Since 2011, our IKOR of Western Pennsylvania team has been supporting Seniors, Adults with Disabilities, and Children with Special Needs in Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. We work to help our clients achieve an optimal level of wellness and improve coordination of care while providing cost-effective, non-duplicative service. (This means if the client’s health insurance or another public or private program will provide any service at no cost or at a lower cost, we will work with the other program provider and only complete the work not covered by these other programs.)

Most frequently we begin our work with a Life Management Assessment Plan (LMAP), we work to understand the client’s medical, psychosocial, environmental, and financial aspects of life from a safety and quality of life perspective. We can address all aspects of our client’s life when needed. Our services can include traditional geriatric care management services like attending doctor’s appointments, medication management and interaction reports, residential needs assessment, on-site safety assurance evaluation, AND our team can also provide essential bill pay services. Our services can be limited or as comprehensive as acting as Power of Attorney or Guardian when the client requires this type of support.

The IKOR Life Management team includes Managing Directors, RN Patient Advocates, Personal Needs Coordinators, and Financial Advocates.

Our advocacy team works with our clients to monitor them in any setting that they live. Additionally, we recommend the use of technology to reduce risks and improve safety and security while preserving as much independence as possible based on the client’s functional abilities. We leverage technology to allow our team to observe changes and potential risks related to safety, exploitation, or abuse.

The IKOR Life Management Team works together to, Assess, Plan, and Manage the ongoing circumstances creating short-and-long-term goals for each client through our assessment process. 

In the assessment process, we address:

Medical: Focus is on the prevention of crisis and safety concerns. We focus on coordination among care providers, medication management, hospital discharge, transitions in care, and understanding functional abilities in Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) as well as Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL’s) and on-call availability should emergencies occur. We provide non-duplicative services meaning we use all programs available to support the client and make recommendations of programs most are not aware are available. We will also act as Medical Power of Attorney.

Psychosocial: Psychosocial includes the individual’s combined influence of psychological factors related to the social environment and the impact it has on their physical and mental wellness and the ability to function. In our assessment process, we include: 

• Social: We encourage active, stimulating, and fulfilling lifestyles -new hobbies, unknown talents, expanded circle of friends, volunteer work. Many clients have concerns because they have a purpose problem. Purpose and socialization are essential to the quality of life, so we engage our clients to address purpose in every stage of life.
   
• Cognitive: We screen, assess, and seek clinical support for Cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in addition to conditions such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, and developmental disabilities. Cognitive impairment ranges from mild to severe. With mild impairment, people may notice changes in cognitive functions, but still, be able to do their everyday activities. Severe levels of impairment can lead to losing the ability to understand the meaning or importance of something and the ability to talk or write, resulting in the inability to live independently.
  
  
• Mental Health: We support complex psychiatric diagnoses, addictions, and mental health concerns. We assess care and support in the implementation of best practices. Mental Health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being changes.  

Environmental:  IKOR strives to support our clients to safely live independently and age in their homes for as long as it is safe and affordable for the individual. We call it Aging in Place with a plan and work to keep the residences in optimal condition. We work with outside vendors to adapt or maintain homes, and we use technology to address specific physical or cognitive limitations. If moving to a retirement or assisted living community or group home is required, we help to manage the transition and continue to work with the client afterward to support with areas of care that living communities do not provide.

Financial:  We create budgets and manage daily cash flow. We help maximize eligibility of benefits and entitlements, including Social Security, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, VA Benefits, Long Term Care Insurance, and other sources of income. We fend off predatory behavior and ensure our clients receive quality service at competitive costs. We will act as Power of Attorney and Guardian when requested. 

We also offer Concierge Services. Our Life Enhancement Specialists are selected and trained to meet the individualized needs of our clients around routine activities and tasks that are not provided by other in-home providers.