About Wendy

OLDER ADULT and EX-PAT HEALTH advocacy/care coordination/consultations, research

HOUSING Aging in Place plans, assisted living/nursing care/memory care, retirement transitions

HOSPICE (End of Life) options in MEXICO, ECUADOR, the U.S.

(5 continents, 42 countries for education, research, work).

Welcome and thank you for visiting!!

Navigating healthcare, housing, and end-of-life care as we age is complex—and doing it at home and/or across borders may feel overwhelming.

As an Aging in Place Specialist, Long-Term Care Advisor, and Cross-Border Care Consultant, my passion for 25+ years has been ensuring retirees, solo agers, and families find safe, dignified, compatible options in the U.S., Mexico, Ecuador, and other nations.

As your multicultural, multilingual advisor and advocate, I help bridge the gap between U.S., Latin American, and other senior care systems. Whether you are planning your Aging in Place, a proactive retirement move, managing co-morbidities, or nearing end-of-life, my service provides compassionate, curated, person-centered guidance tailored to your financial situation and long-term goals.

Goodwill Equity: I am a fee-for-service advisor. I do NOT accept commissions or referral fees from hospitals, physicians, residences, or any other providers. My priority is you.

Cross-Border Specialization

I focus on foreign hubs where there is strong healthcare infrastructure as well as local expat support, places I have built trusted senior living relationships:

• Mexico: Baja, Cuernavaca, Guadalajara, Lake Chapala (my current base is Ajijic), Mazatlan, Merida, Puerto Vallarta, and San Miguel de Allende.
• Ecuador: Cuenca, Quito, and Vilcabamba.
• United States: southern California (my U.S. base is Los Angeles). I assist families from all states and sometimes find solutions to help them stay at home. Care beyond borders may not be a fit for some.

Reputation Premium

• 25+ Years of Hands-On Healthcare Advocacy for Diverse Populations: Former City Senior Center Director, County Office on Aging Lead, Assisted Living/Memory Care Campus Administrator/Admissions Officer/Marketing, 15 years abroad
• Civic Leadership: Current Board Member on the City of West Hollywood Older Adult Advisory Board (West Hollywood pioneered LA County’s first Aging in Place plan); 10 years as a health and mental health grant reviewer for RAP Foundation, Riverside County.
• End-of-Life Advocacy since 1999: hospice volunteer, advance care planner and educator, palliative care coordinator, psychosocial/spiritual companion, trauma-informed end-of-life doula (NEDA-proficient), accompaniment for sudden loss, suicide, all loss
• Lifelong Experience/Reverence for Caregiving
  After surviving a fragile birth through the convergence of medicine and miracles, I developed a lifelong reverence for quality healthcare. My professional expertise is deeply rooted in personal reality. As a long-time family caregiver navigating complex illnesses, I am familiar with what it feels like handling stress, concerns, and the administrative maze of caring for a loved one. I am here to walk alongside you.

If you need my assistance, I will be honored to show up! If interested, please scroll beyond my signature to read my educational history and training.  And, have a look see at my praise and services pages.

Wishing you steadiness, clarity, and respectful attention wherever you call home, and, a life of vibrant health and wellness!

Wendy Jane Carrel, wellnessshepherd@aol.com

State of California RCFE Administrator licenses, Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly. Renewable certifications for Hospice Care, Hospice Waiver Licenses, Alzheimer’s Care, Admissions, etc.  http://www.ccld.ca.gov/PG543.htm

Palliative Care training and certificate, Colegio Nacional de Cuidados Paliativos de Jalisco, Mexico www.comecupal.com.mx ; plus two years volunteering at Juntos Contra el Dolor, A.C., Guadalajara, MX and eight years volunteering and coordinating care for Lake Chapala residents with Juntos Contra el Dolor, A.C. and lakeside parishes.

Hospice training, FASEC, a foundation and hospice in Cuenca, Ecuador with Care Partners International of Bellevue, Washington  https://www.facebook.com/fasec.cuenca

Preparing for a Good Death (Prepararsi para Un Buen Morir) training with Argentinian psychiatrist Hugo Dopaso, author of El Derecho A Bien Morir and TED speaker in Argentina, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvCLm4GPoRY

Continuing Education (CE’s) gerontology, social work, chaplaincy, palliative care classes/seminars at universities in Los Angeles, other U.S. locations, and, Guadalajara

End-of-Life Doula training  https://www.thedyingyear.org/ with palliative care and hospice nurse Merilynne Rush, former President NEDA National End-of-Life Doula Alliance    NEDA Alliance member, NEDA Proficient

Art of Spiritual Companioning certificate  University of Wisconsin, Green Bay

Hospice Chaplaincy Care Planning certificate    https://hospicechaplaincy.com/

PESI The Body Knows the Score certificate (trauma-informed care) with Bessel van der Kolk, MD; Hanna Institute Trauma-Informed Care Training with Nick Dalton. Hanna is an ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) grantee.

Breath-Body-Mind Teacher Training Level 1, evidence-based integrative mental health for relief of anxiety, stress and more based on the book Healing Power of the Breath (Shambhala, 2012).  See  https://www.breath-body-mind.com/

Palliative Care Tasmania End of Life Care certificate    https://www.pallcaretas.org.au/

Constelaciones Familiares (Family Constellations and Family Systems) training Guadalajara, MX

Healing Touch, College of the Desert Nursing School, Palm Desert, CA

Level I and Level II Reiki, San Diego, CA

M.A. Investigative Journalism, UC Berkeley  http://journalism.berkeley.edu/

International Relations Diplomacy certificate, University of Stockholm International Graduate School, Sweden  http://www.ekohist.su.se/sis/

B.A. Humanities/Human Services, Pitzer College, Claremont, CA