Before Susan Yubas, certified senior adviser based in Rye, started her consulting business for the elderly in Westchester four years ago, her friends and neighbors were constantly asking for advice on what to do as their parents got older. Baby boomers wanted to know how to address their parents”™ health, financial, living and social needs.
“It”™s the adult children who come to me because they don”™t know who to call,” said Yubas, former director of business management at the Bristal, a luxury assisted living residence in White Plains. “But sometimes the older adult calls and says, ”˜I really can”™t talk to my children about this.”™ So they need someone who is not as emotionally attached to the family and more objective to help come up with a solution.”
Yubas, who founded FYI Senior Living Solutions Inc. in 2009, said she regularly meets with families and health care providers to discuss ways to support the aging population in Westchester. The individual consultations are free and Yubas always visits the seniors and their caregivers in the nonthreatening environment of their homes.
She said often the biggest barrier to starting the conversation is the denial that seniors need more services as they get older, especially if they plan to age in place.
Yubas”™ responsibility is to work with caregivers and identify the right resources and living options for seniors, especially given the variables of each family situation.
“Working with a family is a very intimate experience because I learn about their financial situation and family dynamics,” Yubas said. “And most people wait and call only when they”™re in a crisis, so there”™s an emotional component to this, as well.”
Over the past four years, Yubas has built networks with home care providers, geriatric centers, accountants, physicians and lawyers in Westchester who provide services for her clients. She gives her clients a list of contacts that provide specific services tailored to the individual”™s needs based on her conversations with the seniors and their caregivers.
“I refer them to a minimum of three care providers,” said Yubas, who has a 35-year career working for hospitals and long-term and management-care services. “If I”™m referring them to professionals, I make sure they”™re willing to work with them and their personality has to match. It”™s up to the family if they want me to be the intermediary on their behalf or if they just want to take the referrals and proceed on their own.”
Consulting services catered toward seniors will continue to grow in Westchester as more of the aging population decides to weigh out their options after retirement, Yubas said.
“There is a definite desire for elderly people in Westchester to stay in Westchester,” she said. “People are staying in Westchester to be closer to their children and their health care provider. They stay in Westchester because it”™s familiar and comfortable.”
In the past three months, Yubas said more health-service providers are approaching her to request advice on how to better serve the aging population.
“Many organizations have not shifted their focus on how health care providers, businesses and organizations can provide services to older adults and meet the needs of an aging county,” Yubas said. “But I”™m trying to get professionals to be more proactive.”
