Serving Senior Citizens
Written by Mark E. Lett
Photographs by Rob Kaufman
It’s rewarding when where you live is the ideal intersection of your life experience and a community’s needs.
Just ask Carol Mullen, a Sun City resident and a key figure in the Lowcountry’s ever-present efforts to serve senior citizens.
A veteran of some four decades in senior care, Mullen and her husband, Bill, moved from Atlanta to the area five years ago. Together, the couple drew upon careers in business and health care to create Mullen Care Consultants, offering placement advice and other services for seniors.
Business is good. And life is good, says Carol.
“I’m blessed,” she said. “All my career paths led me to this. I am in the exact spot God wanted me to be in.”
Working from their home office, the Mullens help families find senior-living communities or other options. Carol handles face-to-face interaction with families.
Bill, a retired chemicals specialist whose work once contributed to the paint used in the Lee Iacocca-inspired Mustang, guides behind-the-scenes business activities. In his “free time” he is writing a book that captures his family history, reaching back to the Crusades and early Ireland.
In Atlanta, Carol spent decades as a front-line professional and manager in home care, late-in-life care, hospice and as a certified dementia-care practitioner.
On trips to visit family in the Hilton Head area, the Mullens found a growing market for Carol’s skills and first-hand knowledge.
In its 2022 report, the Lowcountry Council of Governments noted an “increasingly aging population.” The council said the population of residents ages 65 to 74 increased by 54 percent (to 30,943) between 2010 and 2020. The residential population of those 75 to 84 grew 64 percent (to 16,054).
The Mullens’ consulting company’s services are free to families and individuals. The company has agreements with care facilities throughout the area and charges a fee when a client is placed.
Key to the process is acquiring and sharing knowledge about the wants and needs of individual families and synching those with the most appropriate services.
From her own history, Carol is familiar with the anxiety and questions that arise when special treatment is in order for an aging family member.
“It can be overwhelming,” she said, referring to instances of a lost spouse, loneliness, declining health, poor diet and more.
“Often, people don’t know where to go for information to make decisions.”
Her mission, she said, is to meet with families to explore options and solutions. For example, she makes a practice of offering visits to three different care facilities with clients seeking the right accommodations.
“I always go with them,” she said. “I want to bring that all forward to provide them the greatest transparency. My job is to find the perfect fit.”
The process, she said, is intended to “paint the picture clearly” so clients can make decisions that best address “needs and wants.”
In four years of coordinating those moves, she said, none of her customers have found it necessary to relocate to another facility.
“That makes me very happy,” she said.
The Mullens are aware of the heartache that can accompany such situations. Bill’s father passed away unexpectedly, and Carol’s mother was recovering from surgery and receiving home health care. She passed away on a weekend when a hired care giver was a no-show.
When she investigated the quality of care, Carol said what she learned was “shocking.”
“The way they treated my mother….” she said. “I know how people should be treated, how care giving should be and how good care should be encouraged.”
Carol said her promise to customers is to be available when questions and concerns arise.
“It’s about education. It’s about empathy. It’s about advocacy,” she said.
She said the transitions that accompany aging often make for a difficult journey.
“I have become a navigator,” she said. “I tell clients: ‘Just call Carol.’”
