Gently Guided
Gently Guiding Seniors to Comfort

Moving a loved one to a senior living facility can be one of the hardest decisions a spouse or family member will ever need to make. It’s a transition fraught with emotional weight and logistical challenges. The team at Gently Guided has navigated the journey themselves and intimately understands the layers of emotions and concerns accompanying these decisions. This deep empathy and commitment to family caregivers drives Gently Guided’s holistic approach to serving families through the process of selecting a senior living community for a loved one.

In the rapidly growing senior placement field, Gently Guided stands out for its highly personalized approach to guiding families through the process of finding and moving a loved one into an appropriate senior care community. This family-centered approach is informed by founder Lisa Bricker’s 15-year Alzheimer’s journey with her husband, her experience as a family caregiver advocate, and her 30-year career as a leadership coach.

Lisa founded Gently Guided in deep service to family caregivers and specializes in Alzheimer’s and Dementia placement. She and her team combine personal experience and extensive knowledge of care options and resources to provide families with education, support, and living options tailored to their loved one’s personality, interests, care needs, and the family’s geographic area and budget. Jenna Pacini supports Lisa in this process, drawing from her experiences as a caregiver for her mother and father-in-law and her background in supporting veterans in transitional housing.

Beyond providing thoughtfully recommended suitable senior living options, the company offers concierge-level service to support families through decision-making, guiding them through site visits and discussions to affirm their decision. Informed by the International Coaching Federation’s ethical code of conduct and her leadership training, Lisa meets families where they are, identifying their needs and the pace of search that works for them. Throughout this process, Gently Guided actively seeks feedback to help families evaluate their options. Once a preferred community is selected, Lisa and her team remain engaged, encouraging the family to foster a connection with their choice and helping resolve any issues that might arise after the move-in to help make the placement successful.

“We do everything we can to ensure a good match between the individual and their new home. This gives family caregivers confidence in their choice, which makes the transition easier for the family and the care community,” shares Lisa Bricker, founder of Gently Guided.

The company respects the families’ pace in making this decision, but it also works quickly when a family is in crisis. One example of a rapid placement is when Gently Guided assisted a client who had moved her father into a facility that did not provide the level of care he required. She had contacted the community before reaching out to Gently Guided’s team. The firm understood she had been in a hurry to move her father and supported her original decision. When she realized he needed a new living situation, Gently Guided stepped in to help her and found an appropriate and much better fit for her father immediately.

Another example of the company’s dedication to going above and beyond for families is when an elderly gentleman was overwhelmed by caring for his wife with Alzheimer’s and searched for care options online. He started his search by sharing his contact information online, leading to a flood of unsolicited calls—about 30 in just one day. Further complicating his search was his macular degeneration, which prevented him from driving and touring available options for her. Gently Guided, understood his situation, found him suitable living options, and offered to pick him up for tours of potential care facilities.

To help families navigate the rising costs of senior care communities, Gently Guided has expanded its geographic focus and is actively nurturing partnerships with like-minded professionals. The firm helps families throughout Greater Los Angeles and California find options to meet their loved one’s care needs and the family budget. The firm also leverages its reputation for successful placements to advocate and sometimes negotiate with communities.

In addition to serving families as an Alzheimer’s and Dementia placement specialist, Lisa serves as a Support Group Leader and advocates for family caregivers as a member of the public policy committee for Alzheimer’s Los Angeles.