I have a friend who loves old people and wants to start a business helping the aging and caregivers/family members. She is so smart and savvy, and would be great at Senior Move coordination, helping families to prepare their documents, etc. What do you and your families NEED most?
Emine66, to provide a useful service to someone embarked on the advanced aging journey, it needs to be a 3-legged stool:
1) legal (knowledge of who has the legal authority to execute plans in the best interests of an elderly LO, etc)
2) financial (knowledge of current cost of care & options, how to find reputable estate planners, Medicaid look-back, paying caregivers, etc)
3) available services (what is needed by clients, who provides services for those needs, who qualifies in the LO's county/state)
A truly useful service is one that can review their client's scenario and then accurately create a prioritized To-Do list based off of their familiarity in the above 3 categories. Often families don't know what to do next due to discovering issues with their LO, or the client has gotten ahead of themselves and the "order" in which things should have happened, did not. For example: LOs gifting money then requiring Medicaid within the 5-yr look-back window.
One cannot help families unless they know all the specifics for each case and can give their client a broad view of the future and their plausible options. Moving seniors' belongings comes farther down the journey (and is already a crowded field, unless your friend is in a rural area or will do it "for free"). Also, this is a highly romanticized notion of a service: the families still have to spend time and energy sorting through decades of possessions and mementos, and good luck getting the strong moving-van type labor which is in extremely short supply right now. She realistically should be insured at the very least. If your friend wants to start up a business she must go into it knowing about the market. When we moved my MIL into LTC I had to go through her entire house to see what needed to be saved. It sucked. No company could have done that unless "everything must go" without review.
The thing families need most is the thing they don't want to do or see the need to do it preemptively: plan realistically for the eventuality of their decline and demise. Aging gracefully is not a thing. Very unsexy, unhappy topic. Those who "get it" early are rare and awesome. I wish your friend much luck -- I hope she can successfully put her passions and talents to their best use in any of these areas.
The other services like referrals, coordinating, etc. can be done with agencies. I know that some people hire a coordinator to help determine what is needed and get the help to them, like arrange for the aid to come on certain days, arrange doctor appointments and transportation, check on groceries and get them delivered, etc. I have known family members who hire someone to do all of that when they have extremely hectic schedules or live far away. I don't know of anyone who does it outside of an agency. I might do online research and see if any seminars are offered on it, since, you'd want to get legal advice and insurance.
Older people and their families need support from people who really know what they're doing.
I love old people, too, and when they weren't my mother I have always got on extremely well with elders. It's an affinity, I'm not claiming credit for any particular virtue or talent. After my mother died I eventually applied for a job with a reablement service, knowing that most of the clients would be older...
[In fact, in six months the clients I have worked with have ranged in age from 22 to 101. How will your friend decide where to draw the line?]
... and all my friends and family and professional network et al said "oh yes! You'd be really good at that!"
Well. This is the best job I have ever done in my life. I skip to my car, really I do. But the key point I want to make is that I no longer think I know all about supporting older people. In six months I've learned more than I can even begin to list here - and there is as much and more to learn in the next six, too. I've lost none of my ambition to deliver high quality services, but I have most certainly been brought down to earth with a hard bump.
So I have to ask: what directly relevant training and experience does your friend have? I am living proof that "fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
But, doing something like this takes a lot of "hats". You have to know where all the resources are and understand them. She will need to understand Medicaid, in and out. Insurance in and out. She will need to know how Social Services work. What they provide and maybe learn to help people fill out forms. Believe me, this can be complicated.
Before she even gets started, she may have to be certified in some areas. Lots of seminars (some u get College Credit) She may need a background in Social Work or at least courses.
She should start with her local Office of Aging. They may be able to help her figure out what she needs. I have a friend who is starting a similar business. She is nonprofit and had to get a federal tax ID. But this friend has been working throughout the County for years. She signs up for Grants and works with them. Lots of experience.
I worked as a secretary for a Visiting Nurse Assoc. My boss was big on having information on hand for clients and people calling or walking in.
We supplied emergency food and had a clothing closet for our Township only. I had a list of food closets in the county and soup kitchens. Places where free food could be found. Like what Churches distributed government food monthly (need proof of need) We had aides that would ask to be put on our list to help them find clients. And what we didn't know we found out. Office of Aging put out a booklet of resources every year. I was given permission to copy and distribute these booklets. I had a table full of pamphlets about the ALs and Nursing homes in the area. Care agencies. Services in the county.
This is not an overnight thing. She needs to find out the needs of her Community. Where I live Office of Aging is the big resource. I live near the County seat. Social Services/Medicaid are maybe 10/15 minutes away. But there are other members who are in rural areas and resources are too far to take advantage of. These people could use a service like ur friends.