Hosted by Jeff Walter, Founder and CEO of LatitudeLearning
When families face the emotional, time-pressured decision to move a loved one into assisted or memory care, it’s rarely a business decision—it’s a crisis one.
In this episode of the Training Impact Podcast, host Jeff Walter, CEO of LatitudeLearning, sits down with Mike Lamkin, Director of Business Development at Care Patrol of Northern Indianapolis, to explore how empathy, education, and franchise-level training intersect to transform one of life’s hardest transitions into a guided, compassionate process.
Care Patrol operates more than 200 locations across North America, helping families find the right assisted-living, memory-care, or independent-living community—at no cost to the client. Franchisees are paid by care providers, which makes matching the right resident to the right facility not only a moral obligation but the foundation of their business model. The Care Framework: Social, Clinical, Financial, and Timing
Mike explains how his family’s personal experience with healthcare inspired his passion for senior care—and how the Care Patrol framework drives every client conversation:
Social Preferences – How close should Mom or Dad be to family? What environment feels right?
Clinical Needs – What level of care and specialization are required?
Finances – How can we balance affordability with quality of life?
Timing – Are we making a proactive choice, or responding to a crisis?
This motivational-interviewing style discovery process helps advisors uncover what truly matters.
“The earlier we start these conversations,” Mike says, “the more likely the decision is a choice rather than a crisis.”
Care Patrol requires all advisors to complete the Certified Senior Advisor accreditation—a national credential developed with third-party partners and backed by corporate leadership.
Education doesn’t stop at certification. Advisors spend time in the field visiting facilities, meeting administrators face-to-face, and collecting insights that no online directory or AI tool can replicate.
That boots-on-the-ground learning is what turns franchisees into trusted matchmakers—professionals who combine data with empathy, policy knowledge with human connection.
Jeff draws a parallel between Care Patrol’s client-matching process and franchisee development across industries: the most successful systems focus not only on skill and compliance but also on values, expectations, and cultural fit.
This dual-track model—standardized national training plus localized experiential learning—embodies the best practices of extended-enterprise learning:
Structured certification programs
Continuous field immersion
Feedback loops for local insight
Beyond matching families to facilities, Care Patrol serves as an extension of the healthcare system, easing the burden on hospital discharge teams and social workers who lack the time or local visibility to vet every care option.
By maintaining relationships with over 90% of facilities in their region, Mike’s team:
Reduces hospital readmissions
Improves patient outcomes
Saves families from “trial-and-error” searches
In an era where AI, virtual tours, and automation dominate the decision-making landscape, Care Patrol demonstrates that high-touch still wins when high stakes are involved.
Their blend of structured learning, ethical standards, and genuine compassion provides a replicable model for any organization striving to align knowledge, service, and empathy at scale.
“Great franchisors train for consistency,” Jeff concludes.
“But great advisors, like those at Care Patrol, train for humanity.”
Whether you’re guiding a customer, a partner, or a patient, the true impact of training isn’t measured in checklists completed—it’s measured in lives improved.
👉 Learn more about Care Patrol and find a local advisor at carepatrol.com
🎧 Listen to the full episode on the Training Impact Podcast
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