Elder Care Resource List
We get it, elder care is confusing and complicated. Below is a list of elder care resources to help you figure things out.
Having the conversation:
Talk to your loved one about aging.
Talk to your loved one on end of life decisions.
4 Tips to help you start the conversation around end-of-life planning.
Professional help (doctors, attorneys, counselors, etc) – subscription service
Services in the home:
Home care (paid out of pocket) – supportive care to help those in the home with daily living activities. Hire caregivers to care for an aging loved one. Click on link to find a vetted caregiver.
Home health care (paid through insurance) – skilled medical services to help adults who are recovering from a hospital or facility stay and need additional medical support in their home.
Respite care (paid out of pocket) – temporary relief to those caring for a family member. The goal of respite care is to have a temporary caregiver come in and help the primary caregiver by giving them time to rest as to avoid caregiver burnout.
Hospice (paid through insurance) – Also known as end-of-life care, as life expectancy is less than six months. A team of health care professionals and volunteers provides the service. They give medical, psychological, and spiritual support. The goal of the care is to help people who are dying have peace, comfort, and dignity. The caregivers try to control pain and other symptoms so a person can remain as alert and comfortable as possible. Hospice programs also provide services to support a patient’s family.
Senior housing options:
Skilled Nursing Facilitiy (paid through insurance) – offers short term rehabilitative care. They provide around the clock long-term medical care to seniors with serious health problems. Services include: semi-private room, meals, therapy services, social services, medications and dietary counseling. To qualify for services, the person needing services needs to have been an inpatient at the hospital for 3 nights (stays in the emergency room does not count). Secondly, you will need a physician order to qualify need of services.
Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (paid through insurance) – offers the highest level of care outside of a hospital. They provide around the clock medical care to seniors with serious health problems and have an intensive skilled therapy program. Usually a physician will recommend this level of care if needed. To qualify for services, the person needing services needs to show they have experienced a substantial loss in more that one domain of function, there is a potential to achieve substantial improvement if they go through rehab and skilled therapy rehab must be at least 5 days a week.
Assited Living Facility (usually paid out of pocket) – Senior housing option for those who need a wide range of non-medical in-home support services to help with activities of daily living, coordination of services by outside health providers, and monitoring resident activities to ensure their health and safety. There are some facilities that also offer dementia care within their facility. In those facilities, clients are placed in separate wings for their safety and staff are specially trained to work with dementia and Alzheimer patients. In some instances, depending on the state your loved one lives and their income they may sometimes qualify with state assistance. Check with your local facility for more information.
Continuing Care Retirement Community (paid out of pocket) – These are large retirement communities that contain all the previously mentioned housing options into one large campus. This type of community usually requires a long-term contract between resident and the community.
Legal resources:
Legal planning – connect to a local attorney who can assist with a trust, will, power of attorney, and many other legal issues focused on the elderly.
Elder abuse – resources on elder abuse prevention and what to do if something happens. Also, here is a recent blog post on Elder Abuse prevention.
Financial help:
Can I afford elder care – national cost of care averages by state
Avoid financial fraud – how to protect your loved ones from financial scams
How to get paid to be a caregiver – resources by state
Other elder care resources by state – a comprehensive list
