize that,
you know, mom doesn't have any groceries in
the house or she's not going to her
medical appointments or, you know, whatever it might
be, or the house is in more of
a disarray and you know that something must
(08:08):
be going on.
And so we can kind of become the
boots on the ground for that family member
and report back to, you know, the family
member across the country who presumably is acting
as the healthcare proxy and power attorney, and
we can help them in that way.
We can bring the client to the appointments.
We can follow up with reports.
We can make sure that, you know, new
(08:30):
medications are picked up and, you know, groceries
are in the house, just anything from, you
know, healthcare related to, you know, any other
needs as well.
So I would say that's a huge category
for us as we see a lot of
people that do live in this area and
then, you know, their loved ones have moved
away over time.
(08:50):
Or even if they're just out in Western
Massachusetts, you know, that's not, that's, you know,
a few hours away, that's not, you know,
running over to, you know, bring someone milk
or something like that.
You know, that's still quite a distance.
So we get called in for those sorts
of situations all the time.
So let's talk about that situation.
So if you're down here in Florida, like
(09:10):
I am, and I had a loved one
back in Massachusetts, when do I call you?
Like, what's the right time to call you?
Should there be, should I be calling you
before this is needed?
You know, if my loved one hits 90
and everything's fine, should I be checking in
and doing some planning?
Or are there other signs?
You mentioned few, but are there other things
(09:32):
that would trigger that?
What's ideal?
So ideal is for people to pre-plan
and to get us involved before they need
us.
And to meet that demand, we do have
what we call our peace of mind program.
And it's basically before you need the active
care management, and you're assigned a care manager,
(09:53):
and you pay a small annual fee, and
the care manager visits quarterly, and just basically
gets to know you.
So they'll know, okay, your son is the
healthcare proxy, Jeff, he's in Florida, we have
his phone number, we'll have a conversation to
introduce ourselves.
And, you know, just kind of becoming enmeshed
in who the person is, how they're doing,
(10:13):
so that we're ready to act and already
familiar with the person and familiar with the
house.
So we know that, you know, if there's
a mobility issue after the hospital, can they
return home?
Or do we have to bring in, you
know, grab bars or whatever other equipment there
is?
So that's what, that would, I'd say, be
our preference, of course.
Now, I would say most people, you know,
(10:35):
take in the information before they need it.
And, you know, don't necessarily act until they
do need it.
And I think that's because a lot of
people who haven't been through this, don't realize
how much it can really become, you know,
because this is something that, you know, family
members do all the time for loved ones.
And, you know, but it but it takes
a lot.
(10:55):
And, you know, especially if you're further away,
and you're not able to, you know, run
over to the ER, or take mom to
the appointment or something like that.
So we can also, you know, I would
say the bulk of our clients, we get
involved when there's a new diagnosis, maybe a
new hospitalization, there's something going on, you know,
that prompts them to say, Okay, I think
(11:15):
we need care involved, or we need some
guidance, or, you know, it's almost like they
know that they the family knows that something
is needed, but not even sure what and
how much and, and where to go to.
But they know that it's related to the
health care.
And, you know, oftentimes, we get people who
want to remain at home.
And so that's where we can come into
(11:37):
play, because we can help them, you know,
locate the right resources and oversee the caregivers
in place and everything like that.
So ideally, ahead of time, but realistically, it's
not.
Well, the other benefit from my point of
view of the early inquiry is that you
get the caregiver, your team gets to build
(11:58):
a relationship with the loved one.
And so when it is time for heavier,
heavier involvement and more detailed assistance, it's like
almost like a friend or someone you're familiar
with, it's the adoption or the willingness for
the loved one to receive the help must
be tremendously increased by having that relationship prior
(12:20):
to someone meeting them in the hospital, for
example.
Yes, absolutely.
And that ends up being extremely helpful.
The flip side of that, too, is that
even when if the families want us to
be involved, sometimes the individual themselves are not
open to it.
And they aren't ready for it.
And that's another another element and curveball that
(12:45):
gets added to the scenario as well.
Yeah, it's almost a for some people.
And I want to talk about the people
who call on their own.
But in the situation that we're scenario we're
talking about, for some people, I've seen it
become almost adversarial between the person, the social
worker or the person trying to provide assistance
and the person needing assistance.
(13:06):
They don't view it as help because they're
not ready for it.
So anything is anything done before, whether it's
financial planning, estate planning, care planning.
It's really a gift to do it before
for so many reasons.
But but there are those people who actually
don't have anyone.
Right.
So they're they're trying to live their whole
(13:27):
life alone or they've lost their spouse a
number of years ago and they don't have
someone that they feel they can count on
or the famous famous verbiage is I don't
want to be a burden.
I'm not going to call my daughter in
Georgia because I don't want her to worry.
I'm not going to call my son in
Kansas.
I don't want him to rush out here.
He's got his own life.
(13:48):
So if someone's in that situation, what's your
best advice when maybe they should call and
say, can you help me?
Yeah, I would say those situations, it's definitely
very beneficial if they're open to the care
management for the reason, like you mentioned, the
relationship building and really getting to know that
(14:09):
person.
So it's not a stranger coming in bedside
that you're meeting in the hospital when, you
know, you just had a bad fall and
you're a little disoriented and and that's when
you haven't talked to the family before and
everything like that.
So it's definitely helpful to to put that
in place ahead of time if the person
is open to it.
(14:29):
Most of the time we see that, you
know, whether it's the adult children or the
client themselves, but there's some resistance to some
level there.
And we meet that a lot and we
deal with that a lot and can deal
with that.
And one of the ways that we deal
with that is actually, you know, I tell
family members all the time that sometimes hearing
(14:51):
the same thing that your daughter might tell
you, hearing it from a professional sounds different
to people, you know, because regardless of how
old you are, you're still the son or
daughter.
And to hear it from a professional other
times will get the doctor involved because to
hear it from a doctor is really helpful
as well.
And so we try to use all those
(15:12):
little tools to get the people the care
that they need to remain safe and help
them understand that we're on their team and
that we want them to remain independent but
safely independent.
And what does that look like and what
do they want?
So as far as the scope of services
that you might provide, if someone is living
alone or there's a family member either side
(15:34):
now and it's at least an agreement between
the family that maybe mom, it's usually mom,
maybe mom needs to go to some type
of other residential setting.
Do you help with that?
Because I know there's so, I have friends
who work in the industry and, you know,
they are very, they're two close friends and
(15:54):
they're very, you know, they're friends where they
tell me the truth.
And there's very different types of facilities out
there.
And there's different types of aggregating sites that
you might see on TV that really are
just kind of a referral service to a
feeder institution.
So it's the system, if you will, moving
on to that next residential setting isn't as
(16:16):
uniform as people might think.
And it's not always designed for the best
interest of the resident.
So is this something that you help like
location, quality, cost?
Yes.
Yep.
We help with all of that.
You know, when that typically happens, it's usually,
you know, after the person's been at home
(16:37):
because their first goal was to remain at
home.
And then, you know, someone along the lines
decides, okay, we want to, you know, move
this person or the person themselves wants to
move.
And then, you know, from there we can
assess their level of care to figure out,
okay, do they need independent living?
Is it assisted living?
Is it memory care?
Is it nursing home care?
(16:58):
You know, to figure out where we're looking,
because then we can kind of break down,
okay, what are you looking for?
A lot of people like the idea of
the large campus, the continuing care retirement community,
where you have almost all of those levels
of care.
And, you know, that's very beneficial because then,
you know, you're going off campus if you
have to go to the hospital, but then
you could be using the nursing home back
(17:20):
there.
And, you know, you're already in the system
and familiar with people and, you know, you're
going to be on a different wing or
in a different building, but it's still the
same system.
And then there are other people who, you
know, have other things that are important to
them.
You know, sometimes it's strictly based on geography
and, you know, you want to make sure
that it's fair between the two children so
(17:42):
that everyone can get there.
And so you're picking a place, you know,
off a highway that has a lot of
good, you know, levels of care that another
one that we deal with a lot is
married couples that come to us.
And, you know, so married couples can many
times be at different levels of care.
Maybe one person is independent living and the
(18:03):
other person is nearing memory care.
And so they really need assistance.
And so, you know, we're familiar with facilities,
you know, most facilities would have, you know,
only one level of care per room, but
there are facilities that do have, you can
have a married couple in the room where
one is independent and one is assisted living.
And, you know, so you're able to keep
(18:24):
the people together that way.
Then there's other married couples that, you know,
whether it's the disease process or just the
personalities where the family says, no, we want
to separate them.
And, you know, so we're just used to
taking whatever the situation is and finding the
right fit.
And we're very familiar with all of the
facilities in the area.
Fortunately, there are tons of different facilities in
(18:46):
this area, but at the same time for
families, unfortunately, there are so many different facilities
in the area.
And how do you know as a one
-time consumer?
Exactly, exactly.
So you don't know, you know, the reputation
and what's important to that facility and, you
know, the, you know, religious affiliations and all
(19:06):
of those things, you know, come up and
then we locate the right, the right place
for them.
We'll set up the tours, we'll bring them
on the tours and, you know, really make
sure that it's the right fit for them
before they move there.
And talk about the future of, you know,
okay, if you, if you decline, then you
can move to the assisted living here.
But if you had to go to a
(19:26):
nursing home, you'd have to go to another
location.
So that would be another move.
And, you know, kind of weighing all those
different options and moves and everything that goes
into it.
So your services don't end with that placement,
I would assume.
Correct.
Yeah.
Because one of the problems, I'm glad, I'm
glad that you said that, because one of
the problems that I see from, well, not
(19:49):
so much, not from my own experience, but
from my friend's experience, is that someone will
move to a, say, an assisted living facility
that just has assisted living.
And that their level of care is fine
for a while.
And then it isn't.
And the facility, I'm told, isn't always eager
to move that person along.
(20:11):
Because it means that person's leaving there.
Business.
Right.
And so that level of care isn't always
matched up to what they're getting to what
they now need.
Is that true in your experience?
I think that facilities definitely try to be
very transparent with people.
I think there can be resistance on both
(20:32):
sides for different reasons.
That's fair.
Yeah.
And, you know, I would say, and that's
why, you know, you mentioned, do we remain
involved when the person moves?
And we do, we certainly prefer to, but
it's always up to the family.
If they say, okay, we're all set, then,
you know, we'll certainly end services.
But, you know, we like to be involved
because a lot of times families don't realize
(20:55):
that, you know, the assisted living or wherever
you're moving mom, they can handle a lot.
You know, they'll, they're there 24 seven, they'll
handle all their needs.
They'll, you know, their meals, activities, everything like
that.
But, you know, let's say, you know, mom's
in a facility in Newton and all of
her family is in Florida and, you know,
(21:15):
she's running out of, you know, clothing, she
needs summer clothing and, you know, it got
lost in the laundry or, you know, more
importantly, she's, you know, heading to the ER
and, you know, they're, they, they're not able
to send someone from the facility because it's
just physically impossible, unfortunately.
And those are times where having a care
manager, you know, that already has a relationship
(21:36):
and can, can go into action for the
family.
You know, it ends up being really beneficial
for those sorts of things that you don't
really think of and don't come up every
day, but it's helpful to kind of have
someone in the background for that.
Yeah, absolutely.
I've been pigeonholing you into certain areas, not
on purpose, but why don't you share with
(21:58):
other, other opportunities or places that your company
provides services that we might not be talking
about so far?
Yeah.
So I would say in care management, the
bulk, just the fact that we deal with
healthcare and oftentimes healthcare becomes more complicated as
we age.
And so the bulk of our clients end
up being, you know, the older adults, but
(22:20):
we do also deal with, you know, adults
and younger people.
So we've had a number of people that
have mental health disorders that we're helping them
manage their care and they just need a
little more guidance and a little more handholding.
And we're able to help them with that.
We've also had a number of couples that
are aging come to us and they don't
(22:41):
need help yet, but they have a child
with autism that's in their twenties or thirties
and they have support and they have services
and they have a sibling to serve as
a healthcare proxy.
But mom and dad have essentially been the
care manager and have all these binders from
decades of, you know, doctors and treatment and
follow-up, and they want to be able
(23:02):
to hand that off to someone.
And so that's where they end up bringing
in a care manager to eventually, you know,
kind of take over for them and help
them in that way.
So, you know, it ends up being more
of the older adult population, but it's not
strictly the, you know, older, anything with healthcare
related needs we're able to assist with.
Now that's, I hadn't contemplated that, but, you
(23:25):
know, if you do have a child in
your care that needs lifelong care after you're
gone, sometimes a professional is the best option.
In the beginning, Jen, I talked about advocacy
and maybe a hospital setting.
How deep does that go?
Can someone who is, doesn't have someone to
(23:46):
name as their healthcare proxy, which surprisingly, you
know, as a former lawyer, I was surprised
by the number of people who would say,
I have no one.
There's no one I want to trust with
this.
Is that a role that your company takes
on?
So it can be, we're very careful about
that role.
I would say that we usually will ask
(24:09):
the person, you know, okay, well, is there,
you know, because oftentimes they think, you know,
the person has to be nearby them.
And, you know, so we had one that
we took on recently that she said she
had no one.
And it turns out she had a sister
in Italy.
And yes, that's not ideal, but, you know,
if we're aware of the time difference and,
you know, all of that, that person can
(24:29):
still be the healthcare proxy and we can
be the person, the boots on the ground,
guiding them and educating and supporting them along
the way.
So they're more comfortable with the decision-making
in terms of, you know, the decisions that
they have to make at that time.
You know, I would say that it's never
a hard no, it would depend on the
circumstances.
(24:50):
You know, we definitely want to give people
the resources that they need.
And there are also a couple of resources
out there for people that either are in
need of a power of attorney, via professionals
or healthcare proxy.
So we can definitely take those individuals and
kind of figure out like, you know, under
the layers and figure out, okay, who can
(25:10):
we have?
Would it be us?
And, you know, because we always want to
make sure it's not a conflict of interest.
So it's on the rarer side that we,
that we will serve as a healthcare proxy,
but it's not an impossible task.
Well, I think the best thought about that
is there may be someone that you individually
think that you don't have someone, but the
(25:31):
assistance from a company like yours or a
good estate planning attorney or financial advisor is
to help walk them through that because there
could be someone that you're just not reflecting
on or that.
So that's good advice.
We're just about running out of time, Jen.
Am I missing anything?
Is there a question I should have asked
you that you wanted to answer or information
(25:53):
that you wanted to depart on our listeners?
Well, I will say that our, I don't
think I mentioned our territory to start.
So our, the territory is very important because
that's where we're familiar with the resources in
the area.
And so right now our team covers from
Southern New Hampshire, basically Manchester and South, all
(26:15):
of Eastern Massachusetts, East of Worcester and Cape
Cod.
So we cover a pretty big service area
and our care managers live throughout that territory.
And so we can assign someone based on,
you know, geography and what they're looking for
and what their needs are and everything.
And we do also have a care manager
on call 24 seven.
So, you know, most of the time you're
(26:37):
dealing with that one person, you know, even
if it's weekends, care managers usually prefer to
get the calls themselves because they're the ones
who have the relationship.
But let's say a client goes to the
hospital in the middle of the night and
the ER physician needs to talk to someone,
they can call and they can always talk
to a care manager that can log into
the system and, you know, figure it, figure
out whatever it is that they need and
(26:58):
guide them through that.
Great.
Well, it's been very informative half hour.
How do people learn more about you if
they'd like to check you out?
Yeah, absolutely.
So we do have a website.
It's www.livewellcm.com or people can feel
free to email me at jennifer.mahoneyatlivewellcm.com.
(27:21):
And then, of course, you can always call
our office at 617-254-9800.
And, you know, I'm happy to talk on
the phone with people that, you know, just
have questions.
There's no obligation to by any means.
You know, I'm happy to talk to anyone.
Well, that's great.
I'll put that information in the show notes.
(27:41):
So if you're listening and you missed that,
you can look at the description of the
show and Jen's contact information will be right
there.
Jen, thanks so much for your time.
Thanks for what you do.
It's a valuable service and I would encourage
people who think they might need it to
check you out.
Thank you so much, Jeff.
I appreciate it.
And thank you for listening to another episode
of Something More with Chris Boyd.
(28:03):
Chris will be back next week.
Until then, keep striving for something more.
Thank you for listening to Something More with
Chris Boyd.
Call us for help, whether it's for financial
planning or portfolio management, insurance concerns, or those
quality of life issues that make the money
matters matter.
Whatever's on your mind, visit us at somethingmorewithchrisboyd
(28:24):
.com or call us toll free at 866
-771-8901.
Or send us your questions to amr-info
at wealthenhancement.com.
You're listening to Something More with Chris Boyd
Financial Talk Show.
Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and Jay Christopher Boyd
provide investment advice on an individual basis to
(28:45):
clients only.
Proper advice depends on a complete analysis of
all facts and circumstances.
The information given on this program is general
financial comments and cannot be relied upon as
pertaining to your specific situation.
Wealth Enhancement Group cannot guarantee that using the
information from this show will generate profits or
ensure freedom from loss.
Listeners should consult their own financial advisors or
conduct their own due diligence before making any
financial decisions.
Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.
Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,
and senior vice president and financial advisor at
Wealth Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest
registered investment advisors.
We call it Something More because we'd like
to talk not only about those important dollar
and cents issues, but also the quality of
life issues that make the money matters matter.
(00:22):
Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner
in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and
across the country.
Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.
Welcome to another edition of Something More with
Chris Boyd.
My name is Jeff Perry.
I'm a financial advisor working for AMR team
and working with Chris Boyd.
(00:43):
And Chris has the well-deserved week off
here.
He's on vacation, so I hope he's enjoying
himself and hopefully, I'm sure he'll listen to
the podcast.
He'll be back next week.
I'm really happy to have with us for
this episode, a very special guest, Jen Mahoney.
Jen, welcome to the show.
Thank you, Jeff.
You're very welcome.
You are the director of care management for
(01:05):
LiveWell Care Management, and I wanted to have
you on to talk about a subject that
we often think is going to happen to
someone else, and that's care after you retire,
typically, as you get older.
We always think these things are going to
happen to someone else, and we think about
them, we reflect on them, but it's something
(01:26):
that's really super difficult to talk about and
think about and to actually plan for.
So you're the expert in the field, and
thank you for joining us today.
If you just start out by introducing yourself
and telling us a little bit about yourself
and your company, and we'll go from there.
Yes, of course, Jeff.
Thank you so much for having me today.
I'm excited to be here and talk about
(01:49):
this topic.
A little bit about myself, I'm a master's
level social worker.
I'm licensed in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and
certified in care management as well as hospice
and palliative care, so that's what gives me
all those fun letters after my name, that
when people ask, I just said they could
be made up, but they aren't, I assure
(02:09):
you.
I have been a social worker and in
healthcare for almost 20 years now, and most
of that time or nearly all of that
time has been working with the elderly or
senior population, and the bulk of that was
about 10 years I worked in hospice.
So now in this position as the director
(02:30):
of care management at LiveWell, I've been in
this role for almost three years now, and
LiveWell Care Management rebranded on April 1st of
this year, 2025.
Prior to that, we were AZA Care Management,
and AZA Care Management has been in the
Boston area for over 30 years.
We have a large team of about 10
(02:52):
care managers, including myself, that are all healthcare
professionals that have worked in the field for
decades.
I think I have the least amount of
experience on the team, and we get hired
privately by clients and families to help them
navigate the healthcare system, which can mean a
lot of different things, and we can be
very flexible in that way.
(03:12):
And so we were excited to switch over
to LiveWell Care Management so that our care
management offices throughout the country now, we all
have the same name, LiveWell.
So we have some offices in Houston, New
York, San Francisco, and kind of throughout the
country in that way.
And that's my role.
(03:34):
I kind of oversee all of the operations
and everything going on in the office.
So you see it all.
You see things you expect and things that
you don't expect, I'm sure.
Exactly.
So is there a typical client?
Is there a typical scenario where people come
to you and say, you know, we need
help navigating this.
(03:55):
I'm a retired lawyer, and before I joined
Chris Boyd, I'd done a few things.
And as a lawyer, I came across so
many clients who I did their estate plan
for.
And then there was a medical issue.
And not everything goes as planned, right?
So people who might have had a healthcare
(04:16):
proxy in place, maybe that person moved, or
they had a power of attorney and that
person passed away, or they just never got
around to it because there are tough decisions
to make.
And the number one, you can correct me
if I'm wrong, but this is just my
narrow perspective.
The number one challenge that I saw for
people in this sudden healthcare setting, it may
(04:36):
not be sudden, actually, if you look objectively,
but they believe it's a sudden situation, is
they're just not able to, for physical, cognitive,
emotional, whatever reasons, they're just not able to
navigate and advocate for themselves in that very
complex world of healthcare.
And they get, they're almost solely reliant on
(04:59):
a system that is well intended, but far
from perfect.
Is that a common thing for you?
Yes, absolutely.
I think when, you know, family members call
us, they're always surprised, you know, when they
say, oh, well, I always assume that this
doctor talked to that doctor and they read
all those notes and they did all that.
And, you know, I have to explain to
(05:21):
them that yes, in a perfect world that
does happen and providers would like that, but
whether it's a time crunch or different systems,
there are tons of reasons why that doesn't
happen.
And that's why it's so important to have
that person advocating for you, whether, you know,
you're able to advocate for yourself or you
have a family member to go with you,
because it's something that we're all going to
(05:42):
need at some point, unfortunately.
And, you know, in terms of a typical
client, you know, I would say we probably
have categories of typical, you know, we have
a number of clients that come to us,
you know, it's usually the adult children calling
us and they say, oh, well, you know,
(06:02):
you were recommended when I met with my,
my wealth manager or my attorney.
And, you know, mom is at home and
she's aging and she has dementia and she's
starting to need help, but we don't know
how much help we don't know where to
turn to.
We don't know if she can stay at
home safely.
She has the funds to stay at home,
but we just don't even know where to
(06:23):
start and what to do.
And, you know, they just need to kind
of hand that over for someone to take
on so that they can remain involved as
a family and the care manager can kind
of take on all of the, you know,
the caregiver is out sick and someone has
to run over and is alone or make
sure that the right medications are in the
pillbox.
(06:44):
You know, it's all of those little things
that I think people don't realize that the
little things can really add up and end
up being a lot.
So.
And this is magnified if the family member
is not local as well.
I mean, this can be, you know, I've
seen cases and maybe this is typical because
I've seen so much of it where family
(07:05):
members who are not local, meaning they might
call mom every day or every, you know,
frequently or whatever, but they just, they just
aren't there enough or for a long enough
period of time or actually physically there to
actually see the warning signs.
Like a lot of us as we age
are pretty good at covering, covering, you know,
(07:26):
everything's fine.
Things are great.
Oh yeah.
When that may not be the case.
So do you find that a lot of
your clients or a lot of your children
of clients, I don't know how you'd frame
that, but our loved ones who don't live
in the vicinity of the person needing the
extra help?
Yeah, I would say that's very common.
We have a lot of people that, you
(07:47):
know, mom lives on the Cape and the
daughter's in California and, you know, for a
long time that works fine, you know, via
phone calls and checking in, but at some
point, you know, you might not realize that,
you know, mom doesn't have any groceries in
the house or she's not going to her
medical appointments or, you know, whatever it might
be, or the house is in more of
a disarray and you know that something must
(08:08):
be going on.
And so we can kind of become the
boots on the ground for that family member
and report back to, you know, the family
member across the country who presumably is acting
as the healthcare proxy and power attorney, and
we can help them in that way.
We can bring the client to the appointments.
We can follow up with reports.
We can make sure that, you know, new
(08:30):
medications are picked up and, you know, groceries
are in the house, just anything from, you
know, healthcare related to, you know, any other
needs as well.
So I would say that's a huge category
for us as we see a lot of
people that do live in this area and
then, you know, their loved ones have moved
away over time.
(08:50):
Or even if they're just out in Western
Massachusetts, you know, that's not, that's, you know,
a few hours away, that's not, you know,
running over to, you know, bring someone milk
or something like that.
You know, that's still quite a distance.
So we get called in for those sorts
of situations all the time.
So let's talk about that situation.
So if you're down here in Florida, like
(09:10):
I am, and I had a loved one
back in Massachusetts, when do I call you?
Like, what's the right time to call you?
Should there be, should I be calling you
before this is needed?
You know, if my loved one hits 90
and everything's fine, should I be checking in
and doing some planning?
Or are there other signs?
You mentioned few, but are there other things
(09:32):
that would trigger that?
What's ideal?
So ideal is for people to pre-plan
and to get us involved before they need
us.
And to meet that demand, we do have
what we call our peace of mind program.
And it's basically before you need the active
care management, and you're assigned a care manager,
(09:53):
and you pay a small annual fee, and
the care manager visits quarterly, and just basically
gets to know you.
So they'll know, okay, your son is the
healthcare proxy, Jeff, he's in Florida, we have
his phone number, we'll have a conversation to
introduce ourselves.
And, you know, just kind of becoming enmeshed
in who the person is, how they're doing,
(10:13):
so that we're ready to act and already
familiar with the person and familiar with the
house.
So we know that, you know, if there's
a mobility issue after the hospital, can they
return home?
Or do we have to bring in, you
know, grab bars or whatever other equipment there
is?
So that's what, that would, I'd say, be
our preference, of course.
Now, I would say most people, you know,
(10:35):
take in the information before they need it.
And, you know, don't necessarily act until they
do need it.
And I think that's because a lot of
people who haven't been through this, don't realize
how much it can really become, you know,
because this is something that, you know, family
members do all the time for loved ones.
And, you know, but it but it takes
a lot.
(10:55):
And, you know, especially if you're further away,
and you're not able to, you know, run
over to the ER, or take mom to
the appointment or something like that.
So we can also, you know, I would
say the bulk of our clients, we get
involved when there's a new diagnosis, maybe a
new hospitalization, there's something going on, you know,
that prompts them to say, Okay, I think
(11:15):
we need care involved, or we need some
guidance, or, you know, it's almost like they
know that they the family knows that something
is needed, but not even sure what and
how much and, and where to go to.
But they know that it's related to the
health care.
And, you know, oftentimes, we get people who
want to remain at home.
And so that's where we can come into
(11:37):
play, because we can help them, you know,
locate the right resources and oversee the caregivers
in place and everything like that.
So ideally, ahead of time, but realistically, it's
not.
Well, the other benefit from my point of
view of the early inquiry is that you
get the caregiver, your team gets to build
(11:58):
a relationship with the loved one.
And so when it is time for heavier,
heavier involvement and more detailed assistance, it's like
almost like a friend or someone you're familiar
with, it's the adoption or the willingness for
the loved one to receive the help must
be tremendously increased by having that relationship prior
(12:20):
to someone meeting them in the hospital, for
example.
Yes, absolutely.
And that ends up being extremely helpful.
The flip side of that, too, is that
even when if the families want us to
be involved, sometimes the individual themselves are not
open to it.
And they aren't ready for it.
And that's another another element and curveball that
(12:45):
gets added to the scenario as well.
Yeah, it's almost a for some people.
And I want to talk about the people
who call on their own.
But in the situation that we're scenario we're
talking about, for some people, I've seen it
become almost adversarial between the person, the social
worker or the person trying to provide assistance
and the person needing assistance.
(13:06):
They don't view it as help because they're
not ready for it.
So anything is anything done before, whether it's
financial planning, estate planning, care planning.
It's really a gift to do it before
for so many reasons.
But but there are those people who actually
don't have anyone.
Right.
So they're they're trying to live their whole
(13:27):
life alone or they've lost their spouse a
number of years ago and they don't have
someone that they feel they can count on
or the famous famous verbiage is I don't
want to be a burden.
I'm not going to call my daughter in
Georgia because I don't want her to worry.
I'm not going to call my son in
Kansas.
I don't want him to rush out here.
He's got his own life.
(13:48):
So if someone's in that situation, what's your
best advice when maybe they should call and
say, can you help me?
Yeah, I would say those situations, it's definitely
very beneficial if they're open to the care
management for the reason, like you mentioned, the
relationship building and really getting to know that
(14:09):
person.
So it's not a stranger coming in bedside
that you're meeting in the hospital when, you
know, you just had a bad fall and
you're a little disoriented and and that's when
you haven't talked to the family before and
everything like that.
So it's definitely helpful to to put that
in place ahead of time if the person
is open to it.
(14:29):
Most of the time we see that, you
know, whether it's the adult children or the
client themselves, but there's some resistance to some
level there.
And we meet that a lot and we
deal with that a lot and can deal
with that.
And one of the ways that we deal
with that is actually, you know, I tell
family members all the time that sometimes hearing
(14:51):
the same thing that your daughter might tell
you, hearing it from a professional sounds different
to people, you know, because regardless of how
old you are, you're still the son or
daughter.
And to hear it from a professional other
times will get the doctor involved because to
hear it from a doctor is really helpful
as well.
And so we try to use all those
(15:12):
little tools to get the people the care
that they need to remain safe and help
them understand that we're on their team and
that we want them to remain independent but
safely independent.
And what does that look like and what
do they want?
So as far as the scope of services
that you might provide, if someone is living
alone or there's a family member either side
(15:34):
now and it's at least an agreement between
the family that maybe mom, it's usually mom,
maybe mom needs to go to some type
of other residential setting.
Do you help with that?
Because I know there's so, I have friends
who work in the industry and, you know,
they are very, they're two close friends and
(15:54):
they're very, you know, they're friends where they
tell me the truth.
And there's very different types of facilities out
there.
And there's different types of aggregating sites that
you might see on TV that really are
just kind of a referral service to a
feeder institution.
So it's the system, if you will, moving
on to that next residential setting isn't as
(16:16):
uniform as people might think.
And it's not always designed for the best
interest of the resident.
So is this something that you help like
location, quality, cost?
Yes.
Yep.
We help with all of that.
You know, when that typically happens, it's usually,
you know, after the person's been at home
(16:37):
because their first goal was to remain at
home.
And then, you know, someone along the lines
decides, okay, we want to, you know, move
this person or the person themselves wants to
move.
And then, you know, from there we can
assess their level of care to figure out,
okay, do they need independent living?
Is it assisted living?
Is it memory care?
Is it nursing home care?
(16:58):
You know, to figure out where we're looking,
because then we can kind of break down,
okay, what are you looking for?
A lot of people like the idea of
the large campus, the continuing care retirement community,
where you have almost all of those levels
of care.
And, you know, that's very beneficial because then,
you know, you're going off campus if you
have to go to the hospital, but then
you could be using the nursing home back
(17:20):
there.
And, you know, you're already in the system
and familiar with people and, you know, you're
going to be on a different wing or
in a different building, but it's still the
same system.
And then there are other people who, you
know, have other things that are important to
them.
You know, sometimes it's strictly based on geography
and, you know, you want to make sure
that it's fair between the two children so
(17:42):
that everyone can get there.
And so you're picking a place, you know,
off a highway that has a lot of
good, you know, levels of care that another
one that we deal with a lot is
married couples that come to us.
And, you know, so married couples can many
times be at different levels of care.
Maybe one person is independent living and the
(18:03):
other person is nearing memory care.
And so they really need assistance.
And so, you know, we're familiar with facilities,
you know, most facilities would have, you know,
only one level of care per room, but
there are facilities that do have, you can
have a married couple in the room where
one is independent and one is assisted living.
And, you know, so you're able to keep
(18:24):
the people together that way.
Then there's other married couples that, you know,
whether it's the disease process or just the
personalities where the family says, no, we want
to separate them.
And, you know, so we're just used to
taking whatever the situation is and finding the
right fit.
And we're very familiar with all of the
facilities in the area.
Fortunately, there are tons of different facilities in
(18:46):
this area, but at the same time for
families, unfortunately, there are so many different facilities
in the area.
And how do you know as a one
-time consumer?
Exactly, exactly.
So you don't know, you know, the reputation
and what's important to that facility and, you
know, the, you know, religious affiliations and all
(19:06):
of those things, you know, come up and
then we locate the right, the right place
for them.
We'll set up the tours, we'll bring them
on the tours and, you know, really make
sure that it's the right fit for them
before they move there.
And talk about the future of, you know,
okay, if you, if you decline, then you
can move to the assisted living here.
But if you had to go to a
(19:26):
nursing home, you'd have to go to another
location.
So that would be another move.
And, you know, kind of weighing all those
different options and moves and everything that goes
into it.
So your services don't end with that placement,
I would assume.
Correct.
Yeah.
Because one of the problems, I'm glad, I'm
glad that you said that, because one of
the problems that I see from, well, not
(19:49):
so much, not from my own experience, but
from my friend's experience, is that someone will
move to a, say, an assisted living facility
that just has assisted living.
And that their level of care is fine
for a while.
And then it isn't.
And the facility, I'm told, isn't always eager
to move that person along.
(20:11):
Because it means that person's leaving there.
Business.
Right.
And so that level of care isn't always
matched up to what they're getting to what
they now need.
Is that true in your experience?
I think that facilities definitely try to be
very transparent with people.
I think there can be resistance on both
(20:32):
sides for different reasons.
That's fair.
Yeah.
And, you know, I would say, and that's
why, you know, you mentioned, do we remain
involved when the person moves?
And we do, we certainly prefer to, but
it's always up to the family.
If they say, okay, we're all set, then,
you know, we'll certainly end services.
But, you know, we like to be involved
because a lot of times families don't realize
(20:55):
that, you know, the assisted living or wherever
you're moving mom, they can handle a lot.
You know, they'll, they're there 24 seven, they'll
handle all their needs.
They'll, you know, their meals, activities, everything like
that.
But, you know, let's say, you know, mom's
in a facility in Newton and all of
her family is in Florida and, you know,
(21:15):
she's running out of, you know, clothing, she
needs summer clothing and, you know, it got
lost in the laundry or, you know, more
importantly, she's, you know, heading to the ER
and, you know, they're, they, they're not able
to send someone from the facility because it's
just physically impossible, unfortunately.
And those are times where having a care
manager, you know, that already has a relationship
(21:36):
and can, can go into action for the
family.
You know, it ends up being really beneficial
for those sorts of things that you don't
really think of and don't come up every
day, but it's helpful to kind of have
someone in the background for that.
Yeah, absolutely.
I've been pigeonholing you into certain areas, not
on purpose, but why don't you share with
(21:58):
other, other opportunities or places that your company
provides services that we might not be talking
about so far?
Yeah.
So I would say in care management, the
bulk, just the fact that we deal with
healthcare and oftentimes healthcare becomes more complicated as
we age.
And so the bulk of our clients end
up being, you know, the older adults, but
(22:20):
we do also deal with, you know, adults
and younger people.
So we've had a number of people that
have mental health disorders that we're helping them
manage their care and they just need a
little more guidance and a little more handholding.
And we're able to help them with that.
We've also had a number of couples that
are aging come to us and they don't
(22:41):
need help yet, but they have a child
with autism that's in their twenties or thirties
and they have support and they have services
and they have a sibling to serve as
a healthcare proxy.
But mom and dad have essentially been the
care manager and have all these binders from
decades of, you know, doctors and treatment and
follow-up, and they want to be able
(23:02):
to hand that off to someone.
And so that's where they end up bringing
in a care manager to eventually, you know,
kind of take over for them and help
them in that way.
So, you know, it ends up being more
of the older adult population, but it's not
strictly the, you know, older, anything with healthcare
related needs we're able to assist with.
Now that's, I hadn't contemplated that, but, you
(23:25):
know, if you do have a child in
your care that needs lifelong care after you're
gone, sometimes a professional is the best option.
In the beginning, Jen, I talked about advocacy
and maybe a hospital setting.
How deep does that go?
Can someone who is, doesn't have someone to
(23:46):
name as their healthcare proxy, which surprisingly, you
know, as a former lawyer, I was surprised
by the number of people who would say,
I have no one.
There's no one I want to trust with
this.
Is that a role that your company takes
on?
So it can be, we're very careful about
that role.
I would say that we usually will ask
(24:09):
the person, you know, okay, well, is there,
you know, because oftentimes they think, you know,
the person has to be nearby them.
And, you know, so we had one that
we took on recently that she said she
had no one.
And it turns out she had a sister
in Italy.
And yes, that's not ideal, but, you know,
if we're aware of the time difference and,
you know, all of that, that person can
(24:29):
still be the healthcare proxy and we can
be the person, the boots on the ground,
guiding them and educating and supporting them along
the way.
So they're more comfortable with the decision-making
in terms of, you know, the decisions that
they have to make at that time.
You know, I would say that it's never
a hard no, it would depend on the
circumstances.
(24:50):
You know, we definitely want to give people
the resources that they need.
And there are also a couple of resources
out there for people that either are in
need of a power of attorney, via professionals
or healthcare proxy.
So we can definitely take those individuals and
kind of figure out like, you know, under
the layers and figure out, okay, who can
(25:10):
we have?
Would it be us?
And, you know, because we always want to
make sure it's not a conflict of interest.
So it's on the rarer side that we,
that we will serve as a healthcare proxy,
but it's not an impossible task.
Well, I think the best thought about that
is there may be someone that you individually
think that you don't have someone, but the
(25:31):
assistance from a company like yours or a
good estate planning attorney or financial advisor is
to help walk them through that because there
could be someone that you're just not reflecting
on or that.
So that's good advice.
We're just about running out of time, Jen.
Am I missing anything?
Is there a question I should have asked
you that you wanted to answer or information
(25:53):
that you wanted to depart on our listeners?
Well, I will say that our, I don't
think I mentioned our territory to start.
So our, the territory is very important because
that's where we're familiar with the resources in
the area.
And so right now our team covers from
Southern New Hampshire, basically Manchester and South, all
(26:15):
of Eastern Massachusetts, East of Worcester and Cape
Cod.
So we cover a pretty big service area
and our care managers live throughout that territory.
And so we can assign someone based on,
you know, geography and what they're looking for
and what their needs are and everything.
And we do also have a care manager
on call 24 seven.
So, you know, most of the time you're
(26:37):
dealing with that one person, you know, even
if it's weekends, care managers usually prefer to
get the calls themselves because they're the ones
who have the relationship.
But let's say a client goes to the
hospital in the middle of the night and
the ER physician needs to talk to someone,
they can call and they can always talk
to a care manager that can log into
the system and, you know, figure it, figure
out whatever it is that they need and
(26:58):
guide them through that.
Great.
Well, it's been very informative half hour.
How do people learn more about you if
they'd like to check you out?
Yeah, absolutely.
So we do have a website.
It's www.livewellcm.com or people can feel
free to email me at jennifer.mahoneyatlivewellcm.com.
(27:21):
And then, of course, you can always call
our office at 617-254-9800.
And, you know, I'm happy to talk on
the phone with people that, you know, just
have questions.
There's no obligation to by any means.
You know, I'm happy to talk to anyone.
Well, that's great.
I'll put that information in the show notes.
(27:41):
So if you're listening and you missed that,
you can look at the description of the
show and Jen's contact information will be right
there.
Jen, thanks so much for your time.
Thanks for what you do.
It's a valuable service and I would encourage
people who think they might need it to
check you out.
Thank you so much, Jeff.
I appreciate it.
And thank you for listening to another episode
of Something More with Chris Boyd.
(28:03):
Chris will be back next week.
Until then, keep striving for something more.
Thank you for listening to Something More with
Chris Boyd.
Call us for help, whether it's for financial
planning or portfolio management, insurance concerns, or those
quality of life issues that make the money
matters matter.
Whatever's on your mind, visit us at somethingmorewithchrisboyd
(28:24):
.com or call us toll free at 866
-771-8901.
Or send us your questions to amr-info
at wealthenhancement.com.
You're listening to Something More with Chris Boyd
Financial Talk Show.
Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and Jay Christopher Boyd
provide investment advice on an individual basis to
(28:45):
clients only.
Proper advice depends on a complete analysis of
all facts and circumstances.
The information given on this program is general
financial comments and cannot be relied upon as
pertaining to your specific situation.
Wealth Enhancement Group cannot guarantee that using the
information from this show will generate profits or
ensure freedom from loss.
Listeners should consult their own financial advisors or
conduct their own due diligence before making any
financial decisions.
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