Health is included in our Maxben Senior Status Assessment as most, if not all, physicians agree that minimizing, if not avoiding altogether, physical and cognitive disease and disability is crucial to successfully navigating the aging process and maintaining a quality of life. The ability to improve your resiliency, overcome disease and minimize frailty and disability has proven to benefit seniors tremendously

The ability to afford the necessities of life such as housing, medical care, insurance, prescriptions, and of course food are essential and cannot be overlooked in any eldercare situation. Moreover, it has been proven by studies that our financial security directly affects our health and wellness needs. Preserving the assets that a client has spent a lifetime earning directly relates to well-being and security.

Emotional and mental wellness has come to the forefront of concerns as research studies continue to reveal that our emotional state can detract from our health primarily through the presence of stress. Since 70-80% of all visits to the doctor are for stress-related illnesses and 73% of Americans name money as the number one factor that affects their stress level, wellness is a need that must be addressed when preparing for eldercare. Understanding how stress and other emotional factors can harm us while pursuing peace of mind can only help the senior adult and their family.

The field of elder law is not defined by a specific area of law but rather by the overall needs of the client. The only proper way to represent and truly assist a client is to utilize a comprehensive whole-person approach as expressed in this Assessment. For example, the Aspirational Standards established by the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys states that the elder law attorney is to “approach a client matter in a holistic manner”. Actually helping the client understand the various needs and organize their specific issues through advice and the creation of a plan allows them to prepare and make themselves ready by protecting their desires and wishes.

An overwhelming majority of statistics have shown that spirituality often guides a person in making end-of-life health care decisions. This section is included as a need-based component for three reasons: first, a substantial part of preparing for eldercare is the implementation of a health care advance directive known as a Living Will. This document, which serves as your written guidance for your health care agent and physician, should therefore include any strongly held beliefs that might influence future medical care and end-of-life decisions. Secondly, the hospice and palliative care movement in this country has always incorporated a spiritual aspect into their caregiving and finally, numerous medical research studies and articles, such as those published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, The Gerontologist and The American Family Physician, have shown that spiritual health correlates with both physical and mental health.