Joan Harris, LSW, MBA, CMC - April 2024
I look back over the past 7 years with tremendous gratitude that I have had the opportunity to start, operate and grow Symphony Care Management. For all of us, our careers are a journey. One experience leads to the next. A cause and effect that takes us to the quintessential fork in the road. In 2017 I had the good fortune of taking a career mis-step. I stepped away from Care Management to do something more “MBAish” for a healthcare company. I quickly learned they did not value any knowledge, skills, or expertise I had to offer nor did they have the corporate support for the program they hired me to develop. This step out of Care Management gave me the clear perspective and realization that Care management and the service to clients and their families was my passion. It was time to create a Care Management company that would allow me to serve my clients in the way they deserved and to drive my own path forward. Symphony Care Management was created with the complete support and faith in my ability by my husband as well as my close-knit peer supervision group. As a solo practitioner for the first four years, I never felt alone with the complexity of cases that arose and was blessed with the generosity of my peers creating the process of my practice. When asked soon after opening Symphony Care Management to join the Aging Life Care Association New England Board of Directors in a key leadership role, I knew instinctively strengthening the connections in my professional community would not only help to build my practice and credibility in the marketplace, but would push me to grow into the leader I knew I could be.
The consistent flow of clients came fast due to my many years and reputation in the field of Geriatrics with 10 years prior to opening as an Aging Life Care Professional. The next challenge was to grow a team of talented professionals who would care for our clients with the same ethics and skill level that was my high standard. In 2021 in the middle of the Covid 19 pandemic, Lizzy Carr, RN came to Symphony Care Management. She exemplifies our practice core values in every way. I have so enjoyed our teamwork and watching her grow and flourish in this field. Our multitalented practice Manager Jean Clements came on two years ago and not only supports the day-to-day operations in innumerable ways, but also has the motivation and heart to grow in this field. Recently, our Dementia Specialist/Care Manager Julia Nickrosz, CDP has developed a framework to offer more in-depth dementia care services to many clients who are challenged with the complexity of memory disorders. It has been a tremendous pleasure and honor to mentor this talented and dedicated team. I could not be prouder of our growth and the quality of care that we provide in the Greater Boston and MetroWest area.
Where do we go from here? As I look ahead, I see the continuation and growth of our core service: Concierge Care Management, as well as our Dementia Specialty program. In addition, we will continue to develop our Solo Ager Membership program providing adults with limited family support the comfort of knowing they have a plan in place for aging and a point person to advise them and stand by them as their needs change.
Last, but equally important our flagship program: Roadmap to your Best Retirement Life planning program. I developed this consultation service because during my 40 years as a Geriatric Social Worker I have always met clients and their families when they were either in crisis or struggling with the many complex challenges of aging. Many of the problems were largely due to the fact that they had not planned. With the Roadmap to your Best Retirement Life program, we develop an individualized and comprehensive plan that clarifies the client’s vision of their life through the different stages of aging, assesses their needs and educates our clients of options that will be the best fit for them. Our clients are then able to proactively steer their late in life years, avoiding reactivity and living their best quality of life. More information about this program is on our website. We look forward to continued growth and development in the coming years.
