I have read in here that a geriatric care manager is a good thing to look for for help with alz patient. I am currently caregiver for parent in his home, but need to return to my home soon. I am not sure what options are going to work for dad when I have to leave. I know residential care would not work, and day care in our area is not an option either.
Especially important to your situation - long distance caregiving for a parent – the care manager can act as a liaison selecting and overseeing care, and alerting you to problems that arise.
My first meeting with a care manager included a review of financial issues where we learned my grandmother was eligible for VA assistance of $800 per month because my grandfather (deceased) was a WWII vet. We also discover there was stock issued from a demutualized insurance company from an old life insurance policy. It turned out to worth a few thousand dollars.
You can find geriatric care managers on this site in the ‘Find Care’ section.
Hope this helps.
Click on this link:
www.AgingCare.com/Find-Senior-Care/
Enter the location and “Geriatric Care Managers” and click search. It will bring up what is available near you, and you can develop a list of people to call based on that. Carol Bradley Bursack, our community moderator, has pointed out that these individuals are not yet uniformly regulated, so it is important that you ask lots of questions and get references.
I am including some links to articles on Geriatric Care Managers:
www.AgingCare.com/138976
www.AgingCare.com/132479
I hope this helps. Thank you for being a caregiver.
Dani
AgingCare.com Editor