The Van Dyck Law Group Elder Advocacy and Law Boot Camp Was a Success!

On October 1st, 2019 we facilitated the First Annual Van Dyck Law Group Elder Advocacy and Law Boot Camp at the Crowne Plaza Princeton Conference Center. We had over 120 attendees and 20 Circle of Care Vendor Partners. This was a Continuing Education event offering our attendees 5 credits for Social Workers and Administrators of Assisted Livings and Long Term Care Communities. Our Premier Sponsors were Integra Healthcare Management which is comprised of The Gardens at Monroe in Monroe Township, Imperial Healthcare in Neptune and Foothill Acres in Hillsborough. Our Breakfast Sponsor was Brandywine Living, Lunch Sponsor was Senior Bridge and our snack sponsors were Stonebridge at Montgomery and Akin Care. We would like to express how grateful to our care partners for helping us to make this day an absolute success.

The event began with registration at 8am and the education sessions began at 9am with our founding attorney, Fiona Van Dyck, educating our attendees about Elder Law Issues that every healthcare provider needs to know. She discussed the ins and outs of Medicaid planning as well as the need for estate planning documents including financial power of attorney, advanced directives, wills and trusts, to be in place in order to best plan for ours and our loved ones’ futures. We then welcomed Nina Weiss of Weiss Law to educate our guests on what happens if those documents are not in place. She talked about guardianships, conservatorships as well as what and who determines competency when someone has a cognitive impairment, mental illness or is not able to speak or make decisions for themselves. Annette Murphy from Springpoint at Home was gracious enough to talk to us about Aging Life Care Advisors and how one can help in some of these situations.

Our Keynote speaker was Dr. Olga Tchikindas from Princeton Medical Institute. Dr. Tchikindas was charming and informative as she educated our guests on the types of dementia and why it’s important to get the proper diagnosis.

We finished out the day with a Hot Topic elder advocacy panel consisting of Linda Mundie from The Gardens at Monroe who spoke on Avoiding Hospital Re-Admissions, Kim Saul-Bowne from Saul Funeral Home who spoke on Funeral Trusts, Christina Canitano from Senior Bridge who spoke on Senior Loneliness, our own Sheli Monacchio who spoke on Senior Bullying and finally Linda Mundie and Ann Akin from Akin Care spoke about the risks for families of hiring private home care aides, the risks to the caregivers who take private cases and Grey Market Risks to all involved.

We at Van Dyck Law Group are humbled by the support of our care partners and are so happy that we have these resources for our clients as care needs arise. As Fiona reiterated throughout the day, “we are all in the trenches together”. This goes for our care partners, our clients and their families.

Thank you to all the professionals who were a part of our day and we look forward to our next Boot Camp in 2020!