Seminars help seniors plan ahead




 

 

By the year 2035 it’s predicted there will be more seniors than children for the first time in U.S. history.

The focus on the gray market is growing, and the development of sundry new products to help the silver generation navigate their golden years has expanded as well.

Westlake Village-based attorney Terri Hilliard wants her clients and the public at large to know about the options for aging. For the last 12 months Hilliard has been hosting monthly seminars focusing on topics related to aging and the needs of the elderly.

“It’s all about what I want to convey to the community on aging in place, special needs and, normally, estate planning,” Hilliard said.

Her next seminar covers how seniors who are physically limited can modify their homes so they don’t have to move.

“I want people to be sure they have a choice in the matter. It’s all about independence,” Hilliard said.

Last week, she hosted a seminar called “Technology and the Aging Population.” A dozen attendees gathered for a presentation from Ferdie Villegas, a representative of Philips Lifeline medical alert service who discussed gadgets that can come in handy for seniors living alone.

Philips Lifeline is best known for its wearable products that alert the company when the wearer falls. Villegas discussed other products that address different needs, including GPS-chipped shoe inserts that help relatives of people with dementia find their loved ones, and wearable gadgets that automatically sense a fall, offer two-way communication with a responder, or alert a family member if the owner hasn’t pushed a button in 12 hours.

Hilliard said she plans each seminar’s topic based on questions she gets from her clients.

“I realized I have so many families who need this help, whether it’s on special needs or living at home,” she said. “It’s all the issues my families want to know about.”

Hilliard’s specialty is in estate planning, elder and special-needs law, but she also plans to cover topics in her seminars such a crypto-currency and cybersecurity.

“I hit (cybersecurity) hard. That affects everybody, and it changes over time,” Hilliard said. “We talk about business issues as well. It affects every age. People that have children, for instance, certain security issues will come up. I’m finding hundreds of topics that people will ask me about.”

Hilliard also has worked as a mediator, a skill that comes in handy when families debate what’s best for their aging parents. She encourages people to tackle the issue sooner rather than later.

“If people have information and know their options, it’s easier to allow someone to help,” Hilliard said. “I call it being ‘in choice,’ (as in), I don’t want my grandchildren to pick my nursing home unless I designated that particular grandchild, things of that sort. When we talk about it, we talk about what other people have done, and they say, ‘Oh, I can accept that.’”

Hilliard has been practicing law for 30 years and is on the board of Senior Concerns, a Thousand Oaks-based nonprofit that offers adult care options as well as legal and financial services.

Outside of her professional life, Hilliard is no stranger to the realities of aging. Her parents lived in Moorpark. Hilliard, at the time a resident of Burbank, was regularly making the commute to check on them. She moved her family and law practice to the Conejo Valley in 2003 so she could more easily care for them.

“We’re talking about human conditions—how do we stay independent, stay in play. (It’s about) making choices ahead of time,” Hilliard said.

Follow Ian Bradley on Twitter @Ian_ reports.