On Monday October 7th, 2019 Debbi Dooley, RN, MS, LPC, NBCC, ALCA Geriatric Care Manager for JF&CS Atlanta will be visiting the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs. She'll be discussing the challenges and rewards of her long career in the important field of geriatric care.

Debbi began working at JF&CS in August 2007, with her initial primary role as Case Manager for aging individuals with significant mental health or other life­ cycle challenges. Since then, her work at JF&CS has also included case management for various caregiver support programs, facilitation of three family caregiver support groups and an agency-based caregiver group, supportive counseling for elders and their care partners, counseling for clients in Weinstein Hospice's Palliative Care program, and clinical case management for clients who are in need of additional support. Debbi has provided Geriatric Care Management services for JF&CS since 2012. In addition, she has provided eldercare for various family members for the past 15 years, including her 95 year-old mother.

Debbi received a degree in nursing from Georgia State University in 1974. Her nursing practice focused on women's health and inpatient obstetrics. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology and Sociology from Agnes Scott College in 2004. She completed a Masters Degree in Professional Counseling from Georgia State University in 2007. During her graduate-level counseling education, she provided counseling and case management in a year-long internship at the Wesley Woods Transitions Senior Program, a partial-hospitalization day-treatment program for older adults in need of intensive mental health support. She also holds a Certificate in Aging from Boston University's School of Social Work.

"One of my care management clients said she wished she had a sister to help with her parents but she didn't have one - she asked if I could step in and act as if I were her sister, caring for her beloved parents - and that's what I strive to do."

More information about JF&CS can be found here: https://jfcsatl.org/