Columnist, co-host debut radio show for 50-plus crowd
Phil McFadden, co-owner of Home Instead Senior Care on Five Points Road in West Chester, and I have been spending some time arranging a new treat for listeners on WCHE.
The program, “50+ Planning Ahead,” will deal with many of the same issues covered in this column. We will co-host the show live every week on Wednesdays on WCHE, AM-1520, at 4:30 p.m beginning Nov. 10.
For seniors, the questions of how and when to arrange for additional assistance, how much it costs, and how to pay for it are always there.
Financial planning, estate planning, Medicare, Medicaid, what is covered by long-term care insurance or veterans benefits, or health insurance are always on people’s minds along with changes in the law or benefits.
Adult children seek help on what to do or what not to do and when. We will deal with these and other topics that are more fun and leisurely. Phil’s focus will be on home care and how managing it could be so much easier than many now realize. The show will be a call-in but listeners will need patience as we pull everything together. I have not handled a call-in show on a regular basis for a while.
Most readers of this column know some information about me. They know I have an elder law practice that focuses on health care and financial solutions with life care planning. It also includes estate planning and estate administration and we have a care coordinator as a full-time staff member. We are located just one block outside of West Chester in West Goshen on Market Street. My daughter, Alisa, is 13 now and doing very well.
Phil’s Home Instead Senior Care location is just a few blocks away from my office on North Five Points Road. What Phil’s team does is one subject to be addressed in our first broadcast. Non-medical home health care and companionship services have become a critical part of staying at home. For seniors who find it hard to get around and would like to have someone who can make some meals and handle light chores, non-medical home health care can be ideal.
One question is how to get someone you can trust and how you will get along with that person. Phil addresses this regularly and will have some answers for the program.
Phil and I both happen to have some background in broadcasting. Phil was once a morning news anchor and reporter for prior West Chester radio station WCOJ. I was a host on that station once a month for Legal Talk, a program that actually belongs to Steve Karp and Peter Hart, attorneys. Steve and Pete now run their show, the longest-running legal talk show in America, on WCHE from noon to 12:30 p.m. every Tuesday. Years past, I also once had a weekly radio show at the old WCHE on Market Street.
This show came about as a number of pieces fell into place. Bill Mason, station manager at WCHE and formerly at WCOJ, has been very encouraging and assisted us each step of the way. Another friend who belongs to our Rotary Club, The Greater West Chester Sunrise Rotary, actually originated the idea for the show. To discover who that is, listen in and learn the full story.
WCHE 1520 has had a number of connections with members of our Greater West Chester Sunrise Rotary. To find out who they are, you will need to tune in.
My quieter partner and supporter, Jeff Jones, a Certified Senior Advisor, will be assisting behind the scenes. Jeff, as many of our clients know, is not only my business partner here at 790 E. Market St. but my brother, and his business, Life Transition Services LLC, is located here also. Jeff handles what we generally refer to as “administration” — all of our benefits applications and following the funds to see where clients stand.
The title of the program “50+ Planning Ahead” owes more than a little to this column in the Daily Local News, which has the lead-in “Planning Ahead.”
To show that planning ahead might not only be rewarding but fun is a goal of our show. One other important goal is to make people realize that they do not need to go through “50+” or “Planning Ahead” alone.
About the Author Janet Colliton
Esquire, Colliton Law Associates, P.C. Janet Colliton has practiced law for over 38 years, 37 of them in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her practice, Colliton Law Associates, PC, is limited to elder law, Medicaid, including advice, applications and appeals, and other benefits planning including Veterans benefits, life care and special needs planning, guardianships, retirement, and estate planning and administration.