This article appeared in the July 11, 2003 Jewish Advocate.

Modigliani Assists Elders and their Families

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

Parents often need help, but sometimes children do too, especially when the roles reverse and they become the caregivers. Just as their parents often learned through experience as they provided for the neeeds of dependents while ensuring their safety, adult children must manage these critical roles while balancing their own full schedules, which often include children of their own. Sometimes, it all happens at once, according to geriatric care manager Suzanne Kohn Modigliani.

"Often adult children are surprised when they come home for a visit from out of town and find bills unpaid, limited food in the refrigerator and prescriptions unfilled,” said Modigliani. “The problems may have been mounting slowly, but often a crisis precipitates a call to me."

In private practice since 1997, Modigliani’s past positions include six years as a social worker at Geriatric Health Resources in Wellesley, five years of nursing home consulting at Cushman Management in Danvers, ten years as an adoption worker for Counseling Associates in Watertown, and other visiting nurse and social worker appointments. Modigliani, who also served as Director of Comprehensive Emergency Services at North Suffolk Mental Health Association in Revere during the 1980s, has performed social services work for Dorchester House, the state’s Family and Children’s Services Division, South Boston Community Day Hospital and McLean Hospital. Within academia, she has worked as a social work field supervisor at Boston University and Tufts.

Modigliani, a Belmont native, has lived in Brookline for 22 years with her husband Sergio. “I am often asked about my last name, which is an Italian Jewish name,” she remarked. “Italian Jews often took their names from towns, in this case, the town of Modigliana.” Her husband's cousins, who remained in Italy in hiding during the war, are active members of the Jewish community in Rome.

Her parents were very active in the local Jewish community as well. Her late father, Warren Kohn, a Boston native, was President of the Jewish Community Relations Council and Chair of the Anti-Defamation League of New England during the 1970s and 1980s. Her mother, Elaine, who was from Brooklyn, served on the boards of the Jewish Vocational Service and the Jewish Family and Children’s Services. In 1991, her mother, also a social worker, was honored for her work in helping to increase awareness of domestic violence in the Jewish community. Mother and daughter, who both worked in the areas of child abuse and neglect and initiated parent education programs, shared the 1987 Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) Leadership Award. It was the first award of their (now annual) Family Affairs dinner, which honors families who make a difference in the lives of children.

When Modigliani began her practice in Brookline, geriatric care management was a virtually unknown field. Today, over 1600 GCM’s belong to the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers; Modigliani sits on the board and serves as President of the New England Chapter. She has belonged to the National Association of Social Workers since 1975 as well.

Past civic work includes serving as a member on the Board of Directors at the MFA;’s Museum Council and the Salisbury Road Corey Farm Neighborhood Association, a member on the Advisory Board for the Act of Love Adoption, a Corporator for the MSPCC, Vice President of the Chilmark Town Affairs Council and membership in the West Suburban Alzheimer’s Partnership.

“Geriatric Care Managers serve as problem solvers, counselors, family mediators, negotiators, advocates, consultants and service managers,” she explained, noting that following assessment of an elderly client's health, mental state, surroundings and capabilities, a GCM develops a specialized care plan. “Services may end there, or the GCM may implement the plan for the family,” she continued. This may include transitioning an elder to an assisted living or nursing home, supervising a team of helpers for a person with memory loss who is living alone, or performing many other individualized care functions.

"The variety of the work and the challenges of the situations are very fulfilling,” said Modigliani. “It calls on all the skills and knowledge developed over the years,” she added, with an simply-stated, yet obviously deeply-felt dedication to the duties she so aptly performs.

“It is gratifying to be able to make a difference in the lives of elders and their families.”

For information on Modigliani’s geriatric care services, please call 617-566-0926, email modig@rcn.com or visit www.modiglianigeriatrics.com.