Aging Parents

Are you planning to visit your parents during the holidays?  Are you hoping to discuss long-term care planning with them?  What exactly is long-term care planning?  The National Institute on Aging defines long-term care planning as steps to meet a person’s health or personal care needs during a long or short period of time. With the help of these services, people may be able to live as independently and safely as possible even though they can no longer perform everyday activities on their own.

Are you aware that November is National Family Caregivers Month?  Are you caring for a family member or do you know someone who is? Family caregivers are unsung heroes as they work tirelessly to help elderly or disabled family members. Would you and your family like to show your appreciation to your family caregiver?  Let us share three tips with you.

Do you know the name of the type of dementia that can cause problems with memory, thinking, cognition, and behavior?  It is Alzheimer’s Disease. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, with end-stages of the disease becoming life-threatening. 
Since there is still no cure, early detection is critical. Early detection can offer the best chance for effective treatment and improved quality of life. The most widely recognized early warning sign is memory loss and knowing what to do about it could make all the difference in your treatment options.

Have you felt overwhelmed while trying to choose a senior living environment for yourself or someone you love? There are many different options, with a wide range of residence types, fee structures, and services provided. Two common categories of senior living environments are Assisted Living Facilities and Skilled Nursing Homes. Let us review six significant differences between them.

The Administration for Community Living encourages communities to celebrate National Older Americans Month every May. Did you know that, for 2021, the theme is “communities of strength” in recognition of all that older people have lived through in their lives and learned during that time? Particularly during the pandemic that overtook the past year, people often draw inward and may not stop to think about what their elder neighbors can teach them. It can be, however, more important than ever to make connections with older residents in our communities, both for them and for us. Let us take a look at four resources to help

May is National Elder Law Month. Did you know that by the year 2030, all of the baby boomers will have reached the age of 65? With a burgeoning senior population, National Elder Law Month can be a great time to consider ways to care for aging seniors. This may not be a one-person job.

Are the holidays synonymous with family time for you? For many, the answer is yes. This focus on family can mean it is an excellent time to consider talking to your elderly parents and aunts and uncles, who do not have their own adult children, about long-term care planning. As the topic of long-term care planning can encompass a lot, here are five things to consider: 

1.  What long-term care planning have they already done? This broad question will elicit information about whether your relatives have taken any steps to plan for long-term care. Perhaps they have a complete plan already in place. Perhaps they have done zero planning.

Long term care insurance was sold aggressively in the 1980s, 90s and thereafter to offset the costs of seniors needing to live in a nursing home, assisted living or needing at home health care.

The Medicaid program is designed to help pay for that staggering cost. However, before a couple can be eligible, the rules require that the assets of both spouses are counted to pay for the care of one, even if only one spouse needs the care.