Crystal Alexander, Human Resources Director for Absolute Home Care in Idaho Falls, Idaho shares some helpful information to help family members choose a caregiver for their loved one. Her advice applies to both independent caregivers and caregivers hired though a home care agency.

Caregivers with Integrity

When choosing a caregiver it is important to look for someone you really feel is trustworthy; someone who will tell you when they make a mistake or when anything goes wrong. Ask the caregiver directly how they will handle specific scenarios when things do go awry. Finally, you want someone you can trust to tell you what is really going on with your loved one in your absence.

Genuine Concern for your Loved One

Sincerely caring about the comfort and well being of others is a pre-requisite to ensuring the caregiver will be a good match for your loved one. Look for a caregiver who shows genuine interest and concern, by both asking questions about the your loved one and listening to the information you provide.

Perceptive and Intuitive, with Appropriate Boundaries

Just because you are not hiring a nurse does not mean your caregiver won’t need to detect subtle changes in your loved one’s condition. A quality caregiver will be attentive to these changes and will seek to have them addressed. At the same time they also need to know when to show restraint, for example to redirect a senior who is becoming anxious or preoccupied towards a more positive activity.

Health and Safety

Your caregiver should be current in their CPR certification. They should understand basic hygiene and infection control procedures. Ask what types of continuing education activities the caregiver engages in. Is the caregiver able to provide you with a current negative Tuberculosis screen, or doctor’s statement that they are currently clear of this disease?

Does/Is the caregiver:

• Dress neatly and appropriately?
• Wear sensible footwear?
• Keep their fingernails trimmed short? (to avoid nicking a clients sensitive skin).
• Free of strong perfumes?
• Ask about safety equipment and protocol in the home?
• Inquire about where the emergency phone numbers are kept?

A quality provider is first and foremost concerned with their client’s safety, and will ask questions to ensure they have necessary information to keep their client safe.

Sense of Humor and Positive Outlook

A caregiver who has a sense of humor and positive outlook on life is going to be uplifting to be around, and better able to handle stress. Caregivers develop close relationships with clients, so a caregiver who focusses on the positive will have a positive influence on your loved one’s well being. Look for a candidate who does not talk about their personal problems.

Caregiver Support Structure and Self-Care

Caregiving can be stressful. It is important that your caregiver have a support system of his or her own. Things to know in advance are whether the caregiver has supportive ties to the community, be it family, friends, church, school, or other involvement. You also want to look for indications that your caregiver takes good care of their personal well being. Are they well groomed? Organized? Do they seem stressed, late, or hurried?
A caregiver who is not meeting their own needs is going to be hard pressed to provide quality care to others.

Caregiver Background Screen

Your caregiver should be able to provide you with an employment history which includes current contact information for current and past employers, and you should contact each and every one. Gaps in employment should have a logical explanation.

Sometimes an employer is precluded from giving you anything more than a confirmation of dates worked, however if you explain to the employer that the applicant will be working in the home with an elderly or disabled client and you need to know if they would be considered safe you will get them to open up a bit and give you more information.

Obtaining a thorough FBI background check can provide you with critical information about a caregiver. Supplement this with a search of your state’s court repository as well as a department of motor vehicles driving record. Don’t forget to include other states the caregiver has resided in.

Remember, criminal records only reflect activity that was detected by law enforcement, so trust your instincts even in the absence of a criminal history!

Just as important as the contents of a caregivers criminal history is their truthful disclosure of anything you might find. Try to get ahold of the criminal record clearance from your local department of health and welfare; compare this to their job application. Check to see if any crimes are listed on the clearance letter and whether the caregiver disclosed those crimes at the time of their application for fingerprinting.

Be sensitive to the embarrassing nature of past criminal conduct, and allow the caregiver the opportunity to disclose any such information by asking directly about any history, what they learned from it, and how they changed as a result. Being able to learn from past mistakes is a valuable trait.

Hiring a caregiver is not the time to be shy or polite. Be prepared to ask the difficult questions. You have a right to know the answers!

If you would like assistance or more information you can always call us at 1.866.775.0028, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

Home and Community Based Services, or HCBS, is a Colorado Medicaid program that allows eligible individuals to remain in a home setting with an array of services in place. These services promote independence at home and can delay or even take the place of the need for your loved one being institutionalized. Depending on the individual need, the HCBS waiver programs can allow for the following services:

• senior home care services
• skilled nursing visits
• C.N.A. visits
• a lifeline installation
• medical and non-medical transportation
• adult day care
• timed medication dispensers

Income & Resource Eligibility for Medicaid in Colorado

The individual income cap for an individual applying for Long Term Care Medicaid is $2,022 per month. If the individual makes more than that number an “income trust” may be set-up . This will allow individuals exceeding the state limits to still participate in the program, albeit ultimately at a greater monetary cost to them. In addition to the $2,022 per month, an individual may not have more than $2,000 in countable assets.

An important factor to consider when applying for Long term care is that only the applicant’s income is counted. This allows for a married couple to have one person apply and the individual’s, not the couples total income is counted. Additionally, that individual still needs to meet the $2000 in countable assets, but their spouse can keep up to $109,560 in countable resources.
Finally, if both spouses will be applying for Medicaid, they may have only up to $4000 in countable resources.

Functional Medicaid Eligibility in Colorado

Meeting the financial eligibility for Long Term Care Medicaid in Colorado is only the first of two steps. A functional assessment is performed by the specific county’s Single Entry Point Agency (SEPA). It is the duty of the person performing this assessment to determine whether or not there is a functional need for services to be provided. The amount of home care services, for example, will be determined by the initial assessment, and is available for review as conditions change.

How to Apply for Colorado Medicaid

Colorado Medicaid applications can be found online. Click Medicaid once the main page has appeared. Applications can then be submitted to the Department of Human/Social Services. You can also contact the local Vida office for assistance applying for Colorado Medicaid or with Senior Home Care Services in Denver at 303.252.4477.

If you would like assistance or more information you can always call us at 1.866.775.0028, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

Anna Graefon, Client Care Manager for All Valley Senior Home Care in Escondido, California revisits a past post on the Veteran’s Aid and Attendance Pension program.

The Veteran’s Aid and Attendance Improved Pension program helps veterans and their spouses by giving them a monthly benefit to assist with their activities of daily living (ADLs) when the regular assistance of another person is required. More and more the elderly are seeking senior home care services but they can not afford the cost of being taken care of in the comfort of their own home. This benefit has been around for the past 58 years and is an entitlement to veterans and their surviving spouses.

Qualifying for Veteran’s Home Care Benefits

• Is not dependent upon service-related injuries.
• Calculate the veteran’s and/or surviving spouse’s assets (make sure not include value of their primary residence & vehicle). This will give you an estimate of total liquidatable assets. Then estimate the annual income of the veteran and/or surviving spouse. This will give an estimate for total income (If married include spousal income). Then, list all unreimbursed, recurring health care expenses. Last, subtract your total annual health care expenses from your total annual income and write the amount. This is your countable income.
• Veteran: A veteran alone must have countable income less than: $19,736 per year. 
A veteran with a spouse must have countable income less than: $23,396 per year.
• Surviving Spouse: A spouse alone must have countable income less than: $12,681 per year. A spouse with a dependent must have countable income less than: $15,128 per year.
• Discharged under “General under Honorable” or “Honorable”.
• Served at least one day during the following periods and had 90 days of continuous military service:
  • World War II: December 7, 1941 through December 31, 1946
  • Korean War: June 27, 1950 through January 31, 1955
  • Vietnam War: August 5, 1964
    (February 28, 1961, for veterans who served “in country” before August 5, 1964), through May 7, 1975
  • Gulf War: August 2, 1990, through a date to be set by law of Presidential Proclamation

Maximum Annual Aid and Attendance Pension Rate

• Veteran: $19728 annually, $1644 monthly
• Surviving Spouse: $12,660 annually, $monthly
• Veteran Married to Another Veteran: $30960 annually, $2580 monthly

*These rates increase annually

If you would like assistance or more information you can always call us at 1.866.775.0028, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

Many people are confused about what senior home care services are and whether they are covered by Medicaid or Medicare. Senior home care is also often times confused with home health care & nursing.

What are Senior Home Care Services

Senior home care services are non-medical care services provided in the home by Home Care Agencies. These services can be covered by medicaid if certain eligibility criteria are met, but are generally not covered by medicare. Senior home care services are provided on 2 to 24 hour basis.

Senior Home Care Services Include:

• Respite care (family relief)
• Homemaker services
• Companionship
• Fall prevention
• Medication reminders
• Incontinence care
• Bathing & grooming

If you would like assistance or more information you can always call us at 1-866-775-0028, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

Therea Phillips, Client Care Manager for All Valley Senior Home Care in Walnut Creek, California shares some tips about what to do when an adult child caregiver’s elderly parents refuse outside help.

As our parents age we walk a fine line between making sure that they are taken care of and taking away their independence. All of a sudden children are now in the position of protecting their parents. They find themselves in a position of ensuring their parents environment is safe but also respecting their choices and decisions that they are still able to make. Unfortunately, if their parents are no longer able to make these important decisions it then can become a war of wills with elderly parents making their children feel guilty.

Understanding Why Parents Refuse Assistance

What has to be understood is some of the reasons why an elderly parent may act out and refuse assistance. It could be behind loss; The loss of a spouse or other family members, the loss of their independence, or it could be the loss of their youth and of feeling healthy and happy. Some of the defiance of accepting help could just be plain anger. The human nature of wanting and needing to blame someone else when things are going bad. It could also be the realization that they are sick and just can’t do the things they used to be able to.

The dynamics of a family of an elderly parent could have been years in the making. Sometimes guilt is a part of the family make up before the situation occurred that caused the need for help. When children and even non-family members become caregivers of elderly loved ones, they have to understand how that elderly person is feeling.

Many elderly women where brought up an era where they married, had having children and lived her whole life taking care of her home, her children and her husband. She has been brought up in an era where that is what the woman did and no one did that for her. Now to bring a stranger in to take care of her, her home and even sometimes to take care of her husband it is seen as a threat.

Many elderly men have been brought up in an era where men were men. He was strong and independent. He was the bread winner, he took care of his family and made sure his family was safe. Now, there is someone coming into his home taking that away from him. He can feel in his own body that he doesn’t have the strength to take care of his family anymore and he can’t keep them safe, which can be very disheartening for him.

Approaching Your Elderly Parent

Every family is different but for the most part a lot of families were structured in this way when current generation of elderly people where younger. Unfortunately, sometimes just like their elderly parents had to do with them, adult children may have to put their foot down for the best interest and safety of their parents.

Approaching a loved one about needing help can be very uncomfortable to say the least. Here are some tips that can make the conversation go smoothly:

• Have a meeting with siblings if there are any. Discuss what the outcome of the meeting will be. If the concerns are not urgent, then it is okay to say that; likewise, if the concerns are urgent it needs to be stated.
• When speaking to aging parents it is best to focus on what they can still do, not what they can’t do.
• Encourage your parents to continue doing what they can do, and to accept help with tasks they cannot do.
• Timing of the conversation is crucial. Do not wait until there is a crisis to have the discussions. Trying to force a decision immediately seldom works. It is best to put a deadline on the calendar to come back and re-visit the discussion allowing time to process the information.
• All family members need to be in “the same mind” for this discussion. If other family members are not in agreement, these members will work to undermine the efforts of others. To bring everyone to a single mindedness, family members can meet beforehand to discuss their feelings. If need be, third party can mediate this meeting to keep emotions in check.

Starting Senior Home Care Services

When you start senior home care services you will be bringing in a non-family caregiver; It is important to understand that if your parent acts up with the family member they may not necessarily act up with a non family caregiver. Also understand that in order to make the elderly parents environment safe and to make sure that you can take care of yourself an outside home care agency is sometimes needed and you should not feel guilty seeking their assistance.

The most important thing you can do is to be patient and understand that there has been a change in your love one’s life; Whether it is a loss of memory or having a life changing diagnosis. Look for senior home care agencies that help you understand your role as caregiver to your elderly parent or family member. Get help to learn to take care of yourself.

If you would like assistance or more information you can always call us at 1.866.775.0028, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

Senior home care agencies provide caregivers to a person in their residence to assist with everyday activities. These activities include helping someone get up in the morning, showering, cooking, and cleaning. Seniors can utilize this help either for a short time while they are recovering from an ailment, or when things are just becoming too difficult to perform on a daily basis.

There are many cases when seniors can benefit from senior home care services.

• When family members are either gone at work or on vacation.
• When you just get back from the hospital.
• When you’re too busy to perform every household task.

Senior Home Care agencies are more than willing to work out a personalized and detailed plan of service. The office staff will go over everything the times and days of service, what is to be accomplished during those times, and what is to be expected from both parties.
Having someone come into your home might seem like a big step but when you see that it provides extra security for your family as a whole, you might want to consider home care services.

If you or your family thinks in home senior care might be a step in the right direction, you call and discuss the options with a Vida Senior Resource home care representative. They will go over the details with you and offer their knowledge, so you can make an educated decision regarding which route is best for you. If you or your family decides that home care is not the right path, our staff can point you in a direction that will best meet your needs, including assisted living placements.

If you would like assistance or more information you can always call us at 1-866-775-0028, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

As the baby boomers age many Americans are finding themselves caring for their aging parents.  This can be a demanding and exhausting experience and it is important to remember to be aware of your own well-being.

The demands of family caregiving may not only effect the caregivers mental and physical health but also impact their ability to be effective in the rest of their lives.

It is important to take time for yourself. Talk with friends and family members for support and assistance caring for your loved one.

Senior Home Care Services

A  senior home care agency is another great source of support and respite care for your loved one.  Senior home care services include companionship, bathing, grooming, meal preparation and much more.  Most senior home care agencies will provide caregivers both as needed for special circumstances and on an on going basis up to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you would like more information about support for family caregivers or need help with a loved one or friend you can always call us at 1-866-273-2995, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

Maria Lopez, Administrator of All Valley Senior Home Care in Brawley, California shares some helpful information about protecting your senior loved one from hypothermia. As a home care agency manager Maria ensures the safety of her clients from many hazards including hypothermia.

*The following content is being provided for your information only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Hypothermia is below-normal body temperature which occurs when the body losses heat faster than it can produce heat. It is an emergency that can quickly lead to death.

Hypothermia can occur in temperatures in the range of 50° F depending on weather conditions. It can also occur if your loved one is exposed to water between 60° F and 70° F.

Chronic health problems like diabetes or heart disease, some medicines, and normal aging can cause your loved one to be less likely to notice that they’re cold and may affect their body’s ability to stay warm.

By understanding the warning signs of hypothermia you can protect your loved one from the risks of exposure to cold weather.

Hypothermia Warning Signs

• Shivering.
• Cold and pale skin.
• Lack of interest or concern.
• Poor judgment.
• Clumsy movement and speech.

When Outdoors in Cold Weather

• Dress warmly
• Wear a warm hat
• Keep hands and feet dry.
• Head for shelter if you get wet or cold.
• Eat a good meal before going out and carry extra food.
• Don’t drink alcohol while out in the cold as it makes your body lose heat faster.

Staying Warm Indoors

• Keep the thermostat above 65° F;  If it is a problem to heat the whole house, keep a few rooms heated and close off the others.
• Eat regularly; the body needs food to make heat.
• Move around often. If you can’t move around very well, do chair exercises or something to get your blood circulating.
• Dress warmly and wear warm clothes to bed and use warm bedding.

Most often a person will lose a lot of heat before they are aware anything is wrong. If your loved one lives alone it is important for someone to check in with them everyday when the weather is cold. Senior home care is also a great option to help protect your aging loved one.

If you would like assistance or information you can always call us at 1-866-273-2995, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

A new Washington State consumer law has passed that requires life insurance companies to inform their policy holders that they have a legal right to a life insurance settlement. This new law applies to all Washington State residents who hold life insurance policies. The law states that policy holders have the legal right to sell thier policy through what is called a “life insurance settlement”.

The reason for the new law is that research shows that 90 percent of life insurance policies are allowed to lapse or are surrendered for little to no cash value (this means that the insurance companies are cancelling the policies and giving nothing to the holder who has done all of the paying). As a policy holder you may sell your policy through a life settlement and can recieve up to 500% more than the cash value!

The law also forbids the Insurance company from interfering with the settlement. Currently the law has only been passed in Maine and Washington but is being looked at closely by other states.

Life settlements are a great option for seniors and baby boomers who are facing financial challenges because of our economy. Selling a policy can help pay for things such as senior home care, assisted living facility care, and senior housing.

If you would like to learn more about life insurance settlements you can always call us at 1-866-273-2995, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!

Article by Michael Drake of All Valley Home Care. All Valley provides senior home care services in Spokane, Washington.

Maria Lopez, Administrator for All Valley Senior Home Care in El Centro, California, shares valuable information about paying for home care for veterans.

Are you a disabled veteran who is looking for funding to help afford senior home care? If so you may qualify for the Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit.

V.A. Aid & Attendance Program

The V.A. Aid and Attendance Pension provides funding for in home senior care to veterans and their surviving spouse who require the help of another person for assistance with bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, food preparation and other personal activities required in everyday living. The benefit also covers assisted living facility care, care for individuals who are blind, and nursing home care because of a mental or physical incapacity.

The Aid & Attendance pension can provide up to $1,632 per month to a veteran, $1,055 per month to a surviving spouse, or $1,949 per month to a couple.

The Veterans Administration has deemed the Aid & Attendance program an under-used benefit. Although this benefit has in fact been an entitlement for over 58 years it remains widely unused; Millions of veterans have and are still are missing out on assistance with home care services.

Qualifying for Veterans Care Benefits

• You served at least 90 days of active military services, 1 day of which was during a wartime period. If you entered active duty after September 7, 1980, generally you must have served at lease 24 months or the full period for which called or order to active duty.
• You were discharged from service under conditions other than dishonorable.
• Your countable family income is below a yearly limit set by congress.
• Your assets should not exceed $80,000 excluding your home and your vehicle.
• If younger than 65, the veteran must be totally disabled. If age 65 and older, there is no requirement for disability. There is no disability requirement for a single surviving spouse.

V.A. Income Thresholds

The Aid & Attendance income threshold for a veteran without dependents is now $19,736 annually. The threshold increases to $23,396 with the first dependent and by $2.020 for each additional dependent. The annual Aid & Attendance income threshold for a surviving spouse alone is $12,681. The threshold increases to $15,128 if the spouse has one dependent and by $2,020 for each additional dependent. Remember the V.A. will adjust your countable income by adjusting for medical expenses that have not been reimbursed

Many elderly veterans and surviving spouses whose incomes are above the congressionally mandated legal limit for pension may still be eligible for the special monthly Aid & Attendance benefit if they have large medical expenses (including nursing home care) for which they do not receive reimbursement.

If you are unsure if you meet all the criteria, would like assistance or more information about veterans care benefits you can always call us at 1-866-273-2995, visit our Senior Home Care Agency Directory, or fill out this simple online form. Get Help Now!