From an article by the National Care Planning Council,
Living in a different city or state -- miles from aging parents -- can be very difficult. Keeping in touch by telephone and making long trips to help parents or aging relatives with their needs can be time consuming and not nearly as effective as being available full time in person.
According to a report by the Alzheimer's Association of Los Angeles & Riverside, California, there are approximately 3.3 million long distance caregivers in this country with an average distance of 480 miles from the people they care for. The report also states that 15 million days are missed from work each year because of long distance care giving. Seven million Americans provide 80% of the care to ailing family members and the number of long distance caregivers will DOUBLE over the next 15 years.
Professional care managers -- also known as Geriatric Care Managers, Elder Care Managers or Aging Care Managers -- represent a growing trend to help full time, employed family caregivers provide care for loved ones. Care managers are expert in assisting caregivers, friends or family members find government-paid and private resources to help with long term care decisions.
They are professionals -- trained to evaluate and recommend care for the aged. A care manager might be a nurse, social worker, psychologist, or gerontologist who specializes in assessing the abilities and needs of the elderly. Care manger professionals are also becoming extremely popular as the caretaker liaison between long distant family members and their aging elder loved ones.
Read the full article at http://www.longtermcarelink.net/article-2009-4-8.htm
Best regards and HAPPY EASTER!!!
Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
Showing posts with label Caregiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caregiving. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
ELDER CARE OPTIONS
Following are some hints published in the Seniorresource E-zine published April 3, 2009:
With retirement saving taking a beating in the current economy, it's time to sharpen our pencils about the cost of elder care. Here are a few approaches to easing the cost for such care.
1. Consider adult day care. Based on a 2008 MetLife study, it is a more affordable option than private, in-home care. The national average rate for adult day-care services is $64 a day in comparison with an eight-hour rate of $160 for home-health aides.
2. Negotiate with candidate senior communities. With many assisted-living and nursing communities not filled to capacity, it is worth the effort to see if you can negotiate lower fees. This approach may be helpful even for those already in such a community.
3. Share a room. Many assisted-living communities have provisions for lower-income individuals to share a room.
4. Hire a geriatric-care manager. Such managers can assess the situation, identify potential solutions, and negotiate favorable terms at assisted living facilities. The savings in your time and efforts to negotiate may mitigate their fees (especially if you're not experienced in negotiation).
5. Part-time caretaker. If full time attention is not required, then someone to look in periodically may be all that is required. This person might be a neighbor, a local college student, or someone from a local service organization. He or she might help with such activities as cleaning, shopping, and meal preparation.
We are seeing many "adjustments" taking place during the current economic downturn, and the above are excellent tactics.
Have a great day
Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
With retirement saving taking a beating in the current economy, it's time to sharpen our pencils about the cost of elder care. Here are a few approaches to easing the cost for such care.
1. Consider adult day care. Based on a 2008 MetLife study, it is a more affordable option than private, in-home care. The national average rate for adult day-care services is $64 a day in comparison with an eight-hour rate of $160 for home-health aides.
2. Negotiate with candidate senior communities. With many assisted-living and nursing communities not filled to capacity, it is worth the effort to see if you can negotiate lower fees. This approach may be helpful even for those already in such a community.
3. Share a room. Many assisted-living communities have provisions for lower-income individuals to share a room.
4. Hire a geriatric-care manager. Such managers can assess the situation, identify potential solutions, and negotiate favorable terms at assisted living facilities. The savings in your time and efforts to negotiate may mitigate their fees (especially if you're not experienced in negotiation).
5. Part-time caretaker. If full time attention is not required, then someone to look in periodically may be all that is required. This person might be a neighbor, a local college student, or someone from a local service organization. He or she might help with such activities as cleaning, shopping, and meal preparation.
We are seeing many "adjustments" taking place during the current economic downturn, and the above are excellent tactics.
Have a great day
Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Balancing Work and Family Caregiving - Part 2
In the previous post, we talked about the challenges associated with being employed and being a family caregiver.
Today we take a look at some key questions that a caregiver should be asking and some ideas concerning support resources in the community. The reality is that a caregiver just may not be able to carry the entire load; however, there are many resources that can be tapped to assure that the work load is shared. In addition, getting professional assessment of the care requirements will help develop the appropriate caregiving strategy, head off the dangers of caregiver burnout, and ultimately result in the best and most efficient care for the person in need of the care.
Following is a link to the second part of this topic:
http://www.poststat.net/rightathome/pub.59/issue.958/article.3952/
Please feel free to comment on this subject with your own experiences with family caregiving.
Regards
Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
Today we take a look at some key questions that a caregiver should be asking and some ideas concerning support resources in the community. The reality is that a caregiver just may not be able to carry the entire load; however, there are many resources that can be tapped to assure that the work load is shared. In addition, getting professional assessment of the care requirements will help develop the appropriate caregiving strategy, head off the dangers of caregiver burnout, and ultimately result in the best and most efficient care for the person in need of the care.
Following is a link to the second part of this topic:
http://www.poststat.net/rightathome/pub.59/issue.958/article.3952/
Please feel free to comment on this subject with your own experiences with family caregiving.
Regards
Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
Monday, February 16, 2009
Balancing Work and Family Caregiving
In early January, I posted a general look at Caregiver Burnout and we had some very good comments contributed to add to the discussion. In their December online newsletter, Caring, in home care provider Right at Home addresses the challenges of being a caregiver while holding down a full time job. This article not only looks at the emotional impact and the added stress resulting from the need to do both jobs, but also looks at some of the financial costs to the caregiver. These costs can be direct and measureable, or perhaps indirect and difficult to quantify; however, the total cost to the caregiver can be very significant.
If you are in this situation, there will be some valuable insights for you in this information. You can read the entire article at:
http://www.poststat.net/rightathome/pub.59/issue.927/article.3840/
If you have some personal experience with this, and maybe have some suggestions as to how to deal with some of these issues, please add your comments.
HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY !!!
Regards
Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
If you are in this situation, there will be some valuable insights for you in this information. You can read the entire article at:
http://www.poststat.net/rightathome/pub.59/issue.927/article.3840/
If you have some personal experience with this, and maybe have some suggestions as to how to deal with some of these issues, please add your comments.
HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY !!!
Regards
Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Caregiving for Seniors
The good news: We’re all living longer !!
But what now??: A whole new set of challenges !!
At the beginning of the last century, the average life expectancy for newborns was 47.3 years. Today it is 77.8 years!! And that is only the average, as we all know people who are living well into their 80's and 90's. While that sounds great, this change in demographics for our population presents new challenges that society is just now beginning to understand and tackle. And one of the biggest challenges: what types and quantity of services and resources will be needed and how will they be delivered as the proportion of “elderly” in our population increases significantly. The term “caregiving” has evolved to generally include this broad range of services.
A short, but not comprehensive, list of some currently available options for elderly “caregiving” could include the following:
-Family caregivers
-In-Home Care Providers
-Home Health Care
-Adult Day-Care facilities
-Independent Living Communities (IL)
-Assisted Living Communities (AL)
-Dementia/Alzheimer’s Care
-Retirement Communities
-Rehabilitation Facilities
I will not even attempt to detail the specifics of each type, but will mention that the traditional approach has been that the family of the elderly person actually performs all of the caregiving. As we enjoy these longer lives, it is becoming more and more unrealistic to expect family caregivers to continue to provide all of the caregiving. With families being spread all over the country, with special medical care being needed, with special facilities being required, and with caregiving needed over much longer periods of time, families cannot cope with all of these issues.
Most families don’t do any real planning for the caregiving of their elderly until it is crisis time and something must be done quickly, or until the old approach of family members carrying the entire burden collapses because the work is overwhelming. And by then the primary family caregivers need their own special help. My goal is to raise the issue for you before the crisis comes.
If you have needs now or can see them on the horizon, I can provide contact information for true experts in this field who can help you determine a game plan for being prepared and moving ahead. Please either add a comment to this post or email me directly with any specific questions or needs, and I will get an expert to help with providing the best information.
Tom Binder
But what now??: A whole new set of challenges !!
At the beginning of the last century, the average life expectancy for newborns was 47.3 years. Today it is 77.8 years!! And that is only the average, as we all know people who are living well into their 80's and 90's. While that sounds great, this change in demographics for our population presents new challenges that society is just now beginning to understand and tackle. And one of the biggest challenges: what types and quantity of services and resources will be needed and how will they be delivered as the proportion of “elderly” in our population increases significantly. The term “caregiving” has evolved to generally include this broad range of services.
A short, but not comprehensive, list of some currently available options for elderly “caregiving” could include the following:
-Family caregivers
-In-Home Care Providers
-Home Health Care
-Adult Day-Care facilities
-Independent Living Communities (IL)
-Assisted Living Communities (AL)
-Dementia/Alzheimer’s Care
-Retirement Communities
-Rehabilitation Facilities
I will not even attempt to detail the specifics of each type, but will mention that the traditional approach has been that the family of the elderly person actually performs all of the caregiving. As we enjoy these longer lives, it is becoming more and more unrealistic to expect family caregivers to continue to provide all of the caregiving. With families being spread all over the country, with special medical care being needed, with special facilities being required, and with caregiving needed over much longer periods of time, families cannot cope with all of these issues.
Most families don’t do any real planning for the caregiving of their elderly until it is crisis time and something must be done quickly, or until the old approach of family members carrying the entire burden collapses because the work is overwhelming. And by then the primary family caregivers need their own special help. My goal is to raise the issue for you before the crisis comes.
If you have needs now or can see them on the horizon, I can provide contact information for true experts in this field who can help you determine a game plan for being prepared and moving ahead. Please either add a comment to this post or email me directly with any specific questions or needs, and I will get an expert to help with providing the best information.
Tom Binder
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