Month: January 2019

Banister Advisors: Allies in Managing a Health Care Crisis

“I need to remember to take one step at a time … you are a timely and valuable asset.” Client Testimonial, Banister Advisors

Grief is confusing and it is multifaceted. Unpacking it is hard. Decisions surrounding health care in a medical crisis require people to quickly develop skill sets they do not necessarily have. When Banister Advisor’s Founder, Vanessa Laughlin’s father-in-law died in 2016, her bereft family was forced to contend with a multitude of decisions simultaneously.

When a little time had gone by, she realized that there was no organization or platform equipped to handle all the considerations associated with illness, healing, death, dying, practical matters (estate), or care for close family members.

From this experience sprang Banister Advisors, a service designed to identify what a family needs in illness and, if necessary, in transition – and then sets out to provide exactly that. Banister Advisors begins by developing a custom crisis care or bereavement plan (as applicable) that combines social/emotional support with practical considerations for the person who is ill – as well as for those who love them.

Banister Advisors specialize in health crisis management and bereavement services. When appropriate they are also able to act as estate expeditors.

My own grandmother died almost twenty years ago following a short bout with cancer. She was the beloved wife of a small town community minister. As a result of her standing in the community, she was the beneficiary of a great outpouring of love over the course of her brief hospice. We, the lucky members of her family, were cared for and were coached in understanding the steps of death.

The death of my grandmother eased, a great deal, my own fear of dying. I, like everyone, hope to be given the time to raise my children and so on. However, the experience of being part of such an informed and empowered death, demystified it for me.

Without such a support net, however, the experience of illness is most often intense and overwhelming. The number of things with which people are forced to contend at once strain mental health and relationships. Many in this position have not faced these decisions before and this adds exponentially to their stress- even as they continue to manage work, family, children.

Laughlin describes her work as part of the positive death movement. She points out that recently-deceased Senator John McCain was intimately involved in planning his death. While the pain of death is intense to loving survivors, there are ways to empower the person who is ill – while still providing support to those they will leave behind.

Says Laughlin:

“Death is everywhere but we still don’t have a way to cover topics related to death. Banister helps to facilitate talks about death and dying. The Banister Team knows how to be fully present. ‘No one would try to climb Everest without a Sherpa.’ A Sherpa will carry, unburden, guide, care for you on your journey – but it is still your journey.”

Banister works with families throughout the process of illness and, where applicable, transition to hospice. Their specialized advisors are able to offer emotional support to the patient, and to their loving support team. They are able to get creative about quality of life issues such as sleep hygiene, sadness and depression, and more – for the person who is ill, and also for those who love them.

Importantly, they are also able to address the complexities associated with settling an estate. Until one has arrived at this point, it is hard to underscore some of the nuances associated with estate execution. For the recently bereaved, it can be a lot to take on.

Banister Advisors are sensitive to generational differences. For example, they are able to work easily with an older person who may not have handled their own personal finances before. In a different vein, they would be able to work with a younger person in a similar circumstance.

There are many, many unknowns when it comes to both medical crisis and end of life care, and each situation is different. Banister Advisors knows this, and can help bring clarity into what are often highly unclear circumstances with their customizable services.

Banister offers their services nationally. For additional information contact them at Banister Advisors.

Five Ways To Help Federal Employees Affected By the Government Shutdown

Sitting in a children’s dance studio, I overheard a Coast Guard-wife telling someone that a Coast Guard friend had recently cancelled her young daughter’s birthday party because of the government shutdown. “It’s not something you can dip into savings to cover,” she said.

Angel Stephensen, army veteran and federal employee of the Transportation Security Administration, described this week in the Washington Post, the impact of the shutdown. She wrote:

“Working for the Transportation Security Administration isn’t glamorous on the best of days … Though we are just enforcing the rules that keep the public safe, most people treat us as the jerks who want to take away their nail clippers … [Although] most travelers I’ve encountered recently have been very nice to the TSA … it’s hard to know what to say … When one passenger tried to give me a cash tip, I had to refuse. I could lose my job if I accepted, I told her.”

Politics aside and regardless of the side of your aisle, we should take stock of ways we can help our fellow citizens through this stressful and uncertain economic time. We know that many Americans lives paycheck-to-paycheck and the ripple effects of the shutdown have broad impact.

Here are things you can do to help those both directly and indirectly affected by the shutdown. At Give InKind, we strive to enable dialogue and actionable, effective assistance. Here are some places to begin.

  1. Pitch in with childcare, transportation, and meals. Use a Give InKind calendar to coordinate a care pool for a family to offset expenses they had not anticipated.
  2. Give flexible gift cards for families to use as they see fit. Consider Visa Gift cards, or Amazon gift cards in any amount.
  3. Consider paying utility bills or pitch in for groceries. Meal kits can be delicious, nutritious, and offset the cost of meal planning for weeks.
  4. Cover car-related expenses. Gas cards are welcome and so are Jiffy-Lube-type services.
  5. Some affected families may be members of the Sandwich generation – responsible, as well, for helping aging parents. Ride-share services may be useful in terms of getting a grandparent to a medical appointment without involving the affected worker.

To those federal workers affected by the shutdown, please allow your fellow citizens to honor your service by lending a hand. You make tremendous sacrifices to keep our country running. We would greatly appreciate a chance to be worthy of your sacrifices. So, tell us – what do you need? (Meanwhile, I’m gonna be busy tracking down that child who needs a birthday party).