Ed and Peggy have been married for over 50 years.  Their daughter has been the only one of their four children involved in their lives and she lives outside of Minnesota.  The couple had one nephew who lived locally.  Ed and Peggy were both experiencing memory problems and Peggy was also experiencing multiple medical and mental health problems.

Volunteers of America of Minnesota received a referral from Ed and Peggy’s involved daughter asking that Volunteers of America help obtain a court guardianship/conservatorship for her parents.  The daughter had just spent three weeks in Minnesota trying to assist her parents but reached a brick wall when her father abruptly changed his mind and refused to cooperate with her in working to establish Power of Attorney and Health Care Directives to allow her to assist them.  The daughter was beside herself with worry about her parents. 

Volunteers of America Protective Services worked with other involved professionals on additional background information and then met with Ed and Peggy to assess their wishes, needs and capacity.  Peggy was receiving home care services for medication set-up and monitoring, as well as ongoing nursing assessment of her condition, but Medicare was ending coverage and Ed and Peggy refused to sign for private pay services.  Ed and Peggy were unable to prepare their own meals, but cancelled Meals on Wheels.  Ed’s driver’s license was to be revoked within the week for unsafe driving, but he continued to drive.  The couple had many unpaid bills.  Ed and Peggy could manage to remain in their own home if they had home care services and financial management. 

During an in-home visit with the couple, the Volunteers of America Protective Services social worker spent time with Ed, who had been uncooperative recently.  She carefully explained how Ed and his wife's needs were changing and encouraged Ed to make changes in the assistance that they received in order to meet their goal of continuing to live at home.

Protective Services went over the options available to give Ed and Peggy the help that they needed focusing on how they could be involved in what was important to them, but give up those things that were difficult.  This information was provided in a way that Ed could understand and accommodated for his memory loss.  During the meeting, Ed and Peggy stated willingness to accept their nephew’s wife Alice’s help and agreed that they would give Alice the necessary legal authority to help them.  Ed and Peggy agreed to give a Power of Attorney and Health Care Directive to Alice.  Protective Services contacted Alice and worked with her, providing verbal consultation as well as written assistance to help her to understand what would be needed if she were to assume this responsibility.  Alice made an informed and caring decision to accept this role.  Protective Services strongly recommended that the legal documents be established with legal advice and counsel.  Ed and Peggy’s long-time attorney agreed to meet with them to advise them on the legal aspects of this option and to draft the needed documents.  Protective Services also met with Ed and Peggy on the day of the appointment with their attorney to help facilitate a positive outcome, unlike the prior failed attempt with their daughter.