Seniornicity's Digital Guide

Meet Sam

Sam helps older adults and families work out what kind of help Mom or Dad needs, shapes the first draft of a plan together with them, and connects them with senior-focused professionals on Seniornicity. Sam is free, available anytime, and part of The Seniornicity Community.

Ask Sam

What is Sam?

Sam is Seniornicity's digital guide, created for the moment a family realizes something has to change for Mom or Dad and wonders who to call first. Sam asks a few plain questions about what is happening, listens, and helps the family see the shape of a plan: which senior-focused professionals belong in it, the order that tends to work best, and which steps can wait. Sam then connects the family with professionals on Seniornicity, or with a Seniornicity Transition Consultant when the situation calls for a person at the table.

Sam is a name, and Sam is part of Seniornicity. He draws on the Seniornicity directory of senior-focused professionals, local chapters, The Seniornicity Community and the Seniornicity framework of Foundation, Transition and End. Sam stays on the non-medical side of aging and transitions: the home, the move, the care team, the professionals and the sequence that ties them together.

Who Sam is for

Older adults planning their next chapter. Adult children helping from across town or across the country. Spouses, friends and neighbors who have been asked to step in. Sam also welcomes senior-focused professionals with questions about Seniornicity membership, local chapters, the Senior Transition Specialist (STS) certification and their account.

Four steps, one plan

How Sam works

A conversation with Sam moves from what is happening today to who belongs in the plan and how to reach them.

Tell Sam what is going on

Start with a sentence or two: Mom wants to stay in her home, Dad is coming home from the hospital, the family house needs to be sold, a move to assisted living is coming. Sam asks what he needs to know, including where Mom or Dad lives, whether the home is owned or rented, and whether the plan means staying or relocating.

Shape the plan together

Sam lays out the professionals a plan like this usually involves and the order that works best, with the financial conversation first so every later step rests on solid ground. He explains what each professional does and why they belong in the plan.

Choose how to connect

Sam can post the family's need in The Seniornicity Community, where it appears under a first name only and senior-focused professionals in the area respond. The family can also reach a provider directly from the directory. The choice is always the family's.

Bring in a Transition Consultant

For plans that involve several professionals over several months, Sam recommends a complimentary consultation with a Seniornicity Transition Consultant, who builds the full plan with the family, makes warm introductions and serves as the family's liaison with the professionals involved.

Local first

Where a local chapter exists, Sam starts close to home

In the cities a Seniornicity local chapter serves, Sam is built to introduce Chapter Members first. Chapter Members are reviewed before joining, hold the Senior Transition Specialist (STS) certification and work together as a local team, so a family in Newport Beach meets professionals who already know one another and the area. Everywhere else, Sam draws on the national directory and the nearest Seniornicity Transition Consultant, so every family has a next step.

Find your chapter

Sam and The Seniornicity Community

Sam lives inside The Seniornicity Community, the geo-mapped space where older adults, families and senior-focused professionals interact directly. When Sam posts a need on a family's behalf, the post shows the family's first name only, and professionals see contact details only when the family chooses to connect.

What Sam leaves to the professionals

Sam guides; the professionals advise. Questions about costs, insurance and coverage, legal documents, medical care and the sale of a home belong with the licensed and specialized professionals who handle them every day, and Sam's job is to bring the family to the right one. Sam introduces only professionals who exist on Seniornicity, with their badges and certifications shown exactly as they appear on their profiles, and the family always chooses whom to work with.

Questions families ask about Sam

Is Sam free?

Yes. Sam is free for older adults and families. A free Seniornicity account lets Sam post in the Community on the family's behalf and keeps the conversation available to return to.

Is Sam a person?

Sam is a digital guide built by Seniornicity. When a situation calls for a person, Sam hands off to a Seniornicity Transition Consultant, who meets with the family in person, by telephone or by Zoom.

What does Sam ask?

Where Mom or Dad lives today, whether the home is owned or rented, whether the plan means staying put or relocating, who is involved in helping, and what the family hopes the next chapter looks like. Everything Sam asks goes toward shaping the plan.

Does Sam give medical, legal or financial advice?

Sam gives guidance on who to involve and in what order. The advice itself comes from the licensed professionals Sam connects the family with. Sam stays on the non-medical side of aging and leaves questions about costs and coverage to those professionals.

What happens to Mom's information?

Posts Sam makes in the Community show a first name only. Contact details stay private until the family decides to connect with a provider.

Can Sam help if we live far from Mom and Dad?

Yes. Sam asks where Mom or Dad lives and builds the plan around that location, so a daughter in Seattle can shape a plan for a father in Newport Beach. When a move to another city is part of the plan, Sam organizes two lists: professionals for the current home and professionals for the destination.

What if the plan is bigger than one conversation?

For plans that involve several professionals over several months, Sam recommends a complimentary consultation with a Seniornicity Transition Consultant, who coordinates the professionals and serves as the family's liaison so the family can focus on living.

Can professionals use Sam?

Yes. Senior-focused professionals can ask Sam about membership, local chapters, the STS certification and their account. Because each chapter sets its own membership, Sam asks where a professional works before answering chapter questions.

Where is Sam available?

Sam is available on the web at app.seniornicity.com/sam and is being built into the Seniornicity app.