Meet Kathy
Kathryn Freda is a Gerontologist, Eldercare Consultant, and owner of Sage Solutions, LLC. Ms. Freda has over 18 years’ experience helping older adults and their families by optimizing the services and resources available to them.
Freda holds a master’s degree in Human Development/gerontology from Saint Joseph College and is a Certified Care Manager (CMC) by the National Academy of Certified Care Managers. She served on the State of Connecticut Commission on Aging for three terms, including two years as Chairperson, and she has completed the Mediation Certificate Program at Quinnipiac University School of Law as well as an advanced Elder/Adult Family Mediation training program. Ms. Freda currently serves on the board of directors of the Aging Life Care Association – New England Chapter.
In addition, Ms. Freda has completed the Alzheimer’s & Dementia Care curriculum through the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners. Ms. Freda has also completed the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s eight week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course, a renowned training program centered on mindfulness meditation and increased self awareness. Ms. Freda has extensive training and experience in holistic health education, including 160 hours of Holistic Lifestyle Educator training at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA.
Her unique background, both in the field of aging and in holistic health, has inspired her to create a wellness model for aging adults, rather than an illness model. Through a confluence of knowledge, experience, and creativity, Ms. Freda’s methodology has evolved into an individual, customized planning approach that is designed to improve the quality of life for her clients.
Meet Casey
Casey McGannon is a gerontologist who also earned her master’s in human development/gerontology from Saint Joseph College. She was Director of Programs and Education for the Alzheimer’s Association in Connecticut for three years, before moving to Prince Edward Island in 2005. She owned and operated a Home Instead Senior Care office there for six years, working day to day with Island seniors and their families to ensure they had to most appropriate level of care and were apprised of all care options available.
She coordinated a two-year education project with the Alzheimer Society of PEI working with first responders and long-term care facilities on understanding issues of wandering and methods to avoid flight risk. She also co-facilitated a two-day course for professionals at the University of Prince Edward Island Centre for Lifelong Learning “Heightening Health Care Professionals to the Realities and Subtleties of Dementia.”
For the last four years, Casey was the Grief Support Coordinator for Hospice PEI, and as a member of the Integrated Palliative Care Team, worked collaboratively with volunteers, medical and administrative staff and most importantly, families and individuals at the end of their lives to ensure they all received compassionate, caring support.
Casey has returned to her home and brings her expertise in holistic care at end of life and care for individuals living with dementia to Sage Solutions.
Meet Katy
Kathryn Betts Adams (Katy) is a social worker and an Eldercare Consultant. She has over 10 years’ experience working with adults and older adults facing life challenges and transitions, and 15 years as a teacher and researcher in gerontology and mental health. Katy’s practice focuses on helping older clients and their families enhance their strengths and find ways to address their challenges to improve quality of life. Older people want to maintain their independence and continue to have meaning in their lives. As an Eldercare Consultant, Katy can help the client and family decide on a plan that may include outside services and resources to help assure the older adult will be safe and well supported in his or her living environment.
Katy received her Masters degree in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Michigan and her PhD in Social Work from the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Her research has focused on areas close to her heart – depression in late life, family caregiving, coping with chronic illness and changes of aging, and early-stage dementias like Alzheimer’s disease – and she has over 30 publications in social work and gerontology journals. She has also written a blog for PsychologyToday.com called Mid-life: What Crisis? dealing with topics on aging and caregiving.
Katy has firsthand experience as the adult child of older parents with physical and cognitive challenges. In addition to her professional social work experience in the community and in nursing homes, she has personal experience with caring for loved ones living in assisted living and memory care environments. She understands the competing demands and mixed emotions families face as they try to do what’s best to help older relatives. Katy’s combination of deep knowledge, experience, and empathy can help ease the burden for clients and families facing difficult eldercare decisions and tasks.