Mary Alice Butler grew up serving as gopher for a large extended family. As aunts and uncles aged, she could see that their quality of life was often diminished for lack of simple things. Some just needed a better understanding of their own medical conditions; some needed a driver; one could have used a personal secretary. She noticed that provision of simple things, well-timed, could have prevented major complications. That was the teenage perspective. As she gained experience, she was inspired by the early Hospice models --caring for the entire environment of the terminal patient, including supporting family members, making favorite foods, mowing the lawn. [Hospice care is rarely like that anymore.] Mary Alice wondered why this customized care was reserved only for the terminally ill. She wanted to help any aging person maintain a high quality of life by addressing the larger perspective and zeroing in on simple interventions. She concluded that not only were simple tasks left undone, but a coordinator was neccessary. Having an academic bent, Mary Alice felt she shouldn't be tinkering with people's lives without a strong educational framework. So she earned a master's degree in social work with an emphasis on aging, along with a certificate in aging studies. 

 

Turns out what Mary Alice wanted to do as Elder Concerns L.C. was already in practice. This is geriatric care management. Across the planet there are others who view helping seniors with a similar perspective. There are almost as many variations in practice as there are practitioners; and there are a few like Elder Concerns, L.C. We consider ourselves full service, broadly based. Over our 31 years, we have served a range of people from disabled boomers to centenarians, with transitional adjustments to major meltdowns. Mary Alice enjoys the challenge and variety that working with humanity provides.

 

Personally, Mary Alice has tended the disability of many family members, raised two smart and musical daughters, read some classics, danced to eclectic shuffles, played trivia games, dug weeds out of so-called gardens, and avoided exercise. 

 

"The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

                                                                                                          -- Robert Louis Stevenson

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Contact Mary Alice

Phone: (515) 274-4471

Email: mabutler@elderconcerns.com