Mission Statement
To promote safe and appropriate caregiving by families and the community through education and advocacy; to renew a sense of responsibility and common sense while respecting, caring for, and protecting elders through education and advocacy.
Aging Solutions maintains high standards for providing services for the elderly and their families. Aging Solutions expects the same high standards of other agencies and service providers with whom it affiliates.
About the CEO
Since
1988, Terri Abelar has been one of California's leading consumer advocates
helping older Americans. She has designed pioneering government programs
and services for seniors, given expert testimony on elder care issues
to state and federal legislators, and has helped thousands of seniors and their adult children deal effectively
with the often complex issues that arise when seniors need nursing
home care and other services.
In 1997, recognizing the need among seniors and their adult children for an organization that can serve as a problem-solver, advocate and guide for the difficult issues facing older Americans, Terri founded Aging Solutions. Aging Solutions distinguishes itself from other geriatric care management organizations by serving as an independent advocate, problem-solver and referral source, working solely for the benefit of each of its clients, with no referral fees, kickbacks or other financial conflicts to compromise its integrity.
Since its founding, Aging Solutions has helped adult children of the elderly successfully navigate issues of long-term care, nursing homes, and Medicare to ensure that their parents receive the highest quality of care without being taken advantage of financially. In addition, Aging Solutions is frequently sought by attorneys, bank trust officers, and CPAs because of its ability to recover sometimes substantial funds obtained by financial exploitation or the elderly.
Prior to starting Aging Solutions, Terri was Social Services Supervisor for the Riverside County Office on Aging, where she developed numerous programs that have become models for agencies throughout the country. Among these innovations was the creation of California's first multi-disciplinary team dedicated to preventing and stopping financial and physical abuse of the elderly. Bringing together representatives of local police departments, the District Attorney's office, and public and private agencies, the CARE (Curtailing Abuse Related to the Elderly) program has streamlined Riverside County's investigation and prosecution of scams targeting the elderly, leading to the recovery of millions of dollars of assets stolen from elderly victims.
Terri has also served as director of the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP), a state-funded program that provided education and guidance to Medicare beneficiaries throughout four Southern California counties. Long before most people knew what managed health care was, Terri was calling for stricter scrutiny of managed-care practices, and worked closely with state and federal legislators to address concerns of long-term care insurance policy holders. She also served during this time as the founding chair of the California HICAP Association, working with legislators on statewide issues affecting seniors and Medicare.
Terri has received numerous honors from local, state and national organizations for her work on behalf of the elderly, including a Congressional award for Outstanding Community Service and the National Association of Counties award for her innovative education programs on behalf of the elderly.