Elder Mediation

Maintain independence & dignity
Respect everyone's needs
Tackle difficult conversations
​Elder mediators can assist older people, their families and significant others with difficult conversations, to make plans and to reach outcomes to disagreements – outcomes that work for the older persons, respect their rights and enhance their safety.
CLARE is our specifically designed program to assist people as they tackle conversations with their families and significant others, service providers and community.
Chalice Consulting's  interest in elder mediation grew out of our experiences with family and workplace mediation, but has become much more. We recognise that older people face a range of challenges, not least of which is ageism and the right to maintain independence and dignity.  We assist with issues such as:
  • Conversations with adult children who have returned or stayed home (sometimes referred to as "boomerang children")
  • When older people feel pressure to assist or support relatives who might be expressing a desire for early access to an older person's assets, perhaps due to financial pressure or other need (sometimes referred to as "inheritance impatience".
  • Extended family and inter-generational conflict (feuds, guilt, grudges and rivalries)
  • Grandparents seeking to improve contact with estranged grandchildren after family breakdown 
  • Managing the financial and other impacts when older parents are called on to care for grandchildren
  • Navigating conversations with family and service providers about maintaining independence in later life, including powers of attorney, aged care assessments, advance care planning and end of life planning
  • Inter-generational conflict in workplaces, acknowledging the capabilities and protecting the rights of older workers, particularly those close to "retirement age"
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day June 15th
Chalice Consulting is a member of the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse

"My kids are starting to treat me like I'm a toddler! They've swooped in trying to "take care of everything", I don't get a say any more."

"I try talking with them about what they need as they are getting older, but they just makes jokes about the inheritance. It's not about the money."
"...they knew they were going to die, but their families wouldn’t talk about it with them … and they had things to tell people before they died."  
Palliative Care Volunteer